Posted on 09/10/2020 9:06:18 AM PDT by Prolixus
Julian Assange’s extradition case has been paused until Monday so that a member of one of the legal teams can be tested for Covid-19 after potential exposure.
The judge Vanessa Baraitser granted an adjournment at the request of lawyers for the WikiLeaks co-founder and the US government.
“We should not really be here today. Covid would be in the courtroom,” said Edward Fitzgerald QC, who is representing Assange in his struggle to resist extradition to the US, where he could face a prison sentence of up to 175 years if convicted on all charges.
His request for an adjournment was backed by James Lewis QC, acting for the US government, who addressed the Old Bailey via video link.
Baraitser said she had been told on Wednesday night that a member of one of the legal teams may have been exposed to Covid-19. She said ... after hearing from both sides she had decided to accept that the hearing should be postponed.
She asked that lawyers for both sides provide written submissions to her about how to proceed if it becomes clear before Monday that the test was positive.
The Old Bailey is likely to remain open irrespective of the result of the Covid-19 test. A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation, the local authority for the area in which the building is located, said: ...”
Eric Lewis, a US lawyer who has been called by Assange’s legal team as an expert witness, is due to give evidence on Monday.
The case started at the Old Bailey on Monday and has been scheduled to last four weeks. It will hear allegations from the US Department of Justice that Assange tried to recruit hackers to find classified government information.
A US grand jury previously indicted Assange on 18 charges, 17 of which fall under the US Espionage Act....
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Another delay in Assange's extradition from the UK to US hearings.
I can't help but think that the conclusion of the hearings is somehow tied to the conclusion of the Durham investigation (remember that Assange was taken into UK custody within a week or so of the conclusion of the Mueller Special Counsel).
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The Assange case & Michael Flynn cases are the most effed up miscarriage, shit show circuses I can recall.
Shows who is in charge, I am sad to say, and it isn’t Lady Justice.
Odd timing
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