Assange US jail sentence ‘would be up to 175 years’
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange faces a sentence of up to 175 years in harsh prison conditions if convicted in the US, the Old Bailey heard.
Assange is fighting extradition from Britain following leaks of hundreds of thousands of documents in 2010/2011.
His lawyers claim the delayed prosecution has been politically motivated.
It had seemed the Department of Justice would not prosecute Assange but that changed under the Trump administration, Assange’s US lawyer Eric Lewis said.
The 49-year-old has been indicted in the US on 18 charges including plotting to hack computers and conspiring to obtain and disclose national defence information.
The allegations include that Assange plotted with army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a scrambled password to a classified US Department of Defense computer.
Mr Lewis claimed Assange would “not receive adequate mental health care in a US prison”.
The hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.