Julian Assange denied permission to appeal by UK’s top court

By SYLVIA HUI and JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s top court has refused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to appeal against a decision to extradite him to the U.S. to face spying charges. The court said Monday it refused because the case “didn’t raise an arguable point of law.” Assange has sought for years to avoid a trial in the U.S. on a series of charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of a huge trove of classified documents more than a decade ago. 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. In December the High Court overturned that decision after U.S. authorities provided assurances that Assange would be treated humanely.