- Title: WikiLeaks founder Assange denied delay to extradition hearing by London judge
- Date: 21st October 2019
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - FEBRUARY 13, 2018) (REUTERS) ECUADORIAN FLAG OUTSIDE EMBASSY / CAT AT WINDOW VARIOUS OF "EMBASSY CAT" AT WINDOW
- Embargoed: 4th November 2019 10:59
- Keywords: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied extradition hearing London judge Vanessa Baraitser
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: Various
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA006B21JGP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The full extradition hearing of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will go ahead in February 2020, after London judge Vanessa Baraitser on Monday (October 21) declined a request by his lawyers to delay proceedings by three months.
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.
On Monday Assange, dressed in a navy suit and light blue jumper, raised his fist to supporters in the public gallery. He was cleanly shaven in contrast to the long beard he had grown while holed up in Ecuador's embassy.
Australian-born Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.
Admirers have hailed Assange as a hero for exposing what they describe as abuse of power by modern states and for championing free speech.
His detractors have painted him as a dangerous figure complicit in Russian efforts to undermine the West and U.S. security, and dispute that he is a journalist.
(Production: Soraya Ali) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
