On 4 January 2021, the British judge Vanessa Baraitser of the Westminster Magistrates Court in London rejected the request to extradite Julian Assange to the United States in a solid 132-page judgment. This does not mean that the WikiLeaks founder has regained his freedom, however: his bail application was likewise rejected two days later on the grounds that he posed a flight risk. Assange thus has to remain in custody while the dispute over his extradition is dealt with the court of next instance. His many political and celebrity supporters feel that this is yet another chapter in a long history of injustice, for after all Assange has not been convicted of any of the crimes of which he is accused by the USA (and was investigated by Sweden). However, a detailed review of the London judgment shows that matters are much more complicated as advocated by Assange’s supporters trying to paint him as a mere investigative journalist/activist or whistleblower. Still, as will be argued here at the end, it is highly unlikely that…
Extradition
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M.N. and Others v Belgium: no ECHR protection from refoulement by issuing visas
With its inadmissibility decision in M.N. and Others v Belgium delivered on 5 May 2020, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR made it clear that individuals who apply for visas at embassies with the intention to seek protection, do not fall within the jurisdiction of the ECHR State Parties in the sense of Article 1 ECHR. As…
Romeo Castaño v Belgium and the Duty to Cooperate under the ECHR
With a judgment of 9 July 2019, in the case of Romeo Castaño v Belgium, the second section of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) held unanimously that Belgium had fallen short of its procedural obligations under article 2 of the Convention for failing to cooperate with the Spanish authorities in securing the surrender of…
The Assange case and the UK’s global defence of media freedom
Human rights advocates often point to the lack of consistency and coherence between states’ stated commitments, on the one hand, and their actions, on the other. Even then, the tensions surrounding the UK’s recent approach to the goal of protecting media freedom globally and its projection seem striking. Within less than a week, the UK government…
A Cold War like Thriller in Summer – Icy Times Between Vietnam and Germany
If “all options are on the table” in the international arena, it is a reliable indicator that the stakes are high. We still recall when President Trump put all options on the table in August last year responding to North Korean missile tests. Just a few days before, Germany, usually not known for Trumpish rhetoric, also placed…