{O/C} A witches' brew continues to haunt WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, whose extradition to the U.S. from Britain to face espionage charges has been approved.
But his defiant wife and family members have vowed to enlist every possible means to overturn that decision.
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British Home Secretary Priti Patel lit the extradition touchpaper. One that's had Assange's wife scrambling to decimate the order within the 14-day window.
While she decried the "travesty" of justice she also admitted this was par for the course.
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STELLA ASSANGE, Wife of Julian Assange:
This was always a possibility that Priti Patel would approve sending Julian to the country that has plotted to assassinate him, to the country that Julian exposed the crimes of. And we're not at the end of the road here. We're going to fight this.
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A British court had ruled back in April Australia-born Assange could be deported to the US to confront spy charges over exposing vast troves of US military records that could potentially jeopardise American lives.
But to his supporters, Assange lifted a veil of secrecy over U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The British Home Office stated that Britain had to give the move a go-ahead given courts hadn't found it "oppressive, unjust or abusive".
Equally noteworthy is a British district court judge's initial decision that Assange shouldn't be extradited on grounds that he could commit suicide under trying U.S. prison conditions.
But assurances from the U.S. led to today's verdict.
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Assange's father lamented the ruling.
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JOHN SHIPTON, Father of Julian Assange, New York:
We find it a bit shameful that the United Kingdom has conspired in this process to bring an end to freedom of the press with the Department of Justice of the United States. It's regretful.
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It is a move press freedom and human rights advocates entreated the UK to steer clear of.
Assange is still languishing in London's highly-fortified Belmarsh Prison after being arrested back in 2019 for skipping bail in another legal saga.
Before that, he had spent 7 years holing up inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
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