UK judge rejects bid to delay Assange extradition hearing

A British judge on Monday rejected a request by attorneys for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to delay his extradition hearing until next year to give his lawyers additional time to respond to U.S. allegations that he conspired with hackers to obtain classified information.

The adjournment request came on the first day of a London court hearing where Assange is fighting American prosecutors' try to send him to the U.S. to stand trial on spying charges.

U.S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret U.S. military documents ten years ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

Assange’s legal representatives say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power which will stifle press freedom and put journalists all over the world at risk.

The U.S. Justice Department expanded its case against Assange in a fresh indictment announced in June, though it didn't introduce new charges. But Assange lawyer Mark Summers said it was “an impossible task” for the legal team to handle the new allegations in time for Monday’s court hearing, especially given that they had only “limited access” to the imprisoned Assange.

He said District Judge Vanessa Baraitser should excise the brand new American claims, which he said were sprung on the defense “out of nowhere.”

The judge rejected the request, saying the defense had declined a youthful opportunity in August to postpone the hearing. The defense then asked for the case to be adjourned until January. Baraitser refused, saying Assange’s legal representatives had “ample time” before Monday to express their concerns.

The case was already organized for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Assange, who has spent 16 months in a British prison, sat in the dock at the Old Bailey criminal court and formally refused the U.S. extradition demand. Assange, who legal representatives say has suffered physical and mental ill-health because of his ordeal, wore a suit and tie and spoke evidently to verify his name and date of birth.

Several dozen supporters, including designer Vivienne Westwood and Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, gathered beyond your courthouse, chanting, banging drums and calling his prosecution a threat to press freedom.

“Julian Assange may be the trigger, he's shining the light on all of the corruption on the globe," Westwood said.

American authorities allege that Assange conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack right into a Pentagon computer and release thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new June indictment accuses Assange of recruiting hackers at conferences in Europe and Asia, recruiting an adolescent to hack in to the computer of a former WikiLeaks associate and conspiring with members of hacking groups referred to as LulzSec and Anonymous. U.S. prosecutors say the data underscores Assange’s efforts to procure and release classified information, allegations that form the basis of criminal charges.

Assange’s lawyers, however, argue that he is a journalist eligible for First Amendment protection and say the leaked documents exposed U.S. military wrongdoing. Among the files released by WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

Assange’s legal troubles commenced this year 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wished to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. He refused to visit Stockholm, saying he feared extradition or illegal rendition to the United States or even to the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In 2012, Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond the reach of U.K. and Swedish authorities - but also effectively a prisoner, struggling to leave the tiny diplomatic mission in London. The partnership between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested him for jumping bail in 2012.

Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed, but Assange remains in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison as he awaits the extradition decision.

Supporters say the ordeal has harmed Assange’s physical and mental health, leaving him with depression, dental problems and a significant shoulder ailment. The hearing is likely to include expert psychiatric evidence about his state of mind.

Journalism organizations and human rights groups have urged Britain to refuse the extradition request. Amnesty International said Assange was “the mark of a poor public campaign by U.S. officials at the best levels.”

The extradition hearing opened in February but was placed on hold when the U.K. went into lockdown in March to slow the spread of coronavirus. It is resuming with social distancing measures in court and video feeds so journalists and observers can observe remotely.

The case is because of run until early October. The judge is likely to take weeks and even months to consider her verdict, with the losing side more likely to appeal.