Assange extradition hearing resumes

LONDON, Monday

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in a British court today to fight attempts to extradite him to Sweden over sex crime allegations.

Lawyers for the 39-year-old Australian are expected to argue that the extradition request is unacceptable because he has not been charged with any crime.

Wearing a grey coat and dark blue suit and tie, Mr Assange smiled as he entered the complex at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court in southeast London, Britain’s highest security court, for the start of the two-day hearing.

A decision is not expected on Tuesday, with the judge expected to defer until later this month.

If the ruling goes against Mr Assange he will be able to appeal all the way to England’s supreme court.

Swedish prosecutors want to question Mr Assange over allegations of sexual assault and rape made by two women.

Mr Assange, who won worldwide notoriety for his website’s release of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, insists the attempts to extradite him are politically motivated.

His lawyers were to argue that if Mr Assange were extradited to Sweden, he would risk extradition or could even be passed on to the United States where they say he could face the death penalty.

Mr Assange, who was arrested in London in December 7, now faces a widening criminal probe in the United States and has made powerful enemies in Washington.

The former computer hacker’s legal team were to take the rare step of publishing their defence argument in full online later today.

One of his lawyers, Mark Stephens, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “You will see some fundamental challenges to the European arrest warrant scheme.”

Lawyers are expected to argue that the arrest warrant is invalid because Assange is only wanted for questioning and has not been charged and that the Swedish prosecutor lacked the authority to issue it. (AFP)