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OSCE representative should keep close eye on Assange case, Russian mission insists

On Friday, the UK’s High Court ruled in favor of the US Department of Justice’s appeal regarding Julian Assange’s extradition

VIENNA, December 10. /TASS/. Russia’s Permanent Mission to the OSCE has said that the High Court’s ruling to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States was sad news and expects OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro to keep his case under control.

"Sad news on Human Rights Day for all those who sincerely advocate their protection. Today UK High Court gave a green light to the extradition of Julian Assange to the US. We are confident that the OSCE RFOM should keep this issue under close control," Russia’s mission wrote on Twitter on Friday.

On Friday, the UK’s High Court ruled in favor of the US Department of Justice’s appeal regarding Julian Assange’s extradition. The case will be remitted to Westminster Magistrates’ Court, which earlier had ruled that the 50-year-old could not be extradited to the United States because of the serious risk of potential suicide. The ruling stipulates that the Australian-born WikiLeaks founder should remain in prison.

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.

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