Assange's extradition is only the tip of the iceberg
Flawed European arrest warrant system means thousands face unjust extradition each year. At the heart of the problem with the European arrest warrant (EAW) is the inability or unwillingness of Europe's judges to prevent injustice. The standard retort to arguments against extradition is that we must co-operate with our European neighbours, we must trust them to do the right thing. We do, of course, need an effective system of extradition in Europe: we cannot allow people to evade justice by crossing Europe's open borders. Given the grave human consequences of extradition, the current blind faith approach to justice is not, however, acceptable.
The challenge now is to fix the EAW by building in much-needed safeguards against misuse and injustice. Fair Trials International has given the UK's extradition review panel concrete suggestions for how this could be achieved. Unless and until it is, many more people will suffer an unjustified extradition ordeal and public confidence in the EAW will continue to ebb away.