The 52-year-old Australian has been indicted on 17 fees of espionage and one cost of pc misuse over his web site’s publication of categorized US paperwork virtually 15 years in the past.
American prosecutors allege Assange inspired and helped US Military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and army information that WikiLeaks later printed, placing lives in danger.
Lawyer Clair Dobbin advised the Excessive Court docket on Wednesday that Assange broken US safety and intelligence providers and “created a grave and imminent threat” by releasing the tons of of hundreds of paperwork — dangers that might hurt and result in the arbitrary detention of harmless individuals, lots of whom lived in conflict zones or underneath repressive regimes.
Dobbin added that in encouraging Manning and others to hack into authorities computer systems and steal from them, Assange was “going a really appreciable approach past” a journalist gathering data.
Assange was “not somebody who has simply arrange a web-based field to which individuals can present categorized data,” she mentioned.
“The allegations are that he sought to encourage theft and hacking that might profit WikiLeaks.”
Assange’s supporters keep he’s a secrecy-busting journalist who uncovered US army wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that the prosecution is politically motivated and he will not get a good trial within the US.
Assange’s attorneys argued on the primary day of the listening to on Tuesday that American authorities are looking for to punish Assange for WikiLeaks’ “publicity of criminality on the a part of the US authorities on an unprecedented scale”, together with torture and killings.
Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald mentioned Assange might “endure a flagrant denial of justice” if he’s despatched to the US.
Dobbin rejected claims that the fees are a “software of oppression” to punish Assange for his political views.
She mentioned the prosecution is predicated on regulation and proof, and has remained constant regardless of the modifications of presidency within the US in the course of the course of the authorized battle.
She added that it was not obligatory for WikiLeaks to publish delicate materials, together with names of those that might be endangered.
Media shops that went by the method of redacting the paperwork earlier than publishing them usually are not being prosecuted, she mentioned.
Assange’s attorneys say he may withstand 175 years in jail if convicted, although American authorities have mentioned the sentence is more likely to be a lot shorter.
Assange was absent from court docket on Wednesday and Tuesday as a result of he’s unwell, WikiLeaks mentioned.
Stella Assange mentioned her husband was too unwell to attend however would not be so sick if he wasn’t in Belmarsh Jail.
“It’s unimaginable that this nation will ship Julian into the palms of the nation and of the individuals who plotted his assassination,” she mentioned on the way in which into court docket on Wednesday morning.
“Julian may be very appreciative of all the priority by the press and the neighborhood assist.
“Julian is a political prisoner and he needs to be launched.”
Assange’s household and supporters say his bodily and psychological well being have suffered throughout greater than a decade of authorized battles, together with seven years in self-exile within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the final 5 years within the high-security jail on the outskirts of the British capital.
His spouse, who married the WikiLeaks founder in jail in 2022 — mentioned final week that his well being has deteriorated throughout years of confinement and “if he is extradited, he’ll die”.
Supporters holding “Free Julian Assange” indicators and chanting “there is just one determination — no extradition” held a loud protest exterior the neo-Gothic Excessive Court docket constructing for a second day on Wednesday.
If judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson rule towards Assange, he can ask the European Court docket of Human Rights to dam his extradition — although supporters fear he might be placed on a aircraft to the US earlier than that occurs, as a result of the British authorities has already signed an extradition order.
The 2 justices may ship a verdict on the finish of the listening to on Wednesday, however they’re extra more likely to take a number of weeks to contemplate their determination.