http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791904576075303307375550.html?mod=fox_australian
Assange Lawyers See Risk of Death Penalty By JEANNE WHALEN View Full Image AFP/Getty Images WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said his website was preparing to release new classified U.S. cables after a judge said that Sweden's attempt to extradite him would be examined in full in February. LONDON-If WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is extradited to Sweden to face a sexual assault investigation, there is a "real risk" the U.S. would seek to extradite him from Sweden, and detain him at Guantanamo Bay or subject him to the death penalty, Mr. Assange's lawyers argued in documents published Tuesday. Sweden is trying to extradite Mr. Assange from the U.K. to face questioning over allegations that he raped one woman and molested another during a visit to Stockholm last summer. Mr. Assange was arrested last month in the U.K. on a European warrant issued by Sweden, but he hasn't been formally charged with a crime, and denies any wrongdoing. Mr. Assange made a court appearance on Tuesday, at which a judge set a Feb. 7 date for his next hearing in the extradition matter. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a brief appearance in court as part of his ongoing battle to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes. Video courtesy of Reuters. More Text of 35-page document posted online by the law firm representing Assange In a 35-page document posted online by the law firm representing Mr. Assange, his lawyers reiterated arguments they plan to make against his extradition. But they also said Mr. Assange "reserves the right to argue" a few additional points at the Feb. 7 hearing. For example, the document indicates Mr. Assange may argue that he shouldn't be extradited to Sweden because the arrest warrant "has been issued against him for the purposes of prosecuting or punishing him for his political opinions." The WikiLeaks founder could be "prejudiced at trial" for his opinions, they added. And the document says Mr. Assange's lawyers might choose to assert that his extradition would violate his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, including Article 3 of the convention, which prohibits torture. This is because, if Sweden hands him over to the U.S., "there will be a real risk of him being detained at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere, in conditions which would breach Article 3 of the ECHR," the document said. "Indeed," the document continues, "if Mr. Assange were rendered to the U.S.A., without assurances that the death penalty would not be carried out, there is a real risk that he could be made subject to the death penalty." A spokeswoman for Swedish prosecutors declined to comment on the document, saying she hadn't had the chance to read it, yet. But Sweden has always strongly denied any political motivation-or involvement from Washington-in its attempts to extradite or investigate Mr. Assange. Washington has also denied any involvement in the Swedish case. The U.S. Justice Department is carrying out its own investigation of WikiLeaks and its publication of thousands of leaked U.S. government and military documents. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has condemned WikiLeaks for putting U.S. national security at risk, has confirmed the existence of an "active, ongoing criminal investigation," but hasn't given details of its direction. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawyers' document, or on the likelihood of Mr. Assange being charged with a crime in the U.S. The Obama administration has said it is trying to close Guantanamo Bay. Mr. Assange's lawyers didn't say in their document which charges they believe the U.S. might levy that could lead to the death penalty for Mr. Assange, who is a citizen of Australia. In the document, Mr. Assange's lawyers repeated previous arguments against his extradition, saying that Sweden was making inappropriate use of the European arrest warrant system; that Swedish prosecutors have abused the legal process by leaking Mr. Assange's name to the press when he was first sought for questioning; and that Mr. Assange has offered to meet with Swedish prosecutors on several occasions, but has been rebuffed. In an odd twist, an initial version of the document disclosed the names of the two women who have accused Mr. Assange. Documents read aloud in court have previously kept their identities anonymous. Mark Stephens, a lawyer for Mr. Assange, said his firm removed the women's names from the document after someone flagged the fact that they had been published. "We felt that in the interest of sensitivity it was perhaps better to redact the names, even though there was no legal requirement to do so," he said. On Tuesday, Mr. Assange left the courtroom at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court on the same bail conditions that were set last month, which require him to wear an electronic tag, live at the same address in eastern England and check in with the police every day. Sweden says it has been unable to question Mr. Assange in person in the country, which he left on Sept. 27. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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