JULIAN ASSANGE

This week the objective was to insert mention of Julian Assange into a meeting between Mexico’s president and the United States’ top diplomat

This week the objective was to insert mention of Julian Assange into a meeting between Mexico’s president and the United States’ top diplomat.

A high-level United States delegation invited Mexico to participate in a push to shift semiconductor production from Asia to North America and expand production of electric vehicles.

Paul wants to protect the First Amendment rights of spies.

Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador has agreed during meetings with President Joe Biden to spend $1.5 billion over the next two years to improve “smart” border technology.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is visiting Washington on Tuesday to meet with President Joe Biden.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appealed against the British’s government decision last month to order his extradition to the U.S. The appeal was filed Friday at the High Court.

The recently elected Australian prime minister declined to say whether he had spoken to U.S. President Joe Biden about the case.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected calls for him to publicly demand the United States drop its prosecution of WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange.

The WikiLeaks founder will face 18 federal counts — whenever he's brought to a U.S. courthouse in Virginia. For now, he has at least one more avenue of appeal.

Julian Assange faces 18 charges in the U.S. for publishing a trove of classified documents that exposed military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Julian Assange faces 18 charges in the U.S. for publishing a trove of classified documents that exposed military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The UK Home Secretary has approved Julian Assange's extradition to the US. How does the process work?

WikiLeaks said it would appeal. The decision is a big moment in Assange's years-long battle to avoid facing trial in the U.S. — though not necessarily the end of the tale.

Britain's courts said the WikiLeaks founder's extradition would not "be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process," but he's likely to appeal the order.

Britain's courts said the WikiLeaks founder's extradition would not "be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process," but he's likely to appeal the order.

The British government ordered the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition to the United States to face espionage and hacking charges. He has 14 days to appeal.

Assange is wanted in the U.S. over the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables.

The British government has approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges

The British government has approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges.

A Spanish court has summoned Mike Pompeo in connection with a security firm alleged to have spied on Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy.

The order, which Assange has the right to appeal, now heads to the desk of U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel, who will have the final say on whether to grant the extradition to the United States.

A British judge on Wednesday formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges. The case will now go to Britain's interior minister for a decision.

A British judge has formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges.

Supporters of Assange say that he is a champion of free speech who exposed information on classified U.S. activities abroad. “At lunchtime today, I will go through the gates at the most oppressive high security prison in the country and be married to a political prisoner,” Moris wrote. “Every part of this private event is being intensely policed, from our guest list to the wedding picture,” she said. What kind of security threat could a wedding picture pose?” she asked. First picture of Julian Assange Fiancee Stella Moris in her wedding dress ahead of todays Belmarsh Wedding.

Britain's top court on Monday refused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to appeal against a decision to extradite him to the U.S. to face spying charges.

Britain’s top court has refused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to appeal against a decision to extradite him to the U.S. to face spying charges.

Ukraine's government has raised more than $10 million in cryptocurrency donations, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

Filmmaker and brother to Julian Assange, Gabriel Shipton, details the NFT his brother made in collaboration with artist pak. About Rising: Rising is a weekday morning show with bipartisan hosts that breaks the mold of morning TV by taking viewers inside the halls of Washington power like never before. The show leans into the day's political cycle with cutting edge analysis from DC insiders who can predict what is going to happen. It also sets the day's political agenda by breaking exclusive news with a team of scoop-driven reporters and demanding answers during interviews with the country's most important political newsmakers. Follow Rising on social media: Website: Hill.TV Facebook: facebook.com/HillTVLive/ Instagram: @HillTVLive Twitter: @HillTVLive

British leader Boris Johnson is refusing to retract his claim that a political opponent helped a sex abuser evade justice, after protesters echoed the allegation during an ugly street confrontation.

Lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder have 14 days to submit their application to the U.K.'s Supreme Court, which will decide whether to hear the case. His supporters see the ruling as a partial win.

The U.S. has been trying to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to face espionage charges – an effort he can now challenge in Britain's Supreme Court.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will be able to challenge a decision that allows him to be extradited to the U.S. on criminal charges, the U.K. High Court said Monday.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has won the first stage of his effort to overturn a U.K. ruling that opened the door for his extradition to U.S. to stand trial on espionage charges.

Britain’s High Court is set to rule on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can take his fight against U.S. extradition to the U.K. Supreme Court.

A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States. The Court ruled U.S. assurances were enough to guarantee Assange would be treated humanely.

The court paved the way for the WikiLeaks founder to be sent to the U.S. by overturning a lower court ruling that he would be a suicide risk in the American criminal justice system.

Julian Assange closer to being extradited from UK to US, after US government wins extradition case in London.

Julian Assange, the 50-year-old founder of Wikileaks, is a step closer to being extradited after the U.S. government won an appeal in London's High Court.

A British appellate court has opened the door for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States.

The WikiLeaks founder and his partner, attorney Stella Moris, began a relationship after Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012. They have two sons together.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been given permission to marry his partner, lawyer Stella Moris, in prison.

A lawyer defending WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has argued that promises offered by the U.S. government that he would not be subjected to harsh prison conditions if he is extradited to face American justice are not enough to address concerns about his fragile mental health and high risk of suicide.

Earlier this year, a lower court judge refused an American request to extradite Assange on spying charges over WikiLeaks' publication of secret military documents a decade ago.

The U.S. government has asked Britain’s High Court to overturn a judge’s decision that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.

In some of his first public comments since a Yahoo News investigation revealed discussions within the Trump administration in 2017 about kidnapping, or even killing, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he makes “no apologies” for the Trump administration’s actions to protect “real national security secrets.”

In 2017, as Julian Assange began his fifth year holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, the CIA plotted to kidnap the WikiLeaks founder, spurring heated debate among Trump administration officials over the legality and practicality of such an operation.

Executive Editor, 60 Minutes

The 50-year-old Australian, wearing a dark face mask, listened in by video link from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison.

Britain’s High Court has granted U.S. authorities permission to expand their grounds for appealing an earlier U.K. court decision to block the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, where he is wanted on espionage charges.

Assange spent seven years in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. He's currently in a London prison for a separate legal matter.

Officials also said Australian citizen could serve any sentence in home nation

Britain’s High Court has granted the U.S. government permission to appeal a decision that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.

Britain’s High Court has granted the U.S. government permission to appeal a decision that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be sent to the United States to face espionage charges. The judicial office said Wednesday that the appeal had been granted and the case would be listed for a High Court hearing. In January, a lower court judge refused an American request to send Assange to the U.S. to face spying charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret military documents a decade ago.

A 2019 indictment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange was chilling to advocates of a free press and democracy. Why have they fallen silent?

‘Hopefully there’s a change,’ brother of WikiLeaks founder tells Andrew Buncombe

The Justice Department has sued Donald Trump's ally Roger Stone, accusing the conservative provocateur and his wife of failing to pay nearly $2 million in income tax.

Aides to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele say he's refused to meet with a visiting senior U.S. diplomat over what he sees as a pattern of slights from Democrats and the Biden administration.

In this image take from UNTV video, Nayib Armando Bukele, President of El Salvador, speaks in a pre-recorded video message during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at U.N. headquarters in New York. The tweet was widely shared in El Salvador. More recently, Stryk teamed up with another DC firm, Rational 360, which is run by veteran Democratic operatives including Joe Lockhart. El Salvador in October hired Rational 360 for $65,000 per month. Bukele’s government has also awarded a $780,000 contract to a newly formed U.S.-based entity called Invest El Salvador.

A British judge on Wednesday rejected WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's request to be released on bail from the prison where he has been held for more than a year and a half as he fights extradition to the United States. Baraitser on Monday rejected an American request to send Assange to the U.S. to face espionage charges over WikiLeaks' publication of secret military documents a decade ago. Lawyers for the U.S. government said they would appeal the decision to Britain's High Court, and the U.S. Department of Justice said it would continue to seek Assange's extradition. She noted that Assange had spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after seeking refuge there from a Swedish extradition request in 2012. The judge rejected that argument in her extradition ruling, saying Assange's actions, if proven, would amount to offenses "that would not be protected by his right to freedom of speech."

Julian Assange gestures to the media from a police vehicle on his arrival at Westminster Magistrates court on April 11, 2019 in London, England. LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been denied bail by a London court. He is currently being held at HMP Belmarsh in southeast London for skipping bail on a previous occasion. "For all of these reasons I find that Mr. Assange's risk of committing suicide, if an extradition order were to be made, to be substantial." I urge the Department of Justice to drop the charges and the President of the United States to pardon Julian."

A Julian Assange supporter reacts outside the Westminster Magistrates Court after Julian Assange was denied bail at a hearing in the court in London, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. On Monday Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)LONDON – A British judge on Wednesday denied bail to WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, ordering him to remain in a high-security prison while U.K. courts decide whether he will be sent to the United States to face espionage charges. It is illogical.”Several dozen Assange supporters gathered outside London's Westminster Magistrates' Court, shouting “Free Assange.” Police said seven people were arrested for breaching coronavirus lockdown rules. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond the reach of U.K. and Swedish authorities — but also effectively was a prisoner in the tiny diplomatic mission.

WorldView: U.K. begins new lockdowns, Singapore's COVID-19 app data available to police and more headlines The U.K. has entered a nationwide lockdown for the third time as a new variant to COVID-19 spreads across England. Also, a top government official in Singapore acknowledged that data from the country's contact-tracing program can be accessed by police for criminal investigations, and Mexico's president offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum. CBS News foreign correspondent Roxana Saberi joins CBSN AM from London with those stories.

WorldView: U.K. begins new lockdowns, Singapore's COVID-19 app data available to police and more headlines The U.K. has entered a nationwide lockdown for the third time as a new variant to COVID-19 spreads across England. Also, a top government official in Singapore acknowledged that data from the country's contact-tracing program can be accessed by police for criminal investigations, and Mexico's president offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum. CBS News foreign correspondent Roxana Saberi joined "CBSN AM" from London with those stories.

London — A British judge rejected on Monday the United States' request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying it would be "oppressive" because of his mental health. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said Assange was likely to commit suicide if sent to the U.S. U.S. prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago. Though she blocked Assange's extradition, the judge rejected his legal team's claim to be protected under the freedom of speech. Palmer reported that Assange also didn't walk out of the court a free man on Monday, despite of the verdict.

WorldView: UK rejects U.S. request to extradite Julian Assange, concerns over India's vaccine and more headlines A UK judge has rejected a request to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S. to face charges of espionage. Crews are searching for three people after a devastating landslide destroyed homes in Norway. South Korea is rethinking policy after seeing more deaths than births in 2020. Experts are concerned about India's Covax vaccine, which was approved before trials were finalized. CBS News foreign correspondent Roxana Saberi joins CBSN AM with today's headlines from around the globe.

WorldView: U.K. rejects U.S. request to extradite Julian Assange, concerns over India's vaccine and more headlines A U.K. judge has rejected a request to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S. to face charges of espionage. Crews are searching for three people after a devastating landslide destroyed homes in Norway. South Korea is rethinking policy after seeing more deaths than births in 2020. Experts are concerned about India's Covax vaccine, which was approved before trials were finalized. CBS News foreign correspondent Roxana Saberi joins CBSN AM with today's headlines from around the globe.

U.K. judge rejects U.S. request to extradite WikiLeaks' Julian Assange A British judge has denied a U.S. government request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to America to face espionage charges that carry a maximum 175-year prison sentence. As CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer reports, the judge said such a fate could lead Assange to commit suicide given his precarious mental health.

London — A British judge rejected on Monday the United States' request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying it would be "oppressive" because of his mental health. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said Assange was likely to commit suicide if sent to the U.S. U.S. prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago. Though she blocked Assange's extradition, the judge rejected his legal team's claim to be protected under the freedom of speech. Palmer reported that Assange also didn't walk out of the court a free man on Monday, despite of the verdict.

Daniel Leal-Olivas | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — A British judge ruled Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, one of the world's most high-profile whistleblowers, cannot be extradited to the U.S. Judge Vanessa Baraitser said extradition would be oppressive due to Assange's mental health. "For all of these reasons I find that Mr. Assange's risk of committing suicide, if an extradition order were to be made, to be substantial." Baraitser ruled that while U.S. prosecutors met the tests for Assange to be extradited, the U.S. was incapable of preventing him from attempting to commit suicide. His mother, Christine Assange, said on Twitter that he won't survive if he is extradited. Speaking from a glass box in August, Assange said he did not consent to extradition.

A British judge has rejected the United States request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying it would be oppressive because of his mental health. "I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America," the judge said. Lawyers for the U.S. government said they would appeal the decision, and the U.S. Department of Justice said it would continue to seek Assange’s extradition. “While we are extremely disappointed in the court’s ultimate decision, we are gratified that the United States prevailed on every point of law raised," it said in a statement. “We hope that after consideration of the U.K. court’s ruling, the United States will decide not to pursue the case further," he said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday Jan. 4, 2021, whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)LONDON – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents. U.S. prosecutors indicted the 49-year-old Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. His legal team argued that Assange would, if extradited, likely face solitary confinement that would put him at a heightened risk of suicide. Assange and his legal team will be hoping that developments in the U.S. bring an end to his ordeal if the judge grants the U.S. extradition request.

Kristinn Hrafnsson editor in chief of Wikileaks gives a statement outside the Old Bailey in London, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, as the Julian Assange extradition hearing to the US ended, with a result expected later in the year. Now that lawyers have finished presenting evidence, Assange's defense team has asked for another four weeks to submit its closing argument. Except for an early virus exposure scare and occasional outbursts from the usually face-masked Assange, the hearing proceeded smoothly. The charges against Assange carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. Lawyers acting on behalf of the U.S. government say Assange committed serious crimes that put people’s lives in danger, allegations his fiancée disputed.

LONDON – Julian Assange's conversations in the latter part of his 7-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London were systematically bugged, even in the toilet, a London court heard Wednesday. Assange lived in the embassy for seven years from 2012 after seeking refuge there while fearing his potential extradition to the U.S. The anonymous witnesses both claimed that Morales said the surveillance was initiated at the behest of “our American friends" and that he had been handsomely rewarded. “All of these suggestions Morales said were under consideration during his dealing with his contacts in the United States,” the witness said. “I used a nearby socket to conceal a microphone in a cable in the toilet in the back of the embassy,” the witness said.

LONDON – Julian Assange relayed how he “binge-watched” the suicide of the former Bosnian Croat general in a U.N. courtroom three years ago, a doctor who visited the WikiLeaks founder on several occasions while he was in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London told an extradition hearing Thursday. Psychologist Nigel Blackwood, who assessed Assange at Belmarsh, rebutted defense experts on the extent of Assange’s condition, saying his suicide risk was “manageable." “I think there is some risk of suicide but that risk has to be carefully managed at Belmarsh," he said. Blackwood noted that Assange has been “highly functioning to a very high level in running a very successful organization." “I think there is some risk of suicide attempt linked to extradition, but not substantial risk,” he told the court.

Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange take part in a protest outside the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, in London, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. The London court hearing on Assange's extradition from Britain to the United States resumed Monday after a COVID-19 test on one of the participating lawyers came back negative, WikiLeaks said Friday. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)LONDON – A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a London court that her client was indirectly offered a “win-win” deal by President Donald Trump that would see him avoid extradition to the U.S. if he revealed the source of a leak of documents from the Democratic Party before the 2016 election. James Lewis, a lawyer acting on behalf of the U.S. government, said it wasn't contesting that “these things” were said. Assange has been in a British prison since his ejection from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in April 2019.

Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange take part in a protest outside the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, in London, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)LONDON – An American constitutional law expert said Thursday that the United States indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under an “extraordinarily broad” spying law that has been used in the past for politically motivated prosecutions. Leaker Daniel Ellsberg faced 12 Espionage Act charges and faced up to 115 years in prison, but the charges were dismissed in 1973 because of government misconduct against him. He said it was not relevant to his analysis of the Espionage Act, and noted he was a very junior lawyer at the time. He disagreed with a suggestion by a prosecution lawyer that Assange took a “cavalier attitude” to redaction.

He told London's Central Criminal Court that the pair had very comparable political opinions. The dump, similarly coordinated at various stages with some of the world's leading newspapers, was arguably the biggest single leak since the Pentagon Papers four decades before. Like Assange, Ellsberg faced the prospect of decades, at least, in prison. He also said that Assange took great care not to willfully expose anyone to harm. Assange has been in a British prison since he was ejected from his refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in April 2019.

WikiLeaks said the case is now set to continue on Monday. Assange is fighting American prosecutors’ attempt to get the British government to send him to the U.S. to stand trial on spying charges. The extradition hearing at London’s Old Bailey criminal court is scheduled to last until early October. U.S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret U.S. military documents a decade ago. Assange’s lawyers say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle press freedom and put journalists around the world at risk.

Julian Assange supporters protest outside the Old Bailey in London, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the U.S. government were squaring off in a London court on Monday at a high-stakes extradition case delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. American prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over the WikiLeaks publication of secret U.S. military documents a decade ago. U.S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over WikiLeaks publication of secret U.S. military documents a decade ago. The hearing started Monday at Londons Old Bailey criminal court and is scheduled to last about a month.

A billboard truck depicting Julian Assange drives past the Central Criminal Court Old Bailey in London, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. American prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over Wikileaks' publication of secret U.S. military documents a decade ago. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)LONDON A British judge told WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday that his extradition hearing will proceed without him if he continues to speak from the dock and interrupt witnesses. Vanessa Baraitser briefly adjourned the hearing at Londons Central Criminal Court after Assange interrupted defense witness Clive Stafford Smith, who was giving evidence. Assange is fighting an attempt by American prosecutors to extradite him to the U.S. to stand trial on spying charges.

Partner of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Stella Moris, holds up a Julian Assange press card outside the gates of Downing Street, in Westminster, London, after attempting to deliver a Reporters Without Borders petition against the extradition of her partner to the US. Lawyers for Assange and the U.S. government will face off in London on Monday at an extradition hearing that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)LONDON Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the U.S. government were squaring off in a London court on Monday at a high-stakes extradition case delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Assanges lawyers say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle press freedom and put journalists around the world at risk. The WikiLeaks founder was due to be brought from Belmarsh Prison on the outskirts of London to court for the hearing.

August 2010: Swedish prosecutors issue arrest warrant for Assange based on one womans allegation of rape and anothers allegation of molestation. November 2010: Swedish police issue an international arrest warrant for Assange. July 2014: Assange loses his bid to have an arrest warrant issued in Sweden against him canceled. May 1, 2019: Assange is sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jumping bail in 2012. June 25, 2020: US files new indictment against Assange that prosecutors say underscores Assanges efforts to procure and release classified information.

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 file photo, demonstrators supporting Julian Assange hold banners outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London. Lawyers for Assange and the U.S. government are scheduled to face off in London Monday at an extradition hearing that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. American prosecutors say Assange is a criminal, not a free-speech hero. The four-week extradition hearing is part of a twisting saga rife with competing claims of hacking, spying and subterfuge. The extradition hearing opened in February but was put on hold when the U.K. went into lockdown in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange adjourned Thursday to give lawyers more time to gather evidence before returning to court in May. The U.S. governments desire to prosecute Assange is therefore political in nature and his extradition should be blocked, the lawyer said. He repeatedly complained he was a mere spectator in his own extradition hearing and unable to easily give instruction to members of his legal team or speak to them without being overheard. On Thursday, his lawyers asked Judge Vanessa Baraitser to allow Assange to sit beside them when the case resumes, as is common in U.S. courtrooms. The anonymous witness will also testify that it was discussed whether Assange could be poisoned or kidnapped, his lawyer told the court.

This case already has enough spying on my lawyers as it is.Assange is facing 18 charges that he conspired with Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to release classified documents to the world. Judge Vanessa Baraitser is being asked to decide whether that extradition is legal under the terms of a U.K.-U.S. treaty. His lawyers said they would make an application Thursday morning for him to sit up beside them for the remainder of the hearing. There is no reason why he shouldnt sit with us and be able to communicate should he need to during the hearing, Fitzgerald said. Earlier in the day, Assanges lawyers argued that he is being accused of a pure political crime, and that should keep him from being extradited to the U.S. to face trial.