Why the UK is likely to favour Sweden's request for Julian Assange over US
The home secretary will face significant pressure from UK politicians to hand Assange over to Sweden, writes Sky's Deborah Haynes.
Monday 13 May 2019 13:49, UK
Competing extradition requests for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden and the United States are a diplomatic headache for Britain's home secretary.
But Sajid Javid will most likely give the Swedish request precedence - despite London's special relationship with Washington - because the crime Assange is accused of in that country - rape - is more serious than the case he faces in the US, experts say.
The United States is seeking Assange's extradition in relation to the leaking of sensitive military and diplomatic files, a charge that carries a sentence of up to five years.
Any US pressure on the UK to consider their request first is likely to be less under Donald Trump than it may otherwise have been under a different administration, given the US president has in the past praised WikiLeaks for releasing emails that damaged the election chances of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential race.
This could make the decision a less riAG百家乐在线官网 one diplomatically for the home secretary.
Mr Javid - with one eye on becoming the next Tory leader - will also come under significant pressure from UK politicians to hand Assange over to the Swedish authorities to face the rape charge, which he has always denied.
More than 70 MPs and peers wrote to the home secretary last month to urge him to prioritise the rape case.
Anthony Hanratty, a senior associate at the law firm BDB Pitmans, said extradition requests between two members of the European Union are dealt with under European Arrest Warrants, which are handled through judges or prosecutors rather than by ministers.
By contrast, the American request to extradite Assange is being made through a bilateral treaty between the US and the UK, which goes through the Home Office via diplomatic channels.
This means Mr Javid must decide how that request is treated and whether it should be given a higher priority than the Swedish request for the WikiLeaks chief.
He will likely consider the seriousness of the two alleged offences and which country made their request for extradition first.
On both counts this assessment would put Sweden first, given that the Swedish request was initially made in 2010 when the alleged rape occurred.
Prosecutors dropped their investigation in 2017 because they were unable to move the case forward while Assange had taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
However the case has been reopened following his removal from the embassy.
Mr Hanratty said the home secretary could decide to defer the US request for Assange's extradition until after the Swedish investigation is completed.
This would open the way for the WikiLeaks leader to be extradited to Sweden to face the rape charge once he has completed the prison sentence he is currently serving in the UK over a separate bail violation.
Only once that process is completed could the US request for Mr Assange's extradition be considered.
The UK would have to give their consent before the Swedish authorities could then transfer him to the United States.
What is certain is that this is all going to take a long time to resolve.