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London (AP) - In the proceedings for the US extradition application for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in a London court, a decision is expected.
The 49-year-old is currently in the maximum security prison Belmarsh in the southeast of the British capital.
If extradited and convicted, he faces up to 175 years in prison in America.
The Westminster Magistrate Court hearing will take place in the Old Bailey Criminal Court building in London and is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. (CET).
It is expected that both sides will appeal if they lose.
After a further instance, the proceedings could go to the British Supreme Court and finally deal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
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The US judiciary is accusing the native Australian Assange of stealing and publishing secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning - then Bradley Manning.
The 49-year-old has put the lives of US informants at risk, so the allegation.
His supporters, however, see him as an investigative journalist who has brought war crimes to light.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, does not see the trial in London as a fair trial.
"What we see is that the British are systematically depriving Julian Assange of his basic rights to prepare his defense, to have access to his lawyers and to legal documents," the Swiss told Deutsche Welle.
There are also numerous voices in Germany who stand up for Assange.
The organization Reporters Without Borders demands the immediate release of the Wikileaks founder.
"The US indictment against Julian Assange is clearly politically motivated," said managing director Christian Mihr on Friday.
"The US wants to set an example and have a deterrent effect on media professionals all over the world."
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"If the US is successful with its extradition request and brings Assange to justice, the same fate threatens every journalist worldwide who publish secret information of public interest," said Mihr.
"This is where the future of journalism and freedom of the press worldwide is at stake."
The Federal Government's human rights commissioner, Bärbel Kofler, expressed concern about the procedure.
"Human rights and humanitarian aspects must not be overlooked," wrote the SPD member of the Bundestag.
Assange's physical and mental health also had to be “taken into account” when deciding on extradition to the USA.
Great Britain is bound by the European Convention on Human Rights, "also with a view to the possible penalties and prison conditions," said Kofler.
There is now a cross-party working group in the Bundestag that advocates the release of Assange.
Members of all parties except the AfD are represented in it.
The chairwoman of the left in the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sevim Dagdelen, wants to be present at the verdict in London.
"Even if the extradition were legally decided, the British government can stop it - and prevent the Assange case from becoming a blueprint for the prosecution of unwelcome journalists," said Dagdelen.
"An extradition to the USA would break the dam and must be prevented."
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Assange's father, John Shipton, is now hoping for a pardon for his son from US President-elect Joe Biden.
Assange's fiancée, Stella Moris, had previously tried in vain to persuade the outgoing US President Donald Trump to pardon her partner.
She warned in the "Spiegel" that Assange would "not survive long" under the expected prison conditions in the USA - there awaited him "terrible vegetation" without contact with the outside world.
Assange had saved himself in 2012 for fear of extradition to Sweden and from there to the USA in the Ecuadorian representative office in London.
He stayed there until his arrest in spring 2019. Investigations in Sweden into rape allegations were later closed.
UN expert Melzer had described it as "constructed".
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210104-99-888444 / 2