The hearings on the case of extradition to the United States of the founder of the WikiLeaks portal Julian Assange will be held in September in London in person - with the presence of the accused in the courtroom. Such a decision was made by the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London following a preliminary hearing in the Assange case, who is accused in the United States of conspiring with hackers.

Assange himself, at the request of the judge, took part in the preliminary hearings via video link. During this meeting, a new indictment was filed with the WikiLeaks founder, which was handed down to him by a federal grand jury in late June.

Despite the fact that it did not contain any new separate criminal episodes attributed to Assange, the US Department of Justice justified its adoption by the fact that it allegedly "expands the scope of collusion around alleged computer hacks."

Assange's defense and his supporters at the hearing drew attention to the controversial nature of the new US indictment. Attorney Edward Fitzgerald told the court that the defense was "kept in the dark" about this conclusion.

“We are concerned that the new indictment will lead to further delays in the process and that the US attorney general is doing this for political reasons,” the newspaper Express and Star quoted Assange's defense as saying.

In turn, the current editor-in-chief of the WikiLeaks portal, Icelandic journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson, noted that the issuance of a new indictment right during the trial is unprecedented.

“The new charges do not contain anything new - all the alleged events have been known to the prosecution for years ... This is what is really happening: despite many years of efforts, the prosecution still cannot form a consistent and solid case. So they decided to cancel the two previous sentences and try a third time, "the Guardian newspaper quotes him.

Changing the form of hearings to face-to-face is not an obstacle to the conviction of Assange, said the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University in an interview with RT.

“As for the openness of the case, I think that this is not an obstacle, since for Americans the main thing is the presence of this person and the desire to punish him. I think that Britain will do everything to help the United States in such a situation. This will not change regardless of whether the case will be dragged out or not, ”the political scientist said. 

Vladimir Shapovalov also noted that the actions of the American Ministry of Justice to issue a new indictment indicate the weakness of the case formed by the American prosecutors against Assange. 

“Such tactics indicate that the Ministry of Justice does not have any serious evidence base. Because if she was, there would be no need to invent something new. The urge to bring new charges speaks to the weakness of the old. This is a standard situation when a potential criminal is tried to be charged under several articles in order to prove at least one, "the political scientist explained.

Accusations and harassment

Recall, according to the indictment issued by the US Department of Justice on June 24, Assange allegedly communicated with the head of the LulzSec hacker group, who was provided with a list of targets for hacking. The document claims that Assange was interested in the targets, the publication of data of which will cause "the greatest resonance" - among them were the CIA, the US National Security Agency, and the New York Times.

The indictment noted that, despite the new circumstances of the case, it does not contain new charges - there are still 18 of them.

  • Julian Assange poster
  • Reuters
  • © Henry Nicholls

Assange's prosecution began in 2010 after WikiLeaks published classified Pentagon materials on US military crimes in the Middle East. Such incidents as the shooting of civilians by a US military helicopter in Baghdad in 2007, as well as numerous casualties among Iraqi civilians as a result of negligent actions of the US Air Force, were made public.

US Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, who passed this information to Assange, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. However, in 2017 he was released after Barack Obama reduced his term.

In 2010, Assange was in Sweden, awaiting a work permit, but left the Scandinavian country due to a refusal and charges of sexual harassment against him. In 2012, the journalist lived in the UK. Assange feared that the British authorities would extradite him to Stockholm, from where he, in turn, would be extradited to the United States. To avoid extradition, the WikiLeaks founder took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he asked for political asylum. He spent 7 years in the diplomatic mission building. 

Despite Assange's isolation, WikiLeaks continued to publish classified materials from the American intelligence services. In April 2019, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno announced that he was refusing to grant Julian Assange political asylum and was stripping him of his Ecuadorian citizenship. British police were allowed into the embassy grounds and arrested the founder of WikiLeaks for failing to appear in court in 2012 for a hearing on charges brought against the Swedish prosecutor's office.

According to Vladimir Shapovalov, it is very important for the United States that Assange never be released, and they will achieve this by any means.

“His arrest is a planned operation in which as many as three states took part. In fact, we see that one person who challenged the United States is opposing this state, which is trying to destroy it by any means, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

Political case

The fears of the defense of Julian Assange about the deliberate delay of the process by the American side are justified, political analyst Alexander Asafov believes.

“US Attorney General William Barr wants to move away from the conviction of Assange. Because there is a risk that Assange will never be released from prison and this will be linked to the name of Barr. Therefore, I think that Barr wants to shift the responsibility for Assange's fate onto someone else, so as not to go down in history as a political executioner, ”the expert suggested.

  • Statue of Justice at the back of the Old Bailey Court, where extradition hearings will take place
  • Reuters
  • © Russell Boyce

Recall that Assange faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the 18 counts of charges - if he is found guilty on all counts, the sentence could be up to 175 years. Alexander Asafov believes that it is difficult to predict the further course of the process or its outcome due to the upcoming presidential elections in the United States, the political consequences of which may affect the course of affairs. 

“The most likely scenario is postponing and delaying the case. All other circumstances are now completely unpredictable due to the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. I think that condemning Assange behind closed doors would be the least toxic for the Americans, ”the expert noted.

Now Julian Assange is in the most convenient position for the American authorities, Vladimir Shapovalov said in a conversation with RT.

“It is important for the USA that while Assange is under arrest, he cannot publicize new facts and fight the Americans. That is, now it is safe for Washington, ”the expert concluded.