- Title: WikiLeaks founder Assange remanded in jail after brief UK court hearing
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - FEBRUARY 2, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SUPREME COURT SIGN READING (English): "THE SUPREME COURT"
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 11:51
- Keywords: Julian Assange London Sweden Ecuadorian embassy appeal arrest warrent Ecuador wikileaks
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., FORT MEADE, MARYLAND, AND NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES / BAGHDAD, IRAQ/ LONDON, ENGLAND/ UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, UNITED KINGDOM / BERLIN, GERMANY/ QUITO, ECUADOR
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., FORT MEADE, MARYLAND, AND NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES / BAGHDAD, IRAQ/ LONDON, ENGLAND/ UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, UNITED KINGDOM / BERLIN, GERMANY/ QUITO, ECUADOR
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00FB0O4W93
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE
WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange was remanded in custody on Friday (October 11) after a brief hearing in a London court which will decide whether he should be extradited to the United States to face spying charges.
Assange, 48, faces 18 counts in the U.S. including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.
Appearing by video link from Belmarsh Prison in east London, Assange, bearded and wearing a purple sweatshirt, spoke only to confirm his name and age before he was remanded in prison until his next hearing later this month.
"I very much hope we can make some progress on this case," Judge Tam Ikram told him at the end of the five-minute hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Australian-born Assange came to prominence when WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010, angering Washington which said he had put lives at risk.
In 2012, he took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden where he was accused of sex crimes which he denied, saying he believed he would ultimately be sent on to the United Sates.
He was dragged from the embassy in April after seven years and given a 50-week jail term for skipping bail. That sentence was completed last month but he remains in prison while his extradition case continues.
He is due to appear in court again, this time in person, on Oct. 21 with the full extradition hearing due to start on Feb. 25 next year. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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