U.K. court grants Julian Assange's extradition to the United States

A court in the United Kingdom has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be extradited to the United States to face charges of espionage.

A lower court previously blocked Assange's extradition, but the U.K. High Court has overturned this ruling and said the U.S. government can extradite him, Bloomberg and The New York Times report.

Assange is facing espionage charges stemming from WikiLeaks' publication of classified materials, and he has been in custody since 2019. He was denied bail in January, and a judge said at the time that "the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America," per The Associated Press.

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But the United States won an appeal of this decision after offering "four assurances," including that Assange wouldn't be subjected to "special administrative measures" or held in a maximum security prison and would receive "appropriate clinical and psychological treatment," CNN reports. The U.S. also said that if he's convicted, Assange may be sent to Australia to serve his sentence.

Still, Bloomberg writes that Assange is "unlikely to be sent to the U.S. in the near future," as he still has several options to appeal. Stella Moris, Assange's fiancée, said Friday "we will appeal this decision at the earliest possible moment."