WIKILEAKS FOUNDER Julian Assange will appear in court in London today for a hearing on efforts by Swedish authorities to extradite him to face allegations of the rape and sexual assault of two women. Court authorities said yesterday, however, that a final decision will not be made until a two-day court hearing in February.
Mr Assange will travel from the Norfolk mansion where he has stayed since his release from prison in December to the 10am hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court in east London. He maintains that, if he is sent to Stockholm, he is danger of being extradited to the US to face espionage charges that could see him spending his life in prison.
The Australian has already faced a warning from Norfolk police after he showed up late for a court-ordered daily appearance at a police station near the mansion where he is staying.
“Julian Assange has been given a verbal warning after reporting for bail outside the agreed time. He has been reminded he could be arrested should it happen again,” said Norfolk police.
Since he was released from jail on £200,000 bail, Mr Assange has been required to turn up at the police station every day between 2pm and 5pm, and to wear an electronic tag. However, he has not faced any restrictions on using the internet from his temporary home at Ellingham Hall, owned by journalist and businessman Vaughan Smith.
The Guardian– one of a small number of international newspapers that received advance sight of the US diplomatic cables held by Mr Assange's organisation – is to publish a book early next month, dubbed "the first in-depth account of the WikiLeaks operation".
The book, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, was written by the Guardian's investigations editor, David Leigh, and its Moscow correspondent, Luke Harding. It claims to have had "unprecedented access to all of the major players" in WikiLeaks, including Mr Assange, though relations between the Guardianand the Australian have become strained in recent weeks.
Mr Assange is reported to have been deeply angered by the newspaper’s decision to publish extracts from statements made by the two Swedish women who have alleged he forced them to have sex without a condom. Mr Assange has consistently denied his relationship with the two was non-consensual.
In interviews with two Swiss newspapers, Mr Assange has claimed WikiLeaks has been losing €500,000 every week since it began publishing the confidential US diplomatic cables, though he did not explain how such losses have been suffered. A number of credit-card companies and PayPal have refused to accept donations from the public to his group.
The hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court, where Mr Assange will be represented by leading London barrister Geoffrey Robertson is described as a case management. The substantive arguments on the merits of the extradition application by the Swedish authorities will not be heard until the two-day hearing next month, beginning on February 10th.