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‘Fitting way to mark Human Rights Day’: Diplomat blasts UK verdict on Assange extradition

The ignominious verdict on a political case against a journalist and public activist is yet another manifestation of the cannibalistic world view of the Anglo-Saxon tandem, Maria Zakharova pointed out

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has excoriated the ruling of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States as ignominious.

"The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ruled to extradite Assange to the United States. This ignominious verdict on a political case against a journalist and public activist is yet another manifestation of the cannibalistic world view of the Anglo-Saxon tandem," she wrote on her Telegram channel on Friday.

"A fitting way for the West to mark Human Rights Day and the completion of the so-called Summit for Democracy," she added.

Earlier in the day, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales upheld the US Department of Justice’s motion on the case of Assange’s extradition to the United States.

Assange, 50, has been held in London’s Belmarsh prison since April 2019. He was sent to the correctional facility after the Ecuadorian Embassy had revoked his asylum status, ending Assange’s seven-year stay at the diplomatic mission. In January, the Westminster Magistrates' Court blocked Assange’s extradition to the US where he faces 18 criminal charges that can result in a sentence of up to 175 years behind bars. In the United States, Assange is facing criminal charges for his role in the biggest leak of classified information in American history.