In March, the high court asked the US government to provide assurances that the WikiLeaks founder would be able to claim the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedoms related to religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. The court also asked to ensure that Assange would not be prejudiced at his trial due to his nationality, and that he would not face the death penalty. On Tuesday, the US provided minimal assurances demanded by the high court to proceed with the case.
Commenting on the development, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik that the decision of the UK's High Court of Justice in London doesn't appear to be in support of the Wikileaks founder.
"It is difficult to call the ongoing execution a 'decision in favor of Assange,'" Zakharova said.
Assange, an Australian citizen, was transferred to London's high-security Belmarsh prison in April 2019 on bail breach charges. In the US, he faces prosecution under the Espionage Act for obtaining and disclosing classified information that shed light on war crimes and human rights violations committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If convicted, the WikiLeaks founder could face up to 175 years in prison. One of the last means of preventing his transfer to the US may be an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Assange lost his previous appeal at the UK High Court last June.