Julian Assange granted permission to appeal US extradition
Assange, who has been in a high-security prison in London since 2019, did not attend court because of physical and mental health reasons.
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Mundo Julian Assange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been given permission to appeal against his extradition to the US, the High Court in London has ruled.
Lord Justice Holroyde and Mr Justice Johnson ruled that Assange has an arguable case that the UK government's order for his extradition is flawed.
No date has been set for the appeal, but it is likely to delay the extradition process by several more months.
He has been granted permission to appeal against the decision to send him to the US to face charges over the publication of military secrets which prosecutors say put lives at risk, the BBC reports.
It means Assange will be able to challenge the US assurances over how his future trial will be handled and whether his right to freedom of speech will be breached.
Assange's lawyers were said to have hugged in court after the ruling.
Assange's wife Stella Assange, 52, told the BBC it was a "crucial" day in a long legal battle.
Assange, who has been held in Belmarsh high-security prison in London since 2019, did not attend the hearing due to ill health.
In a ruling in March, the court found that three of the 19 grounds of Assange's appeal against extradition were valid and asked for further assurances from the US authorities. In the March 26 ruling, the judges gave Assange permission to appeal parts of his case if Washington did not provide the assurances.
At the time, the judges gave the US three weeks to provide "satisfactory assurances" that Assange could invoke the First Amendment of the constitution, which protects freedom of speech, and that he would be treated the same as a US citizen. The court also asked for assurances that the death penalty would not be imposed.
The US has charged Assange with 18 counts of espionage and computer misuse over WikiLeaks's publication of leaked classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010 and 2011 which exposed human rights abuses by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under the US Espionage Act of 1917, which the US authorities have invoked, Assange could face a prison sentence of up to 175 years.
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