Evidence on behalf of the Swedish Prosecution Office is due to be heard on Wednesday in WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s fight against extradition to Sweden, at London’s High Court. Extradition may open a way for the US to get its hands on him.
After the first day of the hearings, Assange left the court completely exhausted. He did not wave to any of his supporters waiting for him outside, which also could probably be a direct instruction from his new legal team he has hired especially to deal with this hearing.
Assange’s new legal team seems to be taking on a new, much more conciliatory strategy for the court case, much more concerned with the European law and specifically the arrest warrant under which Julian Assange is requested to be extradited.
The team is arguing that the European arrest warrant is invalid because of the discrepancies essentially between the allegations that have been made and the testimonies of the two alleged victims.
There are four counts to be considered, ranging from unlawful coercion up to rape. The defense team has said that there is nothing in the victims’ statements that amount to that; there is no evidence and lack of consent in these statements. Three of the four allegations, they say, would not even amount to crimes in the UK. All this does point to a new approach to the case.
Due to the fact that Julian Assange has not even been charged in Sweden, where he is simply wanted for questioning, his legal team says that if their client has not been charged with any crime, then the European arrest warrant is invalid.
On Wednesday evening, the British judge might announce the decision, but equally might not –as he could put the ruling off for a few days or even weeks.