Julian Assange put people at “grave and imminent risk” by including the names of people who helped the US in unredacted classified documents which he “indiscriminately and knowingly” published to the world, a court has heard.
The WikiLeaks founder failed to appear in the High Court for a second day running in his long-standing battle against extradition to the US, where he is accused of leaking confidential military secrets.
The 52-year-old Australian, who faces 17 charges of espionage and one of computer misuse, is wanted by US authorities over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
His lawyers said that if extradited, he would face a “flagrant denial of justice” by prejudiced judges, and was being prosecuted for “ordinary journalistic practice”.
A judge ruled in 2021 that Assange should not be sent to the US, given there was a real risk of suicide, but ruled against him on all other issues.
Assange, who is in Belmarsh jail in London, is now seeking permission to challenge the judge’s dismissal of other parts of his case.
Read the events from court today below: