Assange appears in London court for US extradition hearing
LONDON — Julian Assange, the embattled founder of WikiLeaks, made his first appearance in a London court in months Monday (7), as an evidentiary hearing began in his US extradition case, a crucial moment in a prolonged legal struggle that has spanned a decade.
In the hearings, Assange and his lawyers will argue against his extradition on the US charges, which accuse Assange of violating the Espionage Act. The charges stem from the publishing of secret military and diplomatic documents by WikiLeaks in 2010.
The proceedings, which are expected to last until early October, had been delayed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Assange, 49, last appeared in a London courtroom in February, before the hearing was pushed back.
On Monday, Assange appeared at the Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, in central London. When asked whether he would consent to be extradited to the United States, Assange replied simply, “No.”
His lawyers have framed the case as politically motivated, stating in court documents that Assange would be unable to receive a fair trial in the United States.
Assange was arrested in London last year when Ecuador abruptly revoked his asylum and expelled him from its embassy there after he had spent seven years holed up in the building.
The US charges allege that Assange conspired with Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, to hack into a Pentagon computer network, and that he then began publishing the secret documents.
Assange faces up to 175 years in prison if found guilty on all counts.
On Monday, the defence called its first witness, Mark Feldstein, a professor at the University of Maryland and a former investigative reporter, who appeared by video link.
He testified that the passing of leaked, classified information to news organizations in the United States was common, saying that “some of the most respected journalists in the nation” had made a career out of receiving leaked information.
“It’s routine, every government study in the last 60 years has said that it is widespread, and these leaks, they shed light on decision-making by the government,” Feldstein said, noting that they have also “exposed government deceit.”
Feldstein also said that US authorities had not pursued charges against publishers of leaked information “because of fear of running afoul of the free press clause in the Constitution.”
-New York Times