The government has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US, where he faces espionage charges.

The Home Office confirmed Priti Patel, the home secretary, had signed the extradition order for the WikiLeaks founder.

Assange is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He has always denied any wrongdoing.

Assange has 14-days to appeal the decision and his legal team said they will be appealing.

“Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle. We will appeal through the legal system,” WikiLeaks said in a statement on Twitter.

“This is a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy.

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“Anyone in this country who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that plotted his assassination”.

Assange has been held in Belmarsh high-security prison since 2019 when he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he had taken refuge.

In a statement, a Home Office spokesperson said: “On 17 June, following consideration by both the Magistrates Court and High Court, the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to the US was ordered.

“In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange. Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.”

Amnesty International said the decision to extradite Assange “sends a chilling message to journalists”.

‘Julian did nothing wrong’

In March 2023, Assange married his partner, Stella Moris, after they were given permission to wed last year.

She was joined by the couple’s sons Gabriel, four, and Max, two, and Assange’s father and brother, Richard and Gabriel Shipton.

Reacting to today’s news, Mrs Moris, 38, described it as a “dark day for press freedom and for British democracy”.

“Anyone in this country who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that plotted his assassination,” she said.

“Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher, and he is being punished for doing his job.

“It was in Priti Patel’s power to do the right thing. Instead, she will forever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise.

“Foreign laws now determine the limits of press freedom in this country and the journalism that won the industry’s most prestigious prizes has been deemed an extraditable offence and worthy of a life sentence.

“The path to Julian’s freedom is long and tortuous. Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle. We will appeal through the legal system; the next appeal will be before the High Court.”

She added that Assange’s case has “always been a politician case” and her husband “published evidence that the country trying to extradite him committed war crimes and covered them up”.

“We will fight louder and shout harder on the streets, we will organise and we will make Julian’s story known to all.

“Their revenge is to try to disappear him into the darkest recesses of their prison system for the rest of his life to deter others from holding governments to account.

“We will not let that happen. Julian’s freedom is coupled to all our freedoms. We will fight to return Julian to his family and to regain freedom of expression for us all.”

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