We all know that Assange is going to be extradited to the USA. This trial is just a formality. I'm very disappointed in how my Australian government treated its citizen over the years in this whole debacle.
Sadly, the extradition process from the UK to the USA is just a formality these days. The extradition treaty[0] is both somewhat one-sided and, crucially, changed the requirement to demonstrate a prima facie case (and actually examine some of the evidence even if not in huge depth) to a requirement only to demonstrate "reasonable suspicion" which is much weaker.
>changed the requirement to demonstrate a prima facie case
The Wikipedia article explains that this change was to make the requirements roughly symmetrical. The UK did not have to make a prima facie case when extraditing from the US.
Why is that a given? And the UK could just hold him there indefinitely (also not good). They should really just let him go, with the option of going to the US trials at his own choice, which of course he won't.
> UK has no reason to not extradite him and something to gain from doing so.
No reason apart from the popular opinion of them that will decline if they extradite a journalist to a country that has routinely committed war crimes, torture, murder and other atrocities.
I can't help but think that everyone would react much worse if he were being extradited to China, yet what's the difference?
> 2008, The Economist New Media Award.
2009, Amnesty International UK Media Awards.
2010, Time Person of the Year, Reader's Choice.
2010, Sam Adams Award.
2010, Le Monde Readers' Choice Award for Person of the Year.
2011, Free Dacia Award.
2011, Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal.
2011, Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism.
2011, Voltaire Award for Free Speech.
2012, Big Brother Award Italy 2012 "Hero of Privacy".
2013, Global Exchange Human Rights Award, People's Choice.
2013, Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts.
2013, New York Festivals World's Best TV & Films Silver World Medal.
2014, Union of Journalists in Kazakhstan Top Prize.
2019, GUE/NGL Galizia prize.
2019, Gavin MacFadyen award.
2019, Catalan Dignity Prize.
2020, Stuttgart Peace Prize.
Not for anything Assange can be charged with. But the US routinely cages people in windowless concrete boxes until death for any number of things, even tax evasion.
Lifelong solitary confinement is considered equivalent or worse across the civilized world.
In the US it's routine for people who challenge the status quo, for whom a legal reason can always be found even if it's unrelated to the original pretext for their arrest.
The US has secret courts, secret laws and blacksites where torture and murder is allowed with no consequences. I don't think it's a given that Assange would never be transported to one of them.
