US government wins right to challenge key expert evidence in Julian Assange extradition battle

Julian Assange (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
PA Wire

The US government can challenge a key expert in Julian Assange’s extradition battle who misled the court while knowing about the Wikileaks founder’s secret family, the High Court has ruled.

Assange, 50, struck up a relationship with Stella Moris and fathered two children while living in the Ecuadorian embassy in central London which was not revealed until March last year.

Professor Michael Kopelman, head of neuropsychiatry at King’s College London, knew about the family set-up when he first assessed Assange’s mental health but did not include it in his initial report.

His finding, that Assange would be at risk of suicide if sent to the US to face espionage charges, was pivotal in District Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s decision to block extradition in January.

The US government is challenging that ruling and launched a fresh attack on Wednesday on the credibility of Professor Kopelman’s evidence, seeking to expand the arguments it could venture.

“The prosecution had no idea Mr Assange has a partner and small children until the defence made a bail application in March 2020, and Mr Assange elected to deploy that information in support of the bail application,” said Clair Dobbin QC, representing the US.

“The prosecution knew the true nature of the relationship, but what we didn’t know was that Professor Kopelman had known that all along and his first report needed to be looked at in a very different light.

“There is no answer to the question of what would have happened if the information hadn’t been revealed at the bail application.”

She suggested the professor was “was willing to subjugate his duty to the court to the interests of Mr Assange’s family” and was “willing to mislead in the first report to protect those interests rather than abiding by his duty”.

Stella Moris arrives at the High Court in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
PA Wire

Ms Dobbin said Judge Baraitser’s conclusion in her ruling, that Professor Kopelman’s actions had been a “understandable human response”, meant she “didn’t appreciate the significance of the fact (he) had been willing to misled her on a material issue”.

However Edward Fitzgerald QC, for Assange, argued the judge did not reach a conclusion that she had been misled, after hearing a full explanation from Professor Kopelman.

“The District Judge was in the best position to judge whether this meant he was impartial”, he argued.

“We say that the judge, taking the evidence as a whole, taking both of his reports into account, the oral evidence she heard, and the explanation given, was fully entitled to make the findings that she did.”

He added: “It can’t be a principle that any lapse, however understandable, from duty or full disclosure at any stage of the proceedings renders the whole of the expert’s evidence inadmissible.”

Assange is wanted in the US to face trial over the publication by Wikileaks of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and detainees at Guantanemo Bay.

The US government has already been granted leave to pursue three grounds of appeal and applied to overturn a judge’s decision to block its further two grounds.

Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mrs Justice Farbey at the High Court, allowed the two grounds of appeal to go forward, saying it was “very unusual” for an appeal to reconsider expert witness but it is “at least arguable” that District Judge Baraitser made the wrong decision.

“By choosing to omit stating what he knew of (Assange’s) recent and current relationship with Ms Moris and their children when expressing opinions on matter such as the effect of solitary confinement in the embassy and the risk of suicide, it is at least arguable that Professor Kopelmandid not act in accordance with the declaration (of duty) and the District Judge erred in not taking that into account in her assessment of his reliability.”

He added: “ Given the importance to the administration of justice of a court being able to reply on the impartiality of an expert witness, it is in my view arguable that more detailed and critical consideration should have been given to why (the professor’s) ‘understandable human response’ gave rise to a misleading report.”

The US has put forward a series of undertakings after Judge Baraitser decision that Assange would be at risk of suicide if held in harsh conditions in prison in America.

The government has promised not to hold Assange in a so-called ‘supermax’ prison or under Special Administrative Measures, but with the caveat that this stance could change if Assange commits future offences.

And it has agreed that Assange, if convicted, could be transferred to an Australian prison to serve his sentence.

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was at the High Court this morning to support Assange, suggesting that the US government should “wind their necks in” and set him free.

AFP via Getty Images

“We have somebody who, in a different country, in a different world, in a different denomination, would be seen as a hero by the West for exposing the truths somewhere”, he said.

“Journalists expose truths everywhere around the world - Julian Assange is no different in that sense, except he has exposed truths which are embarrassing to the United States administration and in particular its predilection of going to war of the past years.”

Ms Moris called the case against her partner a “colossal injustice”, telling reporters she believes Assange is facing “punishment by process”.

“Yesterday, Julian and I were permitted to embrace for the first time in 17 months. Throughout my visit to Belmarsh, I held his warm hand”, she said.

“Julian has been denied the love and affection of his family for so long. Julian and the kids will never get this time back. This shouldn’t be happening.

“The US government is exploiting the inherently unfair extradition arrangement between the US and the UK…in order to arbitrarily prolong the imprisonment of an innocent man, accused of practicing journalism.”

Assange, whose is sporting shoulder length white hair, followed court proceeding from a videolink booth at HMP Belmarsh.

The full appeal hearing has now been set for October 27 and 28.

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