Moscow on London Court's Decision on Assange: UK Justice System Becomes Laughing Stock

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The decision of the High Court of Justice in London concerning WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has turned the UK justice system into a laughing stock for the whole world, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the court ruled that Assange has a real prospect of success on three of the nine grounds of appeal. The court, in particular, asked the US government to provide assurances that the WikiLeaks founder would be able to claim the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedoms related to religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition.

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The court also asked to ensure that Assange would not be prejudiced at his trial due to his nationality, and that he would not face the death penalty. The next hearing is scheduled for May 20 if the parties submit the necessary documents.

"The entire justice system of the Kingdom has turned into a farce – a laughing stock in front of the whole world. All this is a mockery of human dignity on the part of the very ineffective, punitive UK pseudo–judiciary. It took London many years to make a criminal procedural decision against the journalist," Zakharova said on Telegram.

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Assange, an Australian citizen, was transferred to London's high-security Belmarsh prison in April 2019 on bail breach charges. In the US, he faces prosecution under the Espionage Act for obtaining classified information and disclosing it in the public domain. If convicted, the WikiLeaks founder could face 175 years in prison.

WikiLeaks was founded by Assange in 2006 but rose to prominence in 2010 when it began publishing large-scale leaks of classified government information, including from the US.