Assange told to stop interrupting witnesses at UK hearing

A British judge told WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday that his extrition hearing will proceed without him if he continues to speak from dock and interrupt witnesses.

Vanessa Baraitser briefly journed hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court after Assange interrupted defense witness Clive Stafford Smith, who was giving evidence. Assange’s outburst couldn’t be heard by journalists following proceedings by video link.

Assange is fighting an attempt by American prosecutors to extrite him to U.S. to stand trial on spying charges. U.S. prosecutors have indicted 49-year-old Australian on 18 espion and computer misuse charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret U.S. military documents a dece ago. charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

Assange’s lawyers say prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle media freedom and put journalists at risk around world.

dressing Assange, judge said: “You will hear things, doubt many things, you disagree with during se proceedings.”

“If you interrupt proceedings it is open to me to proceed in your absence,” she ded.

On Monday, when hearing opened, Baraitser rejected requests by Assange’s lawyers to delay his extrition hearing until next year so y can have more time to respond to U.S. allegations that he conspired with hackers to obtain classified information.

case has alrey been delayed for months because of coronavirus pandemic.

Stafford Smith, who founded nprofit rights organization Reprieve, told court Tuesday that WikiLeaks helped expose alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

American authorities allege that Assange conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military files on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a new indictment anunced in June, U.S. Justice Department expanded its case, accusing Assange of recruiting hackers at conferences in Europe and Asia, recruiting a teenr to hack into computer of a former WikiLeaks associate and conspiring with members of hacking groups kwn as LulzSec and Anymous. U.S. prosecutors say evidence underscores Assange’s efforts to procure and release classified information.

Assange’s lawyers argue that he is a journalist entitled to First Amendment protection and say leaked documents exposed U.S. military wrongdoing.

case is due to run until early October. judge is expected to take weeks or even months to consider her verdict, with losing side likely to appeal.