Assange due in court for extradition hearing

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will appear in court in Britain today for a full extradition hearing over alleged sex offences.

The 39-year-old whistleblower is wanted by the Swedish authorities over claims that he sexually assaulted two women during a visit to Stockholm in August.

But his lawyers are expected to argue that he could face execution in the United States if he is extradited to Sweden.

They believe there is a “real risk” he could be extradited on to the US, where he could be detained in Guantanamo Bay or even face the death penalty.

His two-day extradition hearing starts today at Woolwich Crown Court in south east London.

The claim that he could face extradition to the US and even execution emerged in a skeleton argument released by his lawyers in the wake of a preparatory legal hearing at the same court last month.

Assange’s legal team have also suggested that extraditing him to Sweden could breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which bans torture.

They wrote: “It is submitted that there is a real risk that, if extradited to Sweden, the US will seek his extradition and/or illegal rendition to the USA, where there will be a risk of him being detained at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere, in conditions which would breach Article 3 of the ECHR.

“Indeed, if Mr Assange were rendered to the USA without assurances that the death penalty would not be carried out, there is a real risk that he could be made subject to the death penalty.”

They added that “mere suspicion” should not create a request for extradition, adding: “A person’s extradition should not be sought merely in order for him to be questioned.”

The legal document said Assange believed the extradition request had been issued to punish him for his political opinions.

The internet activist, who is currently on bail, has vowed his work will continue unabated as the extradition battle rages on.

He denies committing any offences and his supporters claim the criminal inquiry and extradition request is unfair and politically motivated.

The high security court where his hearing will be held today has been the scene for a string of terrorism trials including the airline bomb plotters and London Glasgow suicide bomber.

Mark Stephens, Assange’s solicitor, has promised to take the unprecedented step of posting his client’s defence argument online at the start of today’s hearing.

Mr Stephens, of law firm Finers Stephens Innocent, told the Telegraph: “We will put our defence argument on my firm’s home page at 10am. You will see some fundamental challenges to the European Arrest Warrant scheme.”