JULIAN ASSANGE HAS APPEARED in court in London for a procedural hearing on Sweden’s extradition request.

Speaking to the press outside the court, Assange said he was happy about today’s hearing and WikiLeaks would continue to publish documents, the PA reports.

Assange and his legal team have made their skeleton argument against his extradition publicly available.

The provisional argument claims that the Swedish prosecutor who requested his extradition is not authorised to issue European Arrest Warrants and says “extradition has been sought for an improper purpose”. It also claims that there has been an “abuse of process” in failing to fully provide Assange with documents relating to the case.

The issues outlined in this provisional argument will be explored in greater detail and expanded upon at Assange’s extradition hearing, which has been set for 7 and 8 February.

The WikiLeaks founder was released on conditional bail. He said WikiLeaks would continue its work “unabated” and the site was stepping up its publication of “matters relating to ‘cablegate’ and other materials” via its international newspaper partners.

Assange denies committing sexual offences as alleged by two women in Sweden. Swedish authorities are seeking his extradition to answer police questioning over the allegations.

His lawyers claim he could face the death penalty or detention in Guantanamo Bay if the US seeks extradition following his successful extradition to Sweden, the Guardian reports.