First steps to the US gulag?
Julian
Assange's application to reopen extradition case turned down
Supreme
court responds to request to reopen case of extradition to Sweden
with terse statement declaring it 'without merit
14
June, 2012
The
supreme court has reaffirmed its rejection of Julian Assange's appeal
against his extradition to Sweden, turning down an unusual,
last-minute request to reopen the case.
In
a short statement, issued only two days after Dinah Rose QC submitted
a written plea for the case to be reheard, the court declared that
her application "is without merit and it is dismissed".
The
terse phrasing suggests a degree of judicial disapproval of the
extended process and leaves Assange's lawyers with the choice of
appealing the decision to the European court of human rights in
Strasbourg or agreeing to the extradition requests.
Assange
is wanted in connection with accusations of sexual assault and rape
in Sweden. He disputes the allegations. He is being sought under a
European arrest warrant (EAW).
The
supreme court case revolved around the question of whether a
prosecutor, in this case in Sweden, constituted a "judicial
authority" as the EAW specifies. The supreme court found by a
majority of five to two against Assange, saying that the warrant was
valid.
In
its statement refusing to reopen the case, the supreme court said it
had agreed unanimously that extradition proceedings should not begin
for another two weeks.
It
added: "Had Ms Rose been minded to challenge the applicability
of [the Vienna convention on the law of treaties] or the
applicability of state practice [on interpreting treaties] … she
had the opportunity to do so. She made no such challenge.
"Her
submissions were to the effect that caution should be exercised when
considering the effect of state practice. For these reasons the court
considers that this application is without merit and it is
dismissed."
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