British High Court wants more U.S. assurances on Julian Assange, extending his extradition fight

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange was on Tuesday given a chance to continue his fight against extradition to the United States after the High Court in London said the U.S. needed to provide more assurances.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks’ high-profile release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.

Assange’s lawyers in February sought permission to challenge Britain’s approval of his extradition to the U.S., arguing his prosecution was politically motivated.

In their ruling, two senior judges said he had a real prospect of successfully appealing against