Julian Assange may be extradited to the US based on a new British court ruling issued early Friday, according to multiple reports from news outlets in London. 
The court of first instance ruled in January that Assange could not be extradited to the US because he would likely face torture in the US penitentiary system and risk suicide.
Its co-founder WikiLeaks faces 17 charges in the United States, first brought against him by the President's Department of Justice Donald Trump, including computer hacking and violating the Espionage Act of 1917. The charges could earn him up to 175 years in prison.
First Circuit Judge Vanessa Baraitser, exsignalene that Assange will likely face solitary confinement, a punishment that most countries in the developed world consider to be torture.
"Mr Assange is facing the bleak prospect of severely restrictive detention facilities designed to remove physical contact and reduce social interaction with the outside world to a minimum. "She treats these prospects like someone with a diagnosis of clinical depression and persistent suicidal thoughts," Judge Vanessa Baraitser said in her ruling.
However, the court of appeals disagreed, supporting the argument of the US Department of Justice that Assange is not so mentally ill that he would be forced to commit suicide.
But the United States has vowed that Assange will not face torture and has said he could serve any prison sentence in his native Australia.
"Julian's life is threatened once again, as is the right of journalists to publish material that governments and companies find uncomfortable," said current WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson.
