 The reality is, detention and extradition without charge has become a feature of the European Union, a feature which has been exploited, yes, in my case, for political reasons. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States. WikiLeaks has condemned this outcome as a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy. The organization said it was in Priti Patel's power to do the right thing. Instead, she will forever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise. Assange's legal team will have 14 days to appeal the decision and action they have confirmed that they will pursue. WikiLeaks stated, today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle. We will appeal through the legal system. The next appeal will be before the High Court. Assange has been held at the High Security Prison in Belmarsh after he was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2019. If he is extradited to the US, he will face trial on charges of espionage and hacking. These are related to the hundreds of thousands of classified documents and diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks, which expose the horrific abuses committed by the US military during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. If Assange is convicted, he could face a combined prison sentence of 175 years. WikiLeaks said make no mistake, this has always been a political case. Julian published evidence that the country trying to extradite him committed war crimes and covered them up. Their revenge is to try to disappear him into the darkest recesses of the prison system for the rest of his life to deter others from holding governments to account. Early last year, a district court in UK blocked Assange's extradition, declaring it oppressive on account of his mental health and high risk of suicide. However, this decision was thrown out by the High Court in December following assurances given by US prosecutors regarding the conditions of Assange's imprisonment. A Hope Office spokesperson stated on Friday that in this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange, nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to fair trial and freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US, he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health. Assange's defense team has dismissed the supposed assurances, highlighting the conditional and reversible nature. They will now have the opportunity to challenge the extradition based on other points of law which have not been subject to the abuse process. These could potentially include grounds such as the right to freedom of expression and if the extradition was politically motivated. WikiLeaks also criticised this decision pointing out that the Home Secretary has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US, the same country that plotted his assassination. This is in reference to investigative reporting by Yahoo News that unveiled CIA floating plans of extreme measures against Assange which included the possibility of kidnapping or even assassinating him. This was when the CIA was under Mike Pompeo during the presidency of Donald Trump. The Home Secretary's decision has drawn global outrage with the International Federation of Journalists calling it vindictive and a real blow to media freedom.