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Image Credit - CNBC[/caption]Julian Assange’s battle took off again in a London court this Monday in an attempt to avoid extradition to the U.S over criminal charges for his active role in the case of the WikiLeaks website after several months of delay owing to the coronavirus breakout and subsequent lockdown.
Assange has been accused of conspiring to hack and release government data and also for violating an espionage law for the confidential cables that were released by the website between 2010 and 2011.
Julian however emerged as a modern-day harbinger of free speech who showed the courage of exposing America’s abuse of power. His published information and documents have caused endangerment of intelligence resources in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq.
He again attracted attention over criticism after WikiLeaks released stolen documents from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential run which have impacted nominee Hilary Clinton. The allegation that those documents were obtained from Russian hackers was however denied by Assange.
His legal team in London has said that all charges against him are a direct hindrance to political and press freedom. Also, if sent back to the U.S for prosecution, he might face the longest jail time. Bail was requested in March saying that the case might instigate the spread of coronavirus. But the court order kept him held.
Julian has lived for seven years in the refuge of the Ecuadorian embassy where he fathered two children. His alyssum was revoked when he fell out and was taken away from there in April 2019 and subsequently served a short British sentence for violating bail terms. Hearing for the U.S extradition charge took place in February and were to resume in May but a delay was imposed because of the virus.
The court is now due to hear elements of defense from witnesses about its political motives, mental health risks, conditions in U.S prisons against human rights laws, and whether he and his lawyers were under surveillance during his time in the embassy.
Assange was physically present at the hearing in February and also on Monday.
