UK Judge Rejects US Extradition Requests for Julian Assange, Wikileaks Holds $800K in Crypto
On Monday, a British judge rejected the U.S. request to extradite the Australian editor, publisher, and activist Julian Assange. Following the U.K. judge’s decision, the current president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has offered Assange political asylum in the country. Meanwhile, Wikileaks has gathered hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto-asset donations since the founders’ arrest in April 2019.
US Extradition Requests for Julian Assange Denied
The world recently watched a United Kingdom judge reject the United States’ request to extradite the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The activist told the court that the state of the harsh U.S. prisons would likely lead to killing himself.
“I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America,” the judge said after rejecting the U.S. request. Assange was arrested on April 11, 2019, and he faces espionage charges over the publication of classified U.S. documents.
Following the judge’s rejection, the notorious whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted about the decision to not let the U.S. take Assange. “Let this be the end of it,” Snowden tweeted after hearing the news.
Additionally, the sitting president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has offered Assange political asylum. Obrador told a daily press briefing that the British judge’s decision to reject the U.S. government was a milestone of justice and added that Assange is “a journalist and deserves another chance.”
“I’m in favor that Assange is pardoned, furthermore, I will ask the foreign minister to initiate proper procedures to ask the United Kingdom’s government about the possibility that Julian Assange is set free, and that Mexico offers to provide political asylum,” Obrador stressed.
$800K in Crypto Donations
Moreover, the cryptocurrency community has been sending Assange and Wikileaks quite a bit of crypto-funding since his arrest in 2019. At the time of publication, the Wikileaks BTC donation address holds 19.66 BTC or over $600k using today’s exchange rates.
Bitcoin cash (BCH) proponents have donated 222.99 BCH or over $87k at current BCH prices. The Wikileaks litecoin (LTC) address has 140 LTC or over $21,000 in litecoin donations. 76.87 unshielded zcash (ZEC) has been sent to the Wikileaks address worth $4,350 today.
Wikileaks also accepts private transfers of zcash (ZEC) and monero (XMR) as well. As far as ethereum (ETH) donations are concerned, the organization has collected over 89 ether or over $87,000 using today’s ETH exchange rates.
Since his arrest in 2019, Assange has spent his time at the high-security Belmarsh Prison. If Assange was to be extradited to the U.S. he faces 18 cyberattack crimes for hacking government computer systems. Assange is also charged with espionage and the aggregate of U.S. charges could see Assange get a 175-year sentence in prison.
Out of all the cryptocurrency donations Wikileaks has received, most of the coins have been held for a long period of time. Out of a total of 24.21 BTC donations sent to the nonprofit, Wikileaks has only spent 4.55 BTC to date ($140k) and many other coins have been held long-term as well.
Without knowing how much shielded zcash (ZEC) and monero (XMR) Wikileaks has been sent, the addresses that do show donations we can see, indicate that the organization holds over $800,000 worth of crypto donations today.
What do you think about the British judge rejecting the U.S. extradition of the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
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