THE FOUNDER OF WIKILEAKS will today begin a two-day hearing at a magistrates’ court in London, which will determine whether he should be extradited to Sweden to face charges of rape and molestation there.
Julian Assange, 39, who denies any wrongdoing in Sweden, says the extradition charges are a front for efforts to have him transported to the United States, where he fears he could face the death penalty over the actions of his website.
Assange had been arrested in December under a European arrest warrant, and has been on bail in Norfolk. since before Christmas
In a move perhaps typical of Assange and his modus operandi, his lawyers have decided to post the entirety of their courtroom defence online; it will appear on the homepage of Finers Stephens Innocent, his law firm, at 10am today.
The full defence, the Daily Telegraph reports, is likely to contain “fundamental challenges” to the European Arrest Warrant scheme.
The firm had outlined a skeletal defence on its website in December, and said it expected to argue that Assange could be detained in Guantanamo Prison – or, worse, potentially put to death – if the United States was to seek his extradition from Sweden.
He has further argued, the BBC continues, that he would not be subject to a fair trial in Sweden over the rape charges, because they are customarily held in secret and without a jury.
The Guardian quotes the head of the Swedish prosecutor’s office, however, as saying Assange would be protected from extradition to outside of the European Union by strict European rules.
Sweden, Nils Rekke said, would be required to get approval from the UK if it was to receive an American request for Assange to be handed over.
The ruling in today’s case is likely to be delivered in several weeks, after which both sides will be able to appeal.
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