Lawyers for Julian Assange have launched what could be his final bid to avoid extradition to the US to face trial over leaking military secrets.
Some supporters of Assange started gathering outside court hours ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, waving placards featuring the words “Drop the charges”.
Originally from Australia, Mr Assange’s mammoth legal battle began in 2010 when Wikileaks disclosed huge numbers of confidential military files from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - including footage showing a United States helicopter gunning down civilians in Baghdad.
Two years later, a British judge ruled that while the US had shown it had a legitimate criminal case against Mr Assange, he could not be transferred because he may try to harm himself.
At this week’s hearing, Mr Assange’s lawyers are asking for permission to challenge the extradition order signed by the then UK home secretary Priti Patel almost two years ago.
Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, said US Marshals could arrive in London within days if the High Court throws the case out.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Lawyers for Julian Assange have launched what could be his final bid to avoid extradition to the US to face trial over leaking military secrets.
Some supporters of Assange started gathering outside court hours ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, waving placards featuring the words “Drop the charges”.
Originally from Australia, Mr Assange’s mammoth legal battle began in 2010 when Wikileaks disclosed huge numbers of confidential military files from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - including footage showing a United States helicopter gunning down civilians in Baghdad.
Two years later, a British judge ruled that while the US had shown it had a legitimate criminal case against Mr Assange, he could not be transferred because he may try to harm himself.
At this week’s hearing, Mr Assange’s lawyers are asking for permission to challenge the extradition order signed by the then UK home secretary Priti Patel almost two years ago.
Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, said US Marshals could arrive in London within days if the High Court throws the case out.
The original article contains 730 words, the summary contains 178 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!