London: British Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in London on Thursday he had signed an extradition request from the US for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. “He’s rightly behind bars. There’s an extradition request from the US that will be before the courts tomorrow (Friday), but yesterday (Wednesday) I signed the extradition order and certified it. It will be going in front of the courts tomorrow,” Javid told BBC Radio 4.
Assange, currently in custody in the UK, is wanted in the US on a score of charges, including espionage. The Australian national is due to appear before a London court on Friday for an extradition hearing to the US, which has accused him of conspiring to intercept Pentagon computers, Efe reported. In May, a grand jury in Virginia filed 18 new charges against him, including espionage and publication of highly classified documents, which could lead to up to 170 years’ sentence, reports say.
The UK Home office statement said Assange was arrested in relation to a provisional extradition request from the US. “He is accused of offences, including computer misuse and the unauthorised disclosure of national defence information,” it said. “We have received the full extradition request, which has been certified by the Home Secretary. This case is now before the courts and it would be inappropriate to comment further, it said.”
