Assange’s lawyer countered that the WikiLeaks
publisher was being victimized by a “lawless”
American government that wanted to make an
example of him.
Attorney Edward Fitzgerald also said the
“inhuman” conditions Assange was likely to face
in an American prison would put him at high risk
of suicide.
Dozens of Assange supporters protested outside
the high-security Woolwich Crown Court,
chanting and setting off a horn as District Judge
Vanessa Baraitser began hearing the case, which
is due to last several months.
Assange, 48, watched proceedings from the
dock in the courtroom — he was brought there
from Belmarsh Prison next door. He complained
that he was having difficulty concentrating and
called the noise from outside “not helpful.”
Assange has been indicted in the U.S. on 18
charges over the publication of classified
documents. Prosecutors say he conspired with
U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to
crack a password, hack into a Pentagon computer
and release secret diplomatic cables and military
files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange argues he was acting as a journalist
entitled to First Amendment protection, and
says the leaked documents exposed U.S. military
wrongdoing. Among the files published by
WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter
attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed
11 people, including two Reuters journalists.
But Lewis said Assange was guilty of
“straightforward” criminal activity in trying
to hack the computer. And he said WikiLeaks’
activities created a “grave and imminent risk” to
U.S. intelligence sources in Afghanistan and Iraq.