Efforts to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the UK to the US have gone on for years. Here’s what’s been going on and what might happen in court this time.
A country’s laws can be violated by a foreign national, from outside the country.
When this happens within the country, there are plenty of examples of people being convicted for violating local law when visiting. When this happens they get arrested and trialed according to local law.
When it happens from outside or if the perpetrator leaves the country, the country can ask the country that the perpetrator is in for extradition. That can be their home country, or simply another country that they happen to be in.
It is then up to that country’s legal system whether to grant that extradition. Most countries will have laws and policies around when extradition can be granted, and if it is, they will then arrest the individual and hand them over to the country requesting their extradition for trial.
So, by default, they have every right as long as a person is within their borders. And when they aren’t, they can ask for the right. And they are. The government of the other country can then give them the right to uphold their rule of law over this one specific individual.
Assanges whole ordeal has been about whether the countries harbouring him will grant the extradition requested by the US, or properly grant him asylum instead. Ecuador did for a while, but withdrew that and allowed him to be arrested by UK law enforcement. Which they could do because he breached bail on the EU arrest warrant issued by Sweden, valid in the UK due to their membership at the time.
Whether he’d be in the clear within the borders of his home country, isn’t relevant, because that’s not where he is.
A country’s laws can be violated by a foreign national, from outside the country.
When this happens within the country, there are plenty of examples of people being convicted for violating local law when visiting. When this happens they get arrested and trialed according to local law.
When it happens from outside or if the perpetrator leaves the country, the country can ask the country that the perpetrator is in for extradition. That can be their home country, or simply another country that they happen to be in.
It is then up to that country’s legal system whether to grant that extradition. Most countries will have laws and policies around when extradition can be granted, and if it is, they will then arrest the individual and hand them over to the country requesting their extradition for trial.
So, by default, they have every right as long as a person is within their borders. And when they aren’t, they can ask for the right. And they are. The government of the other country can then give them the right to uphold their rule of law over this one specific individual.
Assanges whole ordeal has been about whether the countries harbouring him will grant the extradition requested by the US, or properly grant him asylum instead. Ecuador did for a while, but withdrew that and allowed him to be arrested by UK law enforcement. Which they could do because he breached bail on the EU arrest warrant issued by Sweden, valid in the UK due to their membership at the time.
Whether he’d be in the clear within the borders of his home country, isn’t relevant, because that’s not where he is.
Thanks for taking the time to explain this well.