Professor Donald Rothwell of the ANU College of Law.
Julian Assange may be in remand in the UK, but it could be many months before the completion of any extradition to Sweden, and he could then face a similar request from the USA, according to an expert in international law. Professor Donald Rothwell of the ANU College of Law said that the process of getting a foreign national extradited is complicated and rife with potential for technical faults. Additionally, the WikiLeaks founder has multiple avenues to contest the proceedings. 'Extradition proceedings can often be determined on technical grounds, such as irregularities in the paperwork accompanying an extradition request,' said Professor Rothwell. ?Extradition can be contested on the grounds of: 'double criminality' - where the crime is not recognised in the requesting and requested country (ie. Sweden and the UK); 'the political offence exception' - where extradition is sought for a political offence; or that the accused will not receive a fair trial. 'Assange can contest the Swedish extradition request all the way to the UK Supreme Court. This process could take many months to resolve,' he said. Professor Rothwell added that the Swedish extradition arrest warrant may not be the end of Assange's legal problems. ?While Assange is being held in the UK, he would still remain subject to an extradition request from the United States in relation to charges arising from the activities of WikiLeaks. Even if he is successful in not being extradited to Sweden, he could face the prospect of immediately being rearrested pending extradition to the United States to face WikiLeaks related charges,?
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