The founder of the Internet site Wikileaks, Julian Assange, will be presented Tuesday and Wednesday, after eight months’ legal battle to a court in London to contest his extradition to Sweden, where he is accused of rape and sexual assault.
Assange, an Australian citizen aged 40 years, placed under house arrest in early December in Great Britain, will appear at the High Court, in London, where he will appeal against a court decision in London, issued in February, to validate the request for extradition of Sweden.
He always denied allegations of sexual harassment and rape, from two Swedish women for acts that occurred in Sweden in August 2010. Assange always gave assurances that it was consensual sex.
In February, at the first court, Judge Howard Riddle gave green light to his extradition. He rejected the arguments of defense lawyers, in particular the one that Assange would not have a “fair trial” in Sweden, claiming that files of a sexual nature are judged generally behind close doors in this country.
Assange, which has not been formally indicted by the Swedish authorities, was arrested in December in London under a European arrest warrant issued in Stockholm, after which he was placed under house arrest at a friend’s mansion.
His arrest took place in the context that Wikileaks published a series of U.S. diplomatic cables, which caused anger of the American administration, which is preparing a plot in order to neutralize Assange, according to his supporters.
The United States was already deeply affected by the dissemination by Wikileaks, previously, in 2010, of reports of secret U.S. military activities in Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
The High Court will announce its decision on Thursday. The judicial procedure will be long Assange announcing that he would use all means available, to the Supreme Court, if necessary, to oppose extradition.
The Australian states that his main concern is that he will be extradited to the United States, an argument without merit as appreciated by judge Riddle at the trial session in February.
A criminal investigation against Assange was opened in July 2010, in the United States, but the U.S. administration, which continues its efforts to impeach him, faces a difficult case.
Assange, listed among the 100 most influential personalities in 2011, according to a ranking conducted by U.S. magazine Time, was to publish his memoirs in April, but the book was not yet published.
According to British press, he fears that his book could provide “means” that could be used against him by the United States.
Subject to strict conditions for provisional release – wearing an electronic bracelet and must comply with travel restrictions – the ex-hacker has celebrated on Sunday his birthday, with about 100 guests at the impressive property where he resides, according to Vaughan Smith, the owner of the mansion.