Fitzgerald said those were “the actions of a
lawless state bent on adopting any means
necessary to bring him down.”
Assange’s legal team also alleges that the
Australian was offered a pardon by the
Trump administration if he agreed to say
Russia wasn’t involved in leaking Democratic
National Committee emails that were
published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 U.S.
election campaign.
Assange’s lawyers say the offer was made in
August 2017 by then-Republican Congressman
Dana Rohrabacher, who claimed to be acting
with the approval of Trump.
The White House has called the claim
a fabrication.
Fitzgerald noted that “President Trump denies
everything — and we say, ‘Well, he would,
wouldn’t he?’”
Defense lawyers also say the long sentence
and segregated conditions Assange would face
in U.S. prison would put him at “very high risk
of suicide.”
Fitzgerald said Assange was “an extremely
vulnerable person with a long history of clinical
depression and an established risk of suicide.”
Both sides in the case plan to present evidence
for their allegations later in the hearing
process.Fitzgerald said it was unlikely Assange
would testify.
Assange’s legal saga 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 assault made by
two women. He refused to go to Stockholm,
saying he feared extradition or illegal rendition