British MPs urges Assange to be extradited not US but Sweden while US has 60 days to finalise Julian Assange case | Eurasia Diary - ednews.net

22 July, Monday


British MPs urges Assange to be extradited not US but Sweden while US has 60 days to finalise Julian Assange case

13.04.2019 11:35 World A- A A+

More than 70 MPs have signed a letter urging the home secretary to ensure Julian Assange faces authorities in Sweden if they request his extradition. At the same time, the US has two months to finalise Assange case.

Julian Assange had spent seven years in Ecuador's London embassy, evading trial in Sweden for sex assaults which he has denied. At the time, Assange said he had had entirely consensual sex with two women while on a trip to Stockholm and that the Swedish claims against him were part of a smear campaign.

Swedish prosecutors dropped a rape investigation into Assange in 2017 because they were unable to formally notify him of the allegations while he stayed in the embassy. Two other charges of molestation and unlawful coercion had to be dropped in 2015 because time had run out. But Swedish prosecutors say they are now re-examining the 47-year-old's case at the request of the lawyer acting for the alleged rape victim.

According to BBC The letter, signed by mostly Labour MPs, urges Mr Javid (Home Secretary) to "stand with the victims of sexual violence" and ensure the rape claim against the 47-year-old can be "properly investigated". "We do not presume guilt, of course, but we believe due process should be followed and the complainant should see justice be done," it says.

Read more: The Wikileaks founder has been arrested in central London

US prosecutors have just under two months to present British authorities with a final and detailed criminal case to justify Julian Assange's possible extradition, a US government official says.

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, says US authorities have already sent Britain a provisional arrest warrant regarding Assange's extradition, SBS reported.

But within 60 days from Thursday, when British police bundled Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, US authorities must submit a formal request outlining all the legal charges Assange would face if he is transferred into US custody.

 

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