WikiLeaks founder Assange begins major legal fight against extradition to US

Julian Assange's attorneys on Tuesday began a major legal challenge in the United Kingdom to stop the WikiLeaks founder's extradition to the United States on espionage charges. 

Assange, who has been in a maximum security prison in London for the past five years, was unable to attend the first day of a two-day High Court hearing due to his health, his attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, said, according to The Associated Press. 

His attorneys are asking Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson to grant a new appeal in the case after the British government approved an extradition order in 2022.

The judges may announce a verdict as soon as the end of the day Wednesday, but it is more likely they will take several weeks before rendering their verdict. 

If the court rules against Assange, he may ask the European Court of Human Rights to stop his extradition, but his supporters are concerned that he may be sent to the United States before then.

The Australian government made a call last week for Assange, an Australian citizen, to be returned to his homeland.

The U.S. charged Assange in 2010 after WikiLeaks published thousands of secret government documents, and he has been fighting extradition for more than a decade, with much of that spent living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

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