WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange he won't know until next month at the earliest whether he can challenge his extradition to the US on espionage charges, or whether his long legal battle in the UK will end with extradition.
Two High Court judges said on Wednesday they would take time to consider the verdict after a two-day hearing this week in which Assange's lawyers argued that sending him to the United States would be a "flagrant denial of justice".
US lawyers, where Assange is accused of espionage, said he endangered innocent lives and went beyond journalism in his attempt to seek out, steal and indiscriminately release classified US government documents.
Assange's lawyers asked the High Court to grant him a fresh appeal - his latest in a saga that has kept him in a high-security British prison for the past five years.
A decision on Assange's future is expected in March at the earliest.
If Justices Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson rule against Assange, he can ask the European Court of Human Rights to block his extradition, although his supporters fear he could be put on a plane to the US before that happens because the British government has already signed the extradition order.
The visibly aging Australian, 52, has been charged with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse for posting on his website a trove of classified US documents nearly 15 years ago. US prosecutors allege that Assange encouraged and aided US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal diplomatic cables and military files released by WikiLeaks, putting the lives of US soldiers at risk.
Lawyer Claire Dobbin, representing the US government, said on Wednesday that Assange had harmed US security and intelligence services and "created a serious and imminent risk" by releasing hundreds of thousands of documents that could harm and lead to the arbitrary detention of innocent people, including many lived in war zones or under repressive regimes.
Dobbin added that Assange, by encouraging Manning and others to hack into government computers and steal from them, "went way beyond" the job of a journalist gathering information.
Assange "didn't just set up an 'online box' where people could drop classified information," she said, but "tried to encourage theft and hacking that would benefit his WikiLeaks."
Assange's supporters claim that he is a whistleblower who exposed the crimes of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have long argued that the prosecution is politically motivated and will not receive a fair trial in the US.
Assange's lawyers argued on the first day of the hearing on Tuesday that US authorities were seeking to punish him for WikiLeaks' "unprecedented exposure of US government criminality", including torture and murder.
Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said there was a "real risk that Assange would suffer a flagrant denial of justice" if sent to the US.
Dobbin said the prosecution relies on the law and the evidence and has remained consistent despite changes in U.S. government during the legal battle.
She added that the First Amendment does not grant immunity to journalists who break the law. Media that went through the process of redaction of documents before their publication are not prosecuted, she said.
Assange's lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted in the US, although US authorities have said the sentence is likely to be much shorter.
Assange was absent from court both days because he was not well, WikiLeaks said. Stella Assange, his wife, said he wanted to attend but was "not in good shape".
Assange's family and supporters say his physical and mental health has been damaged by more than a decade of legal battles, including seven years in self-imposed exile at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
"Julian is a political prisoner and he must be freed," said Stella Assange, who married the WikiLeaks founder in prison in 2022.
"They are putting Julian in the hands of the country and the people who plotted his assassination," she added of the US, referring to unproven claims by Assange's lawyers that he was the target of a CIA plot to kidnap or kill him while he was in the Ecuadorian Embassy.
Supporters holding signs saying "Free Julian Assange" and chanting that "There is only one decision - no extradition!" they protested in front of the High Court building for two days.
Assange's legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual abuse of two women. In 2012, Assange fled to the Embassy of Ecuador.
The relationship between Assange and his hosts at the Embassy eventually soured and he was kicked out of the Embassy in April 2019. He was promptly arrested and jailed by British police for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden dropped its sex crimes investigation in November 2019 due to the statute of limitations.
In 2021, a U.K. district court judge rejected a U.S. extradition request because of the risk that Assange would be killed if he was held in harsh U.S. prison conditions. The higher courts overturned that decision after receiving assurances from the US about the treatment he might receive. The British government signed the extradition order in June 2022.
The Australian Parliament last week called for Assange to be allowed to return home.
Andrew Wilkie, an Australian MP who attended the hearing in London, said he hoped it sent a strong message to the UK and US governments to end the legal battle. "This has gone on long enough," he said.
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