London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Harry Dunn crash: Family urge government to block Julian Assange extradition

The family of Harry Dunn has urged the government to refuse the extradition of Julian Assange until the US returns the suspect in his death back to the UK.

Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger accused the US of "hypocrisy" in seeking Assange's extradition, despite rejecting the return of Anne Sacoolas.

She is suspected of causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving.

The family said the foreign secretary told them he is "reviewing all options".

The 19-year-old's parents have called on Dominic Raab and the government to refuse any further extradition requests by the US - including that of the Wikileaks co-founder - after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected extraditing Sacoolas, last month.

Ms Sacoolas, a US national and the wife of an intelligence officer, claimed diplomatic immunity after the fatal crash in August, and returned to the US.

Mr Seiger said the Foreign Affairs Committee had accepted their request for a public inquiry into the extradition, and the diplomatic immunity given to Ms Sacoolas, who reportedly worked for the CIA.

It comes after the Foreign Office said it had "no plans" to launch a public inquiry into the teenager's death, saying it was "confident" the case had been "handled properly and lawfully throughout".

Mr Dunn died after his motorbike was in collision with a car owned by Mrs Sacoolas.

The crash happened outside RAF Croughton where Mrs Sacoolas' husband Jonathan worked as an intelligence officer.

Mr Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles and father, Tim Dunn, said Mr Raab told them in a January 27 meeting that the government is "reviewing all options" after the US refused to return Ms Sacoolas to the UK.

Referring to Mr Assange's potential extradition to the US, Mr Seiger said Mr Dunn's family "understand and respect" the "huge public interest" attached to extradition, adding that "no one must be allowed to evade justice" by fleeing a country.


Treaty 'torn up'

In refusing the UK's "lawful" extradition request, Mr Seiger accused the US of launching "the single greatest attack" on its "so-called special relationship" with the UK.

Mr Seiger added: "The US is not behaving like an ally and has effectively thumbed its nose up at the UK and ignored the clearly laid out provisions in the treaty, effectively tearing it up."

He said the principle of "reciprocity" is at the heart of any extradition treaty, which the US is "failing to abide by" in its "disgraceful refusal" to extradite Ms Sacoolas.

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

Mr Seiger continued: "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."

Mr Pompeo previously raised the prospect of "a deal to be done" over Mr Dunn's case and the US investigation of Prince Andrew's Jeffery Epstein connections.

But Mr Raab said there would be no "haggling" over the two cases, saying the extradition treaty with the US is "rules-based".

Mr Seiger said Mr Dunn's family had been "badly let down" since his death and urged the government to "show us what they are made of, if they are to instil any confidence that they really do have our backs."

His comments followed Saturday's protest in which hundreds of Assange's supporters marched through London ahead of the start of his extradition trial at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday.

Mr Assange is facing extradition to the US on 18 charges and faces up to 175 years in prison if found guilty.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×