Now is the time for Albanese to dial up pressure on Biden to drop charges against Julian Assange

The UK high court’s decision to grant leave to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appeal an extradition request to the US in respect of publications of classified information in 2010is an important win for a number of reasons.

Dame Victoria Sharp and Justice Jeremy Johnson gave leave to appeal after hearing arguments from Assange’s counsel that there is no guarantee Assange – because he is not a US citizen – would be able to avail himself of press protections under the first amendment of the US constitution. The US has simply said it promises Assange could raise it but would not guarantee US prosecutors would support Assange’s claim. This decision is a win for journalism and publishing, shifts the momentum in Assange’s favour and provides the ideal opportunity for Anthony Albanese to push Joe Biden to end this pursuit of a man who revealed to the world, among other things, war crimes committed by the US in Iraq.

In a March hearing the court invited the US to provide assurances about three matters. One related to the death penalty, which the US has taken off the table. But its two other “assurances”, both of which concerned the first amendment issue, contained in a diplomatic note issued by the US in April, obviously raise serious questions about Assange’s ability to get a fair trial in the Eastern Virginia court where his case would be heard. As Assange’s counsel Edward Fitzgerald KC said in the hearing on Monday, “the assurance that Assange could argue his First Amendment right is not good enough.”

His prospects on appeal must be on solid ground. To refuse to guarantee important defences in a criminal trial simply because someone is not a citizen of a country where they are being tried would be seen by many lawyers as