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Lawyers: no need for Assange to go to Sweden

Lawyers representing WkiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a British court on Tuesday that there was no need to extradite the Australian to Sweden as he could just as well be interviewed over rape allegations by videolink.

Lawyers: no need for Assange to go to Sweden

Assange was back in Britain’s highest-security court for the final day of a two-day hearing to decide whether the former computer hacker can be extradited.

Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny wants to question Assange over allegations

he raped one woman and sexually molested another in the country — moves which he claims are politically motivated because of WikiLeaks’ activities in

releasing classified US cables.

Sven-Erik Alhem, a former Swedish prosecutor and now a legal commentator who appeared as a witness for Assange, said Ny could have questioned Assange via videolink from Britain and there was no need to extradite him for interview.

“I don’t really understand why you could not hear Julian Assange here in his country, if the British authorities allowed such a hearing to take place,” he told Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court in southeast London through an interpreter.

He also criticised the case on the grounds that Assange was identified, as rape suspects in Sweden should not be; that rape suspects in general are kept without bail in Sweden; and that rape trials are held behind closed doors.

In the legal papers quoted by lawyers for the Swedish authorities, Ny said she made repeated attempts in September and October to contact Assange by phone and text message to set up an interview in Sweden but had no success.

She was quoted as saying that Assange’s Swedish lawyer offered a telephone interview but Ny declined and warned him that she was going to issue a warrant.

“It must have been crystal clear to Julian Assange since the arrest warrant of September 27th that we were extremely anxious to interview him,” Ny said, according to evidence.

Assange arrived at the court wearing a blue suit, white shirt and a red tie and waved cheerily to supporters in the public gallery as he made his way to the dock.

The 39-year-old Australian’s defence team spent Monday’s first day arguing that Assange would face a “flagrant denial of justice” if extradited over allegations of rape and molestation.

“The Swedish custom and practice of throwing the press and public out of court when rape trials begin is one that we say is blatantly unfair, not only by British standards but also by European standards,” Robertson added.

The judge is expected to defer his ruling in the extradition case until later this month. If the decision goes against Assange, he will be able to appeal all the way to England’s supreme court.

Julian Assange was arrested in London on December 7th. He was released on bail a week after his arrest and has been staying at a supporter’s country mansion under strict conditions.

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SPAIN

Spanish ring ‘tried to extort €3m from Wikileaks’: Assange lawyers

Julian Assange's lawyers have filed a court complaint in Spain against a group of Spaniards they allege extorted the WikiLeaks founder and Ecuador's foreign ministry, a source in his defence team said on Saturday.

Spanish ring 'tried to extort €3m from Wikileaks': Assange lawyers
A video grab shows Julian Assange being driven away by British police after his arrest. Photo: AFP
Assange, who for seven years lived holed up in London's Ecuadoran embassy where he had taken refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape accusations, was arrested on April 11 after Quito terminated his asylum.
   
The 47-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, which exposed everything from US military secrets to the wealthy's tax evasion, is now awaiting sentencing for breaching his British bail conditions in 2012.
 
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said the complaint was against “a group of Spaniards who allegedly engaged in extortion and the embassy's employees and Ecuador's foreign ministry.”
   
The source added an investigation was ongoing and alleged “espionage” in the embassy against Assange, refusing to give further details.
 
According to Spanish media reports, four Spaniards have videos and personal documents of Assange. Online daily eldiario.es said they somehow got these via an alleged spying system set up in the embassy that included security cameras and employees taking photos of all documents handled by Assange.
   
They allegedly tried to extort three million euros ($3.3 million) out of WikiLeaks not to publish any of it, Spanish media report.
   
Eldiario.es, which had access to the written complaint that was filed to Spain's top-level National Court, says Assange's lawyers also accuse Ecuador of spying on him. The National Court could not comment when contacted by AFP.
 
That contrasts with Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno's version of events. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he alleged Assange had tried to set up a “centre for spying” in Ecuador's embassy.
   
Last year, Quito cut his internet and mobile phone access, accusing him of breaking “a written commitment” not to interfere in its and allies' foreign policies.
   
The move infuriated Assange, who sued the government for violating his “fundamental rights” by limiting his access to the outside world.
   
Now in prison in Britain, Assange is also fighting a US extradition warrant relating to the release by WikiLeaks of a huge cache of official documents.
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