Julian Assange in court Monday

Tomorrow, 7 February, Julian Assange, the face (and heart) of Wikileaks, faces a court hearing to fight extradition to Sweden concerning sex assault claims made against him by two Swedish women.  The hearing is expected to take two days. There is suspicion that the accusations by the women are politically motivated.  The judge is expected to defer the decision.  If the ruling goes against Assange, he will appeal the decision all the way up to the supreme court.

Sofia Wilen and Anna Ardin

(Photos courtesy of Whyfame.com posted Dec 8 2010, but a number of sites have photos of the two women.  One site has also posted their addresses and phone numbers.)

Assange himself fears being eventually handed over the USA, where he feels he would not get a fair hearing and could face the death penalty for violation of the Espionage Act of 1917.  Because of the current extradition proceedings between Sweden and Britain, handing him over to a third country would require approval from both countries, says Nils Rekke, legal chief at the Stockholm prosecutor's office. Rekke notes that Britain is a closer ally to the United States.


According to the Swedish Justice Ministry, since 2000, the U.S. has requested the extradition of seven citizens from Sweden. Five of the requests were approved, and two were rejected because the suspects were no longer believed to be in Sweden.

Britain and the U.S. signed a fast-track extradition treaty in 2003 intended to speed the transfer of terror suspects. Since it came into force in April 2007, 23 people have been extradited from the U.K. to the U.S., according to British government figures. Extradition lawyer Karen Todner said Assange would probably stand a better chance of resisting extradition to the U.S. if he were in Sweden than if he were in the U.K.

Some questions arise as to whether the Swedish government has been influenced by pressure from the US to seek Assange's detention. However, most Swedish legal experts agree prosecutors would never accept orders from politicians, which is illegal.  But supporters of Asange note that Sweden has responded to US pressure before, including in the crackdown on file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, and the secret rendition of two Egyptian terror suspects.