WORLD
UK court issues formal order of extradition of Julian Assange
Baku, April 20, AZERTAC
A British court on Wednesday issued a formal order to extradite WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US to face espionage charges, according to Anadolu Agency.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring approved the extradition after a short hearing.
The final decision on the extradition will be made by Home Secretary Priti Patel next month, which Assange will be able to appeal at the High Court if she goes ahead with a decision of extradition.
Assange’s lawyers will make representations to Patel to convince her against such extradition.
Assange will face 18 counts of hacking the US government computers and violating the espionage law if he is extradited to the US and a potential prison sentence for years. He may face a prison term of up to 175 years.