Extradition verdict for Assange coming ea rly next yea r

A British judge said on Thursday she would give her decision early next year on whether Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges including espionage. U.S. authorities accuse Australian- born Assange, 49, of conspiring to hack government computers and of violating a secrecy law with Wikileaks’ release of confidential official communications in 2010-2011. To admirers, Assange is a champion of free speech who exposed abuses of power. Critics say that by publishing unredacted documents, he recklessly endangered the lives of intelligence sources in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Judge Vanessa Baraitser told London’s Old Bailey Court at the conclusion of his extradition hearings that she would deliver her verdict on Jan. 4.