WikiLeaks founder fights extradition

LAWYERS for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asked a court for a second time yesterday to block his extradition from Britain to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct, arguing the case was legally flawed.

The 40-year-old Australian computer expert is in the High Court in London for a two-day hearing after losing an initial challenge to the extradition order in February.

His defence lawyer Ben Emmerson told two judges the European arrest warrant (EAW) on which he was being held was flawed because it failed to provide “a fair, accurate and proper” description of his alleged sexual misconduct in Sweden.

Emmerson also argued Assange, arrested in December and now on bail, was a victim of a “philosophical and judicial mismatch” between English and Swedish law on what constituted sex crimes.

Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange about three allegations of sexual assault and one of rape made by two women, both WikiLeaks volunteers, in Sweden last August. He denies the allegations and has not been formally charged with any offence.

The whistle-blowing website began publishing a cache of more than 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables which angered the US government and caused a media sensation.

Assange, wearing a dark-blue suit, sat quietly in court, swapping notes with his defence team and aides.

Fellow Australian and left-wing investigative journalist and author, John Pilger, sat close by. He had earlier arrived at court to be greeted by a small group of supporters some carrying banners reading: “Free Assange.”

In a case which has drawn huge international interest, two judges are being asked by Assange’s legal team to rule that his sexual encounters with both women were consensual and the alleged offences do not merit extradition.

Assange celebrated his 40th birthday on Sunday in the English countryside where he is required to live under strict bail conditions.