LONDON, May 20. /TASS/. London's High Court has granted Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a permission to appeal his extradition to the United States, Reuters said.

According to the news agency, the judges ruled that the US’ guarantees are not enough to ensure that Assange’s rights will not be violated in case of his extradition.

Hundreds of protesters were waiting for the ruling outside the court and met it with cheering and singing.

The 52-year-old Australian was not present at the court hearing due to poor health conditions. His wife, Stella Assange, urged US President Joe Biden to drop the charges against the journalist after a new court ruling allowed him to appeal his extradition to the US.

"As a family we are relieved, but how long did this go on. The United States should read the situation and drop this case now," she told reporters.

On April 16, the US government sent official assurances to the court that "it will not demand capital punishment and carry it out" and that Assange may rely on the First Amendment right. His lawyers insisted that he could be denied this right for not being American and the US side’s wording cannot be regarded as a guarantee.

Assange has been held at London's high security Belmarsh prison since 2019 after being expelled from the territory of Ecuador’s embassy in the British capital city. Washington has been seeking his extradition for all this time. In the United States, he is facing criminal charges for his role in the biggest leak of classified information in US history. The charges carry a potential sentence of 175 years in prison.