UK judge hands over extradition case of Wikileaks’ Julian Assange to Home Secretary Priti Patel

The procedural step in a long-running and high-profile legal battle was announced at a hearing in central London, after a decision in March to deny Australian-born Assange permission to appeal his extradition.

The extradition order now has to be signed by Patel, after which Assange can seek to challenge the decision through judicial review. In a judicial review, a judge examines the legitimacy of a public body’s decision.

Assange, 50, is wanted in the United States on 18 criminal charges, including violating an espionage law, after WikiLeaks released thousands of classified US files in 2010.

He denies any wrongdoing.

Assange has been in a south-east London prison since 2019 and was previously holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in the British capital for seven years.