WikiLeaks' Assange to fight US extradition bid in UK court
Julian Assange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is slatedto fight for his freedom in a UK court after a decade of legal drama.
Lawyers for Assange and the US Government are scheduled to face off in London on Monday. Assange would challenge American authorities' attempt to extradite him on spying charges over the site's publication of secret US Military documents.
The extradition hearing was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The 49-year-old Australian has been indicted on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges adding up to a maximum sentence of 175 years. His lawyers say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle press freedom and put journalists at risk.
American prosecutors allege that Assange conspired with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.