Royal Courts of Justice where Assange's hearing will take place from July 9 to 10 (Joe Lauria)

London, June 15 (RHC)-- The judges at Julian Assange's two-day appeal hearing, held on Tuesday, July 9th and Wednesday, July 10th, are the same ones who granted Assange a rare victory last month: his right to appeal the Home Office's extradition order to the United States.

Judges Jeremy Johnson and Victoria Sharp granted Julian Assange the right to appeal on only two of the nine grounds requested, but they are important:

1). His extradition was incompatible with his right to freedom of expression enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights; and 2.) That he could be harmed because of his nationality (not receiving First Amendment protection because he is not an American).

However, denying your rights in a U.S. court would go beyond the First Amendment to all of your constitutional rights in the United States, according to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in USAID v. Alliance for Open Society. International Inc., which says a non-U.S. citizen acting outside the U.S. has no constitutional protection.

Julian Assange is a political prisoner and has been locked up in London's notorious Belmarsh prison for more than five years on remand pending the outcome of his extradition.  He has been charged in the United States with publishing classified documents that revealed prima facie evidence of state crimes in the United States.

***  published by:  Consortium News  / By Jose Lauria  *** Special for Consortium News