London, Jan. 4, (dpa/GNA) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to appear in a London court on Monday to hear the decision over his extradition to the US, where the 49-year-old is facing 18 charges that could land him in jail for 175 years.
Washington has charged Assange with violating the Espionage Act by conspiring with former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak a trove of classified material in 2010 relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The secret documents were released on Wikileaks while Assange also collaborated with journalists at prominent news outlets.
His supporters and press freedom groups view him as an investigative reporter who has brought war crimes to light.
Reporters Without Borders, for instance, says it’s “firmly opposed” to extradition as it “would set a dangerous precedent for all journalists who publish classified information that is of public interest.”
Judge Vanessa Baraitser is to give her verdict at London’s Old Bailey court in hearing that begins at 10 am (1000 GMT).
An appeal is expected no matter the ruling, meaning the case could eventually be heard at the British Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
Nils Melzer, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, described the trial in London unfair.
“The motivation behind the extradition request is not in compliance with basic legal standards, with the protections of freedom of the press and so on,” Melzer told broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
“Julian Assange is being prosecuted by the United States for espionage, just because he practiced investigative journalism,” he said.
In 2010, Sweden announced that its officers were investigating two accusations of sexual assault against Assange, which he denied and said were without merit.
After an international arrest warrant was issued, Assange launched a legal battle against extradition to Sweden. After that failed, he sought refuge in London’s Ecuadorian embassy in 2012, stating he believed it would eventually lead to an extradition to the US.
Sweden dropped its investigation in 2017. In April 2019, Assange’s asylum status was revoked, prompting British police to arrest him for breaching his bail conditions in 2012.
Assange is currently in custody in HMP Belmarsh, a prison in south-east London.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, described the upcoming hearing as a “large-scale attack on freedom of speech.”
“The US Government should listen to the groundswell of support coming from the main stream media editorials, NGOs around the world … who are all calling for these charges to be dropped,” he said.
The years in confinement have taken a toll on Assange’s mental and physical health, according to his lawyers, doctors and UN experts.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a panel of independent legal scholars, ruled in 2016 that Assange had been subject to arbitrary detention since his first arrest in London in 2010 in connection with the Swedish allegations.
After visiting him in prison in May 2019, Melzer, the UN rapporteur on torture, said Assange displayed “all the symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture.”
GNA