WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may “soon” lose his legal battle to prevent his extradition to the US, which wants to prosecute him for “espionage”, the website’s editor-in-chief, Kristin Hraffson, told the German Agency. in London yesterday Monday.

The Australian, 51, is still awaiting a decision on the appeal filed by his lawyers after the British court ruling in the summer of 2022. The British government has previously approved Mr Assange’s extradition sought by the US Department of Justice.

For Mr Hrafnson, the rejection of Julian Assange’s appeal would be a “scandal”, but in his case “anything is possible”.

The 60-year-old Icelandic journalist-investigator noted that even in this case, there are still legal options, such as requesting a review of the case, appealing to the Supreme Court, or the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), but all of them can to sell out “within weeks”.

Furthermore, it is not clear whether the Tory government would even consider an ECtHR decision, Mr Hraffson noted.

The legal tug-of-war over the fate of Julian Assange has lasted more than a decade. If extradited to the US and convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.

He is accused of “stealing” and releasing tens of thousands of confidential and classified diplomatic and military documents, with the help of former military analyst Chelsea Manning.

His supporters counter that Mr Assange is a journalist who exposed war crimes, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Australian has been held in Belmars maximum security prison, near the British capital, for four years after police forcibly arrested him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London after his political asylum was revoked by the Latin American country.

Recently, the Australian government came out in favor of ending the legal prosecution of the founder of WikiLeaks.