Comments
Hearing in the extradition case of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, has been pushed back to as late as November 2020 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to media reports.
A new trial date for Assange’s extradition hearing to the US on charges of espionage should be decided by May 4, according to a Bloomberg report.
UK judge Vanessa Baraitser said November 2 is the earliest possible date for beginning the three-week hearings, the report said. The final date will be decided on May 4.
The hearing has been pushed back after his defence argued that the pandemic had made the proceedings “impossible” and 'medically dangerous,” reports said.
The hearings were set to begin on May 18. A decision was to be made on whether to extradite Assange to Sweden or the US. Sweden holds sexual assault charges against Assange, while the US has charged him with espionage. He may face up to 175 years in prison.
The Wikileaks chief was arrested on April 11, 2019, from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Until November, Assange had faced possible extradition to the US and Sweden. He was indicted by the US on 17 offences under the 1917 US Espionage Act.
He is currently in detention till the hearing commences.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.