US continues to seek extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange was initially convicted by the Obama administration for conspiring to hack classified information on a government computer.

The US Justice Department is continuing efforts to seek the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, spokesperson Nicole Navas told Sputnik.

In January, UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled not to extradite Assange to the United States, citing health reasons and the risk of suicide in the US prison system, but did not release him from the Belmarsh high-security prison. (REUTERS)

"I can confirm we are continuing our efforts to seek the extradition of Julian Assange," Navas said on Friday when asked if the Justice Department appealed a British judge's ruling against extraditing Assange.

In January, UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled not to extradite Assange to the United States, citing health reasons and the risk of suicide in the US prison system, but did not release him from the Belmarsh high-security prison where he remains in detention.

Assange was initially convicted by the Obama administration for conspiring to hack classified information on a government computer.

In 2019, charges were expanded to include espionage, punishable by a total of 175 years in prison. Assange is believed to be responsible for the largest leak of classified information in history on WikiLeaks in 2010 that shed light on war crimes committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.