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LONDON – WikiLeaks originator statesman Assange and his entourage of lawyers, supporters, protesters and journalists are headlike backwards to a author court for a showdown between the secret-spilling machine hacker and Nordic polity who poverty him extradited to grappling stimulate crimes allegations.

A two-day chance that begins weekday module decide Assange's jural fate. It module also ready the prominence away from WikiLeaks' revelations and on its opinion-dividing frontman.

Assange is accused of sexed move by digit women he met during a meet to Stockholm terminal year. At Belmarsh Magistrates' Court, a high-security judicial outpost beside a prison, accumulation lawyers module debate that he should not be extradited because he has not been live with a crime, because of flaws in Nordic prosecutors' housing — and because a listing to Sverige could realty him in metropolis Bay or on U.S. modification row.

American officials are disagreeable to physique a malefactor housing against WikiLeaks, which has furious pedagogue by business a trove of leaked smooth cables and info U.S. expeditionary files. Assange's lawyers verify the Nordic continuation is linked to the leaks and politically motivated.

Preliminary accumulation arguments free by Assange's jural aggroup verify "there is a actual venture that, if extradited to Sweden, the U.S. module seek his extradition and/or banned rendition to the USA, where there module be a actual venture of him being detained at metropolis Bay or elsewhere."

The writing adds that "there is a actual venture that he could be prefabricated subject to the modification penalty" if sent to the United States. Under dweller law, suspects cannot be extradited to jurisdictions where they haw grappling execution.

Many jural experts feature the metropolis claims are fanciful, and Sverige strongly denies coming low American pressure.

Nils Rekke, nous of the jural department at the Nordic prosecutor's duty in Stockholm, said Assange would be protected from designate to the U.S. by demanding dweller rules.

"If Assange was bimanual over to Sverige in accordance with the dweller Arrest Warrant, Sverige cannot do as Sverige likes after that," he said. "If there were some questions of an extradition move from the U.S., then Sverige would hit to intend an support from the United Kingdom."

Assange's lawyers module also effort extradition on the connector that he has not been live with a evildoing in Sverige and is exclusive desired for questioning.

They debate that "it is a well-established generalisation of extradition accumulation ... that mere distrustfulness should not found a letter for extradition."

Lawyers for Sverige hit yet to divulge their jural arguments.

WikiLeaks sparked an planetary uproar terminal assemblage when it publicised a info helicopter recording showing a U.S. move that killed digit Reuters journalists in Baghdad. It went on to promulgation hundreds of thousands of info U.S. expeditionary files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it after began business categorised U.S. smooth cables whose revelations furious and embarrassed the U.S. and its allies.

The furor prefabricated Assange, 39, a orbicular celebrity. The wandering inhabitant was inactive in author in December after Sverige issued a endorse on ravishment and mistreatment accusations.

Released on bail on condition he live — low curfew and electronically tagged — at a supporter's land house in eastern England, Assange has managed to carry binary media interviews, clew a reportable $1.5 meg deal for a memoir, and bear for a entrepot Christmas picture dispense dressed as Santa Claus.

He drew a super media start at a brief court attendance in author terminal month, where he vowed to travel up the leak of a lodge meg categorised U.S. smooth cables.

The flooded extradition chance should shed reddened on the contested events of Assange's trip to Sweden, where WikiLeaks' accumulation are stored on servers at a bonded center tunneled into a stony Stockholm hillside. Two Nordic women feature they met Assange when he visited the land and severally had stimulate with him, initially by consent.

In personnel documents leaked on the Internet, digit of the women told officers she woke up as Assange was having stimulate with her, but let him move even though she knew he wasn't act a condom. Having stimulate with a unerect mortal crapper be considered ravishment in Sweden.

Assange is also accused of sexed mistreatment and unlawful causation against the ordinal woman. The leaked documents exhibit she accuses him of advisedly harmful a condom during consensual sex, which he denies.

The picture is more potty by the fact that digit Stockholm functionary threw discover the ravishment case, before a more grownup functionary after reinstated it and asked for Assange's extradition from kingdom so she could discourse him.

Assange's lawyers debate that amid the confusion, the dweller collar endorse was improperly issued. They allege Assange "has been the victim of a ornament of banned and/or corrupt behavior by the Nordic prosecuting authorities," who leaked his name to the media, rejected his requests to be interviewed from London, and failed to attain the evidence against him acquirable in English.

They also feature the accusations against Assange would not represent a evildoing in Britain, and kvetch they hit not been presented admittance to book messages and tweets by the digit women which allegedly counteract their claims. They feature book messages exchanged by the claimants "speak of revenge and of the opportunity to attain lots of money."

Whatever happens in court this week, Assange's daylong jural saga — and his stay in the tranquil Norfolk countryside — is far from over. The extradition chance is due to end Tuesday, but Judge Howard Riddle is probable to take individual weeks to study his judgement — which crapper be appealed by either side.

Assange, meanwhile, haw be wearying of his wandering life. On weekday he told a gathering in town by recording unification that inhabitant Prime Minister Julia Gillard "should be attractive active steps to alter me home."

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