Julian Assange to fight extradition to US in court hearing

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will appear via video link from Belmarsh prison at Westminster Magistrates Court later on Thursday to fight extradition to the US.

The US have said Assange conspired to break into a classified Pentagon computer and the US Justice Department has indicted him on 18 counts.

The 18 counts relate to his “alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States”

The Justice Department are accusing Assange of working with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

Assange was charged in the US for publishing thousands of classified documents linked to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In a statement they said he “unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defence.”

They further said, by publishing unredacted versions of leaked files Assange placed “named human sources at a grave and imminent risk.”