A British judge on Wednesday formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges. The case will now go to Britain’s interior minister for a decision, though the WikiLeaks founder still has legal avenues of appeal. The order, which brings and end to the years'-long extradition battle closer, comes after the U.K. Supreme Court last month refused Assange permission to appeal against a lower court’s ruling that he could be extradited. Also read:UK court allows Assange's extradition to US for spying case District Judge Paul Goldspring issued the order in a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, as Assange watched by video link from Belmarsh Prison and his supporters rallied outside the courthouse, demanding he be freed. Home Secretary Priti Patel will now decide whether to grant the extradition. The move doesn't exhaust the legal options for Assange, who has sought for years to avoid a trial in the U.S. on charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of a huge trove of classified documents more than a decade ago. His lawyers have four weeks to make submissions to Patel, and can also seek to appeal to the High Court. Assange lawyer Mark Summers told the court that the legal team had “serious submissions” to make. The U.S. has asked British authorities to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse. American prosecutors say Assange unlawfully helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk. Supporters and lawyers for Assange, 50, argue that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing documents that exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that his case is politically motivated. A British district court judge had initially rejected a U.S. extradition request on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. U.S. authorities later provided assurances that the WikiLeaks founder wouldn’t face the severe treatment that his lawyers said would put his physical and mental health at risk. Also read: US set to appeal UK refusal to extradite WikiLeaks' Assange In December, the High Court overturned the lower court’s decision, saying that the U.S. promises were enough to guarantee that Assange would be treated humanely. The Supreme Court in March rejected Assange's attempt to challenge that ruling. Assange’s lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in jail if he is convicted in the U.S., though American authorities have said the sentence was likely to be much lower than that. Assange has been held at Britain’s high-security Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019, when he was arrested for skipping bail during a separate legal battle. Before that, he spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed. Last month, Assange and his partner Stella Moris married in a prison ceremony.

A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States by overturning a lower court's decision that the WikiLeaks founder's mental health was too fragile to withstand the American criminal justice system. The High Court in London ruled that U.S. assurances were enough to guarantee Assange would be treated humanely and directed a lower court judge to send the extradition request to Britain's interior minister for review. Home Secretary Priti Patel, who oversees law enforcement in the U.K., will make the final decision on whether to extradite Assange. “There is no reason why this court should not accept the assurances as meaning what they say,'' the High Court ruling stated. “There is no basis for assuming that the USA has not given the assurances in good faith.” Read: US set to appeal UK refusal to extradite WikiLeaks' Assange Assange’s fiancé, Stella Moris, called the decision a “grave miscarriage of justice” and said Assange's lawyers would seek to appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court. “We will fight," Moris said outside court, where supporters gathered with banners demanding Assange's release. “Every generation has an epic fight to fight and this is ours, because Julian represents the fundamentals of what it means to live in a free society,” she said. Assange, 50, is currently being held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison. The High Court ordered that he remain in custody pending the outcome of the extradition case. In January, a lower court judge refused the U.S. request to extradite Assange to face spying charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret military documents a decade ago. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser denied extradition on health grounds, saying the Australian citizen was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions.

A British judge on Monday rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents.

A British judge on Monday rejected a request by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s lawyers for to delay his extradition hearing until the next year.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to challenge the U.S. government's attempt to extradite him on spying charges over the site’s publication of secret U.S. military documents in a UK court, reports AP.

A group of Bay Area activists rallied outside the British Consulate General here on Monday to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from a British prison.

Supporters of Julian Assange gathered Monday outside a high-security London courthouse, where a judge is set to begin hearing a U.S. extradition case against the WikiLeaks founder.

London, Oct 21 (AP/UNB) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in court Monday to fight extradition to the United States on charges of conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer, with his legal team saying it needs more time to prepare its case.