LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2020) UK judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected a last-minute request made by Julian Assange's defense team to adjourn the hearing on the Wikileaks founder's extradition to the United States, claiming that his lawyers have had plenty of time to do it before the trial resumed on Monday.
Assange's legal team requested the adjournment shortly before the court returned from lunch break on the ground that it was not in a position to respond to the new superseding indictment filed by US prosecutors six weeks prior, because his client has not yet seen important documents related to the case.
After taking 10 minutes to consider the petition, Baraitser ruled against it, and said that the "defense had ample time to return to court to explain that they had insufficient amount of time [but] they did not do so."
The judge also said that an adjournment would result in a further and significant delay in the extradition case.
Although the superseding indictment adds no new charges to the 18 counts of espionage and computer misuse the US Department of Justice has filed against the whistleblower, the prosecution is now accusing Assange of conspiring with US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to access a Department of Defense computer containing secret diplomatic cables and military information on the US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new indictment also claims that Assange asked renowned international hackers to provide WikiLeaks with classified information.
The hearing to decide whether Assange should be extradited to the United States, where he could face a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison, resumed on Monday after six months of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Wikileaks founder, who was brought into court from the maximum-security prison of Belmarsh, where he has been confined since his arrest at the Ecuadoran embassy in London in April 2019, is sitting behind a glass panel, away from his defense team, and only appeared on a video stream to identify himself at the judge's request.
When asked if consent to his extradition to the United States, he only said "No."
The hearing is expected to last at least three weeks, and it is highly probable that the verdict will be appealed by the losing side.
As happened in the previous hearing, dozens of Assange supporters have gathered on Monday outside the courthouse on Old Bailey street to demand his release.
