The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, did not appear at the beginning of the trial in London, where the High Court should finally decide whether he should be extradited from Great Britain to America.
Assange has been in custody at Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019 and is wanted by the United States for publishing secret military documents in 2010 and 2011.
The High Court in London ruled in 2021 that he should be extradited, rejecting claims that he could take his own life in an American prison due to poor mental health.
The following year, the Supreme Court upheld the decision, and then Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the extradition order.
In the ongoing proceedings, the Assange defense is trying to overturn that Patel decision and the first-instance court decision.
If they fail to do so, they have exhausted all legal options in the UK and will begin the extradition process.
Assange says there is a political case against him and his lawyers say they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if his appeal is rejected.
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Two main details from the beginning of the trial
Analysis by Dominik Kašani, BBC reporter from the High Court
Mark Summers, one of Assange's lawyers, contested all the evidence presented at the first-instance hearing when the extradition was decided.
As he said, the leaking of information from American security agencies is so common - he called it routine - that an entire echelon of journalists has built their careers thanks to such practice.
No one, he says, has been prosecuted for publishing such documents, wondering why they are prosecuting his client.
He previously pointed out that America planned to kidnap and kill Assange while he was in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years.
Judge Johnson then asked if anyone had been prosecuted for leaking such documents as America accuses Assange of revealing the names of sources.
This is the essence of the case in America, that Assange threatened the lives of confidential informants in Iraq and Afghanistan who were helping forces in the fight against insurgents and terrorist groups.
Watch the video: Why America is seeking Assange's extradition
Nicky Shiller, a BBC journalist, reports that hundreds of supporters of the WikiLeaks founder have gathered in the street outside the High Court in London, holding placards like 'free Assange' in big white letters.
The traffic is not stopped, although the drivers passing by are honking their horns, but there are also media from all over the world.
"Don't forget that there is a case in a British court against an Australian for a possible crime in America, it's an international case, no matter how you look at it," Schiller reports.
- Assange "would not survive extradition to America," says his wife
- Assange put people in danger by revealing his sources, claims the lawyer of the US government
- Chelsea Manning released from prison after "incident"
What did Assange do?
WikiLeaks has released thousands of classified US military documents that Assange's defense claims came from former US intelligence officer Chelsea Manning.
Back in 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking these documents.
This sentence was later commuted by President Barack Obama, after she served four years in prison.
That wasn't the end of Manning's legal troubles, though.
When Assange was indicted on 2019 counts of espionage in 17, a US grand jury asked Manning to testify against the WikiLeaks founder.
But she refused, stating that she would rather "die of hunger" than cooperate.
That decision cost her, for every day she had to testify she paid a fine of $500.
She remained behind bars for another two years, by the time she was finally released she had to pay $250.000.
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