News
UK court to hear final Assange appeal against extradition to US
By Francesca Hangeior
The High Court in London Tuesday will begin hearing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s final UK appeal against extradition to the United States to face trial over publishing secret military and diplomatic files.
Washington wants the 52-year-old Australian citizen extradited after he was charged there multiple times between 2018 and 2020 in connection with WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of files relating to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The long-running legal saga in Britain’s courts is now nearing a conclusion, after Assange lost successive rulings in recent years.
If this week’s two-day bid to appeal set to begin at 10:30 am (1030 GMT) Tuesday is successful, he will have another chance to argue his case in a London court, with a date set for a full hearing.
If he loses, Assange will have exhausted all UK appeals and will enter the extradition process, although his team have indicated they will appeal to European courts.
His wife Stella Assange has said he will ask the European Court of Human Rights to temporarily halt the extradition if needed, warning he would die if sent to the United States.
“Tomorrow and the day after will determine whether he lives or dies essentially, and he’s physically and mentally obviously in a very difficult place,” she told BBC radio on Monday.
US President Joe Biden has faced sustained pressure, both domestically and internationally, to drop the 18-count indictment Assange faces in federal court in Virginia, which was filed under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Major media organisations, press freedom advocates and the Australian parliament are among those decrying the prosecution under the 1917 Espionage Act, which has never been used before over publishing classified information.
But Washington has maintained the case, which alleges Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to conduct “one of the largest compromises of classified information” in US history.
Assange, detained in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London since April 2019, was arrested after spending seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy.
He fled there to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault which were later dropped.
The High Court had blocked his extradition, but then reversed the decision on appeal in 2021 after the United States vowed to not imprison him in its most extreme prison, “ADX Florence”.
It also pledged not to subject him to the harsh regime known as “Special Administrative Measures”.
In March 2022, the UK’s Supreme Court refused permission to appeal, arguing Assange failed to “raise an arguable point of law”.
Months later, ex-interior minister Priti Patel formally signed off on his extradition, but Assange is now seeking permission to review that decision and the 2021 appeal ruling.
If convicted in the United States, he faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in jail.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, told reporters last week that caveats included within the US promises meant they were “not worth the paper they are written on”.
On the same day, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced the years-long legal pursuit of Assange, saying “enough is enough”.
It followed the country’s parliament passing a motion calling for an end to his prosecution.
Two people were killed and several others injured in a violent bandit attack on Tuge town, Musawa Local Government Area of Katsina State, on Friday morning.
According to residents, the assailants stormed the community around 7:00 am, firing sporadically and forcing locals to flee for safety.
The victims sustained gunshot wounds and are currently receiving medical treatment.
The attack comes despite multiple peace deals brokered between Musawa local authorities and bandit groups operating in the area.
Community leaders had hoped these agreements would reduce violence and allow displaced residents to return to normal life.
Security forces were reportedly alerted as the attackers withdrew, but many residents questioned the value of the peace arrangements, pointing out that rural communities in Katsina remain highly vulnerable.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has restated that it is a self-governing political party, insisting it is not controlled by any single person.
The party’s spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the ADC remains accessible to all Nigerians, including prominent political figures such as former presidential candidate Peter Obi and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
He maintained that no individual can claim ownership of the party.
Abdullahi made the clarification during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television, Friday, where he dismissed claims that the ADC is being groomed to advance the presidential ambition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
According to him, such claims are unfounded and largely driven by individuals who lack a proper understanding of the party’s internal structure.
He explained that ADC members are fully aware that the party operates on collective ownership, a principle that allows it to welcome influential politicians from different backgrounds.
“Those of us within the ADC know that the party does not belong to any one person. That is why someone like Peter Obi can join, and why Rotimi Amaechi is already a member,” he said.
He further alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is behind the growing speculation, accusing it of attempting to interfere in the ADC’s internal affairs.
The ADC spokesperson also assured that the party’s presidential candidate would be chosen through due process, stressing that the outcome is not prearranged.
“Whoever eventually becomes our presidential candidate, whether Atiku or any other aspirant, will emerge through a transparent and credible process,” Abdullahi stated, reaffirming that the ADC is not the personal platform of any individual.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday scheduled a date for judgment in a case brought by the Civil Society Observatory for Constitutional and Legal Compliance, CSOCLC, challenging President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State last year.
Justice James Omotosho set Friday, March 9, 2026 for judgment after both the plaintiff’s counsel, Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe, and the defence lawyers adopted their processes and presented arguments supporting and opposing the suit.
In the fresh lawsuit, CSOCLC questioned the President’s authority to remove elected state officials during a state of emergency.
The NGO argued that while the President may declare an emergency under Section 305 of the Constitution, he does not have the power to suspend or remove elected executive or legislative officers and appoint an interim administrator.
Justice Omotosho, however, highlighted the similarity of the case to previous ones he had dismissed, citing jurisdictional issues under the old Emergency Powers (Jurisdiction) Act of 1962.
He also referenced a Supreme Court decision from December 15, 2025, which dismissed a related case on procedural grounds.
Acknowledging these earlier rulings, Ahaaiwe insisted they were mistaken.
The lawyer argued that the 1962 Act is a “spent” law, deliberately omitted from statute books before the 1999 Constitution came into effect.
He further contended that a 2025 presidential order modifying the alleged non-existent law is “unconstitutional, null, and void”.
“The constitution has fully covered the field on emergency powers. No executive proclamation can alter the express provisions of Section 305,” he added.
Lawyers representing the 1st to 5th defendants, including the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation, relied on the same 1962 Act and the modification order.
They argued that only the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over such disputes and urged the court to strike out the case.
The plaintiffs had requested 26 reliefs, including a declaration that Rivers State cannot be governed by an appointed administrator, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, outside the constitutional provisions.
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