Watch: Protests outside High Court where Julian Assange fighting US extradition

Watch a view of the High Court in London, where protesters have gathered, as Julian Assange’s legal challenge against extradition to the US begins on Tuesday 20 February.

The WikiLeaks founder is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Mr Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide, while ruling against the 52-year-old on all other issues.

US authorities subsequently brought a successful challenge against this decision, paving the way for his extradition.

Lawyers for Mr Assange, who has been held in Belmarsh prison in south-east London, will now ask the High Court in London for the go-ahead to challenge the original judge’s dismissal of other parts of his case against extradition.

The hearing comes after High Court judge Mr Justice Swift first refused to give Mr Assange the green light to appeal – without a hearing – last June.