WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition battle resumes with fight over US charges
- Judge rejects request from Assange’s lawyers to set aside allegations that he conspired with hackers linked to ‘Anonymous’ and ‘LulzSec’ groups
- Assange has been in London jail for year and a half since being kicked out of Ecuadorean embassy, where he was hiding from Swedish sexual-assault allegations
Julian Assange’s extradition hearing resumed in London after a seven-month hiatus, with the judge rejecting an attempt by lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder to set aside the allegations of a broader US indictment.
A new charge sheet against Assange arrived “desperately late”, giving his team no time to respond, his lawyer, Mark Summers, said on Monday. The allegations that Assange conspired with hackers affiliated with the “Anonymous” and “LulzSec” groups form an entirely separate extradition request and should be set aside, he said.
“How much of this is said to be criminal activity is anyone’s guess,” Summers said. “What’s happening here is abnormal, unfair and liable to create real injustice.”
Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected the argument, saying that Assange could have applied to postpone the proceedings and did not do so.
The US has charged Assange with endangering national security by conspiring to obtain and disclose classified information.