Assange misses court hearing amid calls in Australia for his release – The Guardian

A coalition of Australian MPs, human rights advocates and journalists have called on their countrys government to intervene in the case of Julian Assange, who was said to be too ill to attend the latest court hearing of his extradition case.

The imprisoned WikiLeaks founder was unable to attend via video link because of ill-health and advice from his doctors, according to his partner Stella Moris.

WikiLeaks releases about 470,000 classified military documents concerning American diplomacy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It later releases a further tranche of more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables.

A Swedish prosecutor issues a European arrest warrant for Assange over sexual assault allegations involving two Swedish women. Assange denies the claims.

A British judge rules that Assange can be extradited to Sweden. Assange fears Sweden will hand him over to US authorities who could prosecute him.

Assangeis questionedin a two-day interview over the allegations at the Ecuadorian embassy by Swedish authorities.

Britain refuses Ecuador's request to accord Assange diplomatic status, which would allow him to leave the embassy without being arrested.

Police arrest Assange at the embassyon behalf of the US after his asylum was withdrawn. He is charged by the US with 'a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.'

Assange's extradition hearing begins at Woolwich crown court in south-east London.

After a week of opening arguments, the extradition case is to be adjourned until May, when the two sides will lay out their evidence. The judge is not expected to rule until several months after that, with the losing side likely to appeal. If the courts approve extradition, the British government will have the final say.

Assange, 48, is wanted in the US to face 17 charges under the Espionage Act and conspiracy to commit computer intrusion after the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011.

He is being held at Belmarsh prison in south London while the court system tries to reschedule his extradition hearing, which was postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Eight Australian MPs, four senators and a number of members of Australias legislature are among those who wrote to their foreign minister before Mondays hearing and urged that a diplomatic representation be made to the UK government to ask that Assange be released on bail.

Citing the impact of Covid-19 in British prisons, they wrote: The extradition hearings have been disrupted and delayed, leaving Mr Assange unable to have his case heard until September 2020 at the earliest, while deaths within the UK prison populations and illness amongst judicial and penal staff cohorts continue to rise.

Assanges full extradition hearing is set to take place on 7 September, having originally been scheduled for 18 May, although a crown court has not yet been found to take the case. A further administrative hearing is due to take place on 29 June. It was agreed at Mondays hearing that psychiatric reports on Assange from the prosecution and defence are due to be presented to the court before the end of July.

Assanges lawyers have complained that they have not had adequate access to their client, who was said to be at a heightened risk of contracting coronavirus because of an underlying lung condition. Journalists have also struggled to cover the case owing to barely audible phone links to administrative hearings, such as Mondays.

Joseph Farrell of WikiLeaks criticised the fact that a time and place for the remainder of the hearing was yet to be announced by the judge after evidence was initially submitted over a number of days in February.

The delay has been a punishment in itself, Farrell said. Whether Julian can get proper access to his legal team remains unlikely, as Belmarsh prison remains in full lockdown.

Read the original post:
Assange misses court hearing amid calls in Australia for his release - The Guardian