Do not extradite Assange while US refuses to send Harry Dunn’s suspected killer back to UK, government urged

Foreign Affairs Committee launches inquiry into diplomatic immunity following controversy

The family of Harry Dunn has called on the UK government to block the extradition of Julian Assange until the US agrees to hand over Anne Sacoolas.

Radd Seiger, spokesman for the teenager’s father Tim Dunn and mother Charlotte Charles, issued the demand ahead of a week-long hearing to decide the fate of the WikiLeaks founder.

He accused the US of “an extraordinary display of hypocrisy” by refusing to extradite Ms Sacoolas, the diplomat’s wife accused of causing the death of 19-year-old Mr Dunn in a car accident.

“Harry Dunn’s family understand and respect the importance of extradition procedures between nations and the huge public interest that attaches to extradition,” said Mr Seiger.

“No one is above the law and no one must be allowed to evade justice if they manage to flee a country, whether diplomat or not.

“That said, in refusing the UK’s perfectly lawful request to extradite Anne Sacoolas, and not even following the legal and judicial process the US/UK Treaty calls for, the US has launched the single greatest attack on the so called special relationship between the countries in modern memory.”

Mr Seiger added: “In accordance with the principle of reciprocity which the US is failing to abide by, on behalf of Harry Dunn’s family and the millions of concerned citizens in the UK, I now demand that the UK authorities block any further extraditions to the US, including the one of Julian Assange, until such time as Anne Sacoolas is extradited and back on UK soil facing the justice system here.

“Dominic Raab told us when we met with him on 27 January that ‘we are reviewing all our options’ following the refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas.

“I now call him to exercise that option of refusing to extradite Julian Assange and others to the USA.

“It is high time that the UK government comes out and shows us what they are made of if they are to instil any confidence that they really do have our backs, Harry’s family having been so badly let down following his death last August.”

Mr Seiger has previously suggested that Anne Sacoolas should be swapped with Prince Andrew, who has allegedly refused to cooperate with an FBI investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Harry Dunn was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car driven by Mrs Sacoolas outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August last year.

Ms Sacoolas, 42, was granted diplomatic immunity after the crash and allowed to return to her home country. Her refusal to return, backed by Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, sparked an international controversy. She was later charged with causing Mr Dunn’s death by dangerous driving.

The spokesman for the Dunn family accused the US of “thumbing its nose up at the UK” and “tearing up” the extradition treaty between the two countries.

“Despite its disgraceful refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas, the US continues to seek the extradition of people in the UK such as Julian Assange,” said Mr Seiger.

“In doing so, they are demonstrating an extraordinary amount of hypocrisy and the double standards on display are unprecedented.

“The US needs to be brought firmly back into line on the international stage and be made to understand that they are not going to have their way.”

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has announced it will launch an inquiry into diplomatic immunity and extradition following a request by the Dunn family.

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the committee, said: “We need balanced treaties so that Brits facing trial in the US are dealt with in exactly the same way Americans accused of similar crimes in the UK.”

Additional reporting by Press Association