The Belmarsh Tribunal

A travelling people's tribunal named after the London prison where Julian Assange was held, convened while he fought extradition to the United States.

Convened by

Progressive International, inspired by the Russell–Sartre Tribunal of 1966.

Panel

A rotating cast of activists, artists, thinkers and political representatives at each sitting.

Question

In its organisers' words: to put the United States government on trial for its twenty-first-century crimes, from Iraq to Guantánamo to CIA surveillance, and to draw attention to the persecution of Julian Assange, who revealed them.

Legal status

A campaign tribunal convened by an advocacy organisation, with no legal powers.

Website

progressive.international

• #peoples-tribunal
• #press-freedom
• #extradition
• #united-states
• #london

What it found

As stated by the tribunal itself. These are its findings, not a court's, and not ours.

• Its organisers describe it as putting the United States government on trial and arguing the case against Assange's extradition. We have not found a published formal judgment; if one exists, tell us and we will add it.

The nuance

The legal case it campaigned about ended outside any courtroom verdict on the merits. In June 2024 Assange pleaded guilty in a US federal court in Saipan to one Espionage Act conspiracy count and was sentenced to the 62 months he had already spent in custody in the UK.

Before that, the English High Court had allowed the US appeal against the refusal to extradite (December 2021), and in March 2024 had given the US the chance to provide assurances before deciding whether to allow Assange to appeal.

Timeline

1. OCT 2020First sitting, held online.
   Sources: The Belmarsh Tribunal
2. DEC 2021High Court allows the US appeal and remits the case for it to be sent to the Home Secretary.
   Sources: Government of the United States of America v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin)
3. → MAR 2023Further sittings in London (Westminster), New York City and Washington DC, then Sydney in March 2023.
   Sources: The Belmarsh Tribunal
4. MAR 2024High Court adjourns three grounds to give the US time to file assurances.
   Sources: Assange v Government of the United States of America [2024] EWHC 700 (Admin)
5. JUN 2024Plea and time-served sentence in Saipan; Assange leaves for Australia.
   Sources: WikiLeaks Founder Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Conspiring to Obtain and Disclose Classified National Defense Information

Related tribunals

• The Gaza Tribunal (international) — An international people's tribunal that sat in Sarajevo and Istanbul and whose Jury of Conscience delivered a moral judgment that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

Primary sources

• The Belmarsh Tribunal — Campaign page: first sitting online on 2 October 2020, later sittings in London, New York City, Washington DC and Sydney; inspired by the Russell–Sartre Tribunal.
• Government of the United States of America v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin) — High Court allows the US appeal, quashes the order discharging Assange, and remits the case so it is sent to the Home Secretary.
• Assange v Government of the United States of America [2024] EWHC 700 (Admin) — High Court refuses five grounds and adjourns three, giving the US until 16 April 2024 to file assurances, failing which leave to appeal would be granted on those three.
• WikiLeaks Founder Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Conspiring to Obtain and Disclose Classified National Defense Information — Plea in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan): one Espionage Act conspiracy count, 62-month time-served sentence, return to Australia.

Checked 2026-10-15 · JSON · source file · change history