AP |
Julian Assange’s lawyers will begin their final UK legal challenge on Tuesday to stop the WikiLeaks founder from being sent to the United States to face spying charges.
The 52-year-old has been fighting extradition for more than a decade, including seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five years in a high-security prison.
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Assange “is unwell” and is not attending a British court for his extradition hearing for that reason, his lawyer said.
Dozens of supporters holding “Free Julian Assange” signs and chanting “there is only one decision – no extradition” held a noisy protest outside the High Court in London, where Assange’s attorneys will ask two High Court judges to grant a new appeal hearing, his last legal roll of the dice in Britain.
If the judges rule against Assange, he can ask the European Court of Human Rights to block his extradition — though supporters worry he could be put on a plane to the U.S. before that happens.
