Court issued an order to extradite Assange

JULIAN Assange’s extradition to the US has moved a step closer after a court order.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court has formally issued an order to extradite the WikiLeaks founder after years of legal toing and froing.

Home Secretary Priti Patel will need to approve the order, although defence lawyers may yet appeal to the High Court.

An extradition order was issued by chief magistrate Paul Goldspring during a seven-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Mr Goldspring said: “In layman’s terms, I am duty bound to send your case to the secretary of state for a decision.”

The extradition of Assange may yet be further delayed by an appeal.

The 50-year-old was not present in court physically and instead watched the administrative proceedings by video link from Belmarsh Prison.

Assange is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He has always denied any wrongdoing.