Interviewed by GB News on the eve of the deadline for British Home Secretary Priti Patel to decide the fate of the Australian journalist, Hrafnsson stressed that it would be unacceptable for her colleague to be handed over to US justice as a result of political persecution.

The treaty signed by London and Washington prohibits the extradition of people for political reasons, he reminded.

The United States intends to try Assange for publishing secret files in WikiLeaks, which expose war crimes committed by its military in Iraq and Afghanistan and thousands of compromising documents for US diplomacy.

If tried and convicted by a US court, the cyberactivist, who has been locked up in a London maximum security prison since his arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy here in April 2019, might be sentenced to 175 years in prison for 17 charges against him.

The WikiLeaks founder’s defense attorneys had until Tuesday to try to convince Patel not to hand his client over to US justice.

Thousands of Assange’s supporters also sent letters to the interior minister to ask for his release, as part of an international campaign promoted by human rights organizations and the Journalists’ Guild.

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