The founder of the alternative information site Wikileaks, Julian Assange, won on Monday the right to appeal to the UK Supreme Court in his last attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden, a country that claims him for alleged sexual offenses.
This decision means that Assange will continue his legal fight to avoid his eventual delivery to Stockholm, where a court accused him of alleged rape and harassment of two women in August 2010.
Retained in the UK, Assange is fighting against his extradition to the Nordic nation, not only because he has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, but also because he accuses the U.S. government of being behind the legal process as part of a political vendetta.
On Monday, judges John Thomas and Duncan Ouseley disallowed the argument presented by the 40-year old editor, but they allowed him to appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the country, to refute his extradition, considering the case as one of “general public importance”.
According to Judge Thomas, Assange has little chance to convince the Supreme Court of the nation, but he will have 14 days to formulate his arguments and to present a written request to this instance, which is not obliged to accept the case.
If the UK Supreme Court rules against him, Assange will be transferd to Sweden in about 10 days, a move he considers demanded by Washington.
Wikileaks and its founder are targets of the US government and the Pentagon because of the revelation on November 2010 of around 25,000 cables of the State Department, which put US diplomacy on the rack.
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