Opinion by Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova

💬 Today, the High Court in London handed down an interim ruling to delay the extradition of the founder of the WikiLeaks portal, Australian investigative journalist Julian Assange, to the United States.

Let’s run the numbers together.

In November 2010, a Swedish court issued an arrest warrant for Assange at the request of the United States, and Interpol immediately put him on the wanted list. That’s where we will start the clock.

- In February 2011, a British court ruled to extradite Assange to Sweden. Three months have passed since the first warrant was issued.

- In June 2012, the British Supreme Court confirmed the decision to extradite Assange, and the journalist took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy. Eighteen months have passed.

- In May 2017, Sweden dropped its investigation into Assange’s case. London police then said Assange would still be arrested as soon as he left the embassy. Seventy-eight months have passed.

- In April 2019, after putting pressure on Quito, London police entered the Ecuadorian embassy and arrested Assange on two requests, namely, a US extradition request, which became the main request after Sweden dropped the case, and a British arrest warrant. 101 months have passed.

At that time, it became known that the Australian faced an unimaginable 175 years in an American prison, were the US extradition request to be fulfilled.

- In May 2019, Assange’s extradition hearing to the United States began. 102 months have passed.

- In September 2020, a trial on the merits began at London’s Central Criminal Court. A total of 118 months have passed at this point, including 17 months since his arrest.

- In January 2021, the City of London Magistrates’ Court, Westminster borough, refused to release Assange on bail. A total of 122 months have passed, including 21 months since his arrest.

- In December 2021, the London court approved Assange’s extradition to the United States. A total of 133 months have passed, including 32 months since his arrest.

- In March 2022, Britain’s Supreme Court rejected Assange’s extradition appeal. A total of 136 months have passed, including 35 months since his arrest.

- In June 2022, British Home Office head Priti Patel resolved to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States. A total of 139 months have passed, including 38 months since the arrest.

- In June 2023, the High Court of England and Wales rejected Assange’s appeal of the decision to extradite him. A total of 151 months have passed, including 50 months since his arrest.

In March 2024, the High Court in London decided to postpone the US extradition of the WikiLeaks founder pending consideration of the appeal. A total of 161 months have passed, including 60 months since his arrest.

It took the British justice system 161 months - almost 5,000 days - more than 13 years to decide ... TO WAIT SOME MORE!

Even counting from the arrest, 60 months, five years, have passed.

However, counting it that way begs the question: what have the British been busy with all that time as the Australian was sitting one street away in the Ecuadorian embassy? As a result of London’s pressure, he was in conditions of torture, confined to a small room with no access to the outside world and under round-the-clock surveillance by Scotland Yard.

The entire UK justice system has become a farce and a laughing stock for the whole world. All this is a mockery of human dignity committed by the woefully inefficient and punitive British pseudo-justice system.

It took London that many years to hand down a criminal procedural decision against the journalist.

On the other hand, London "knew everything" about who ordered the terrorist attack in Krasnogorsk just a few hours after it took place.

The dome of Old Bailey - the central criminal court in London - features a statue of Themis. With her eyes wide open, she looks west to America.

Julian Assange, who has devoted his life to exposing the secrets of the British and American intelligence conglomerate, is becoming a victim of the corrupt British pseudo-Themis.

❗️ Once again, we draw the attention of the international community to the ongoing persecution of an investigative journalist at Washington’s behest.

This case has for many years now been causing serious damage to the institution of journalism and independent media, and violates the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and human rights.