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FILE - Julian Assange, the 40-year-old WikiLeaks founder, arrives astatine the Supreme Court successful London, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. Assange's ineligible squad is making a last effort astatine Britain's Supreme Court to debar his extradition to Sweden. Assange is wanted by Swedish authorities implicit enactment crimes allegations stemming from a sojourn to the state successful 2010. He denies immoderate wrongdoing.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

LONDON – A British appellate tribunal opened the doorway Friday for Julian Assange to beryllium extradited to the United States by overturning a little tribunal ruling that recovered the WikiLeaks founder's intelligence wellness was excessively fragile to withstand the American transgression justness system.

The High Court successful London ruled that U.S. assurances were capable to warrant Assange would beryllium treated humanely and directed a little tribunal justice to nonstop the extradition petition to the location caput for review. The location secretary, who oversees instrumentality enforcement successful the U.K., volition marque the last determination connected whether to extradite Assange.

However, the appellate tribunal ruling handed down Friday is apt to beryllium appealed.

A little tribunal justice earlier this twelvemonth refused an American petition to extradite Assange to the U.S. to look spying charges implicit WikiLeaks’ work of concealed subject documents a decennary ago. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser denied extradition connected wellness grounds, saying Assange was apt to termination himself if held nether harsh U.S. situation conditions.

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The United States appealed, challenging the conception that Assange’s intelligence wellness made him excessively susceptible to withstand the U.S. judicial system. Lawyer James Lewis said Assange “has nary past of superior and enduring intelligence illness” and does not conscionable the threshold of being truthful sick that helium cannot defy harming himself.

U.S. authorities person told British judges that if they hold to extradite Assange, helium could service immoderate U.S. situation condemnation helium receives successful his autochthonal Australia.

U.S. prosecutors person indicted Assange connected 17 espionage charges and 1 complaint of machine misuse implicit WikiLeaks’ work of thousands of leaked subject and diplomatic documents. The charges transportation a maximum condemnation of 175 years successful prison, though Lewis said “the longest condemnation ever imposed for this discourtesy is 63 months.”

Assange, 50, is presently being held astatine London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison.

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