London–The founder of secret-spilling website WikiLeaks was back in a London court on Tuesday as part of his fight to avoid being extradited to Sweden where he is wanted for sex crimes allegations.
Julian Assange, 39, was driven to London's high-security Belmarsh Magistrates' Court Tuesday, accompanied by his lawyer Mark Stephens. The procedural hearing lasted for around ten minutes, with lawyers from both sides saying they were on track for Assange's next court appearance on 7 February.
The rape and molestation accusations against Assange stem from his encounter with two women during a trip to Sweden taken over the summer, just as his website was garnering global attention with enormous leaks of US classified material.
The Swedish case has divided world opinion. Assange and his supporters say he is being prosecuted for political reasons, something denied by Swedish authorities and Assange's alleged victims, who insist their complaints have nothing to do with WikiLeaks.
Assange, wearing a dark suit and a navy blue tie, posed for photographs outside the court Tuesday but made no public statement. In court, he spoke only to confirm his name and address.
Earlier Tuesday, his organization released a statement decrying death threats made against the Australian computer expert, drawing a link between his experience and that of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in an Arizona gun massacre which touched off a nationwide debate in the US over the toxic tone of US political discourse.
WikiLeaks said its staff has been subject to "unprecedented violent rhetoric by prominent US media personalities," naming former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as one of the many pundits and politicians who have called for Assange to be hunted down as a terrorist.
American officials are still working on building a case against WikiLeaks, which has released hundreds of thousands of secret US intelligence files on Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of US State Department cables.
