00:00 This is Julian Assange's last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to the United States - a
00:07 two-day hearing at the High Court in London.
00:10 The US is seeking to prosecute Assange over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose
00:15 national defence information following the publication of leaked documents in 2010 related
00:22 to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
00:24 Supporters of the WikiLeaks founder gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday
00:29 and Wednesday, fearful of what an extradition would mean for Assange and for freedom of
00:34 the press.
00:35 "Julian is very appreciative of all the concern by the press and the community support.
00:42 Julian is a political prisoner and he has to be released."
00:46 They were joined in spirit by similar protests in Paris and Berlin.
00:51 The Australian national spent seven years between 2012 and 2019 at the Ecuadorian embassy
00:57 in London, where the South American country granted him political asylum.
01:02 After Ecuador revoked his asylum, Assange was arrested by the Metropolitan Police for
01:06 breaching bail conditions.
01:08 He faced an extradition hearing in London in 2020, but a judge ruled in early 2021 that
01:15 Assange should not be sent to the US.
01:18 Later that year, American authorities won a High Court bid to overturn this ruling.
01:23 Yesterday the High Court heard that the bid to prosecute Assange amounted to state retaliation
01:29 for his political opinions.
01:31 "In the extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States, it says that
01:37 you cannot be extradited for political offences.
01:40 And the fact that this was not properly written into the Act of Parliament which recognised
01:48 the treaty is a loophole through which the United States is trying to drive a wholesale
01:53 attack on a free press."
01:56 Today lawyers for the United States told the court that Assange had put lives at risk with
02:01 the release of unredacted classified documents, and that attempts to extradite and prosecute
02:06 Assange are based on his alleged actions, not his political opinions.
02:12 Many view Julian Assange as championing freedom of speech, and many an enemy of the state
02:17 - a decision on whether he can bring an appeal against extradition is expected at a later
02:22 date.
02:23 If he is extradited, Assange could face a prison sentence of 175 years.
02:29 (audience laughing)
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