WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Too Sick to Attend Extradition Hearing
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday did not attend the opening of what may be his final U.K. legal effort to stop his extradition to the U.S. to face spying charges, with his lawyer saying he was unable to attend for health reasons.
The two-day hearing at London’s High Court is set to determine if Assange, 52, can be granted a new appeal hearing against a 2022 decision by the British government that he can be lawfully extradited to the U.S. to answer 18 criminal charges. American prosecutors claim Assange illegally helped former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal diplomatic cables and military files that were published by WikiLeaks, allegedly putting lives in danger.
Assange has been fighting against extradition to the U.S. for over a decade. He spent seven years living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before his arrest in April 2019. He’s been held in Belmarsh Prison—a high-security facility on the outskirts of the English capital—ever since.