LONDON // WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange should be sent to Sweden from Britain to face questioning over alleged sex crimes, London's High Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting his appeal against extradition.
Swedish authorities want to question the 40-year-old over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers.
Assange now has two weeks to make a final appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, any appeal to Britain's highest judicial body must be made on a point of law considered to be of general public interest.
Permission to appeal must also be obtained first from the High Court.
Wearing a navy blue suit and sporting a Remembrance Day poppy in his lapel, Mr Assange was mobbed by supporters as he arrived at court on Wednesday.
He listened intently during the 10-minute hearing but showed no emotion as the result was read out.
He was hugged and kissed by a female supporter after the hearing while outside banners fixed to the court railings proclaimed him to be a "casualty of war and truth".
Mr Assange himself made no immediate comment afterwards but from Sweden, his lawyer Bjorn Hurtig, told Reuters by phone: "This was not entirely unexpected."
If Mr Assange decides not to appeal he will be transferred to Sweden within two weeks, Mr Hurtig said.
"He would then be brought before a judge to see if he is to be detained, and the investigation will proceed," he added.
A lawyer for the women in Sweden making the allegations criticised the High Court for having taken some four months to reach its verdict.
"This decision was exactly what I expected, but I am very critical about the fact that it has taken the High Court such long time, from July," said Claes Borgstrom.
Mr Assange was arrested in Britain 11 months ago and has since been living under strict bail conditions at the country estate of a wealthy supporter.
His whistle-blowing website last year publishing thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.
In 2010 it posted 391,832 secret documents on the Iraqi war and 77,000 classified Pentagon documents on the Afghan conflict.
It also made available about 250,000 individual cables — the daily traffic between the State Department and more than 270 American diplomatic outposts around the world.
A British judge first approved the Swedish request for the computer expert's extradition in February.
Mr Assange's lawyers have argued the Swedish demand is legally flawed and that the sex was consensual. Mr Assange has also accused the United States of putting pressure on Britain, Sweden and the media.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
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Started: 2021
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The Ashes
Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
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Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.