New Delhi: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's permission to appeal against a decision to extradite him to the U.S. to face spying charges was refused by Britain's top court on Monday, as reported by news agency AP.
The court said it declined in light of the fact that the case “didn't raise an arguable point of law.”
The decision seems to deplete Assange's legal avenues in the U.K. to stay away from a trial in the U.S. on a progression of charges connected with WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents more than a decade ago.
WikiLeaks founder is facing 18 criminal charges, including breaking an espionage law.
In December 2021, the London High Court overturned a lower court ruling that he should not be extradited, would be at risk of suicide because of his mental health problems. In 2021, a lower court judge rejected a US request to extradite Assange, who was facing espionage charges in connection with the publication of secret military documents by WikiLeaks a decade earlier.
Assange is accused of making public confidential documents related to the US and has taken refuge in the London embassy since 2012. Swedish authorities wanted to question him on charges of sexual assault and rape. After this Assange sought asylum in the embassy.
Assange has been charged with 17 charges of espionage in the US and one charge of computer abuse. If found guilty on these charges, the maximum sentence can be up to 175 years. Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Justice Lord Holloway overturned the lower court's decision earlier.