Wikileaks founder Julian Assange too ill to appear by video link in US hearing

Julian Assange was too ill to appear by video link for the latest hearing in relation to his possible extradition to the US, lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder told a court.

The United States is seeking the extradition of Assange, 47, who was dragged from the Ecuadorean embassy in London on April 11. He faces a total of 18 U.S. criminal counts and decades in prison if convicted.

The hearing was the first since 2 May, when lawyers for the US government began pressing its case to extradite him to face trial for what they described as one the largest compromises of classified information in history.

However, his solicitor Gareth Peirce told a judge at Westminster magistrates court in London on Thursday that Assange was too ill to appear by video link from prison. The date for the next hearing was confirmed as 12 June.

The senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot said the next hearing may take place in Belmarsh prison in south London, where Assange is being held, if convenient for all parties.

Assange could face decades in a US prison after it emerged last week he was also being charged with violating the Espionage Act by publishing classified information through WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks angered Washington by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family.

WikiLeaks said on Tuesday the Australian had been moved to the hospital wing of Belmarsh after a “dramatic” loss of weight and deteriorating health.

“Assange’s health had already significantly deteriorated after seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy, under conditions that were incompatible with basic human rights,” WikiLeaks said in statement.

“During the seven weeks in Belmarsh his health has continued to deteriorate and he has dramatically lost weight. The decision of prison authorities to move him to the ward speaks for itself.”

Assange is serving a 50-week prison term for breaching bail conditions to avoid extradition to Sweden. He took refuge in the embassy in in 2012 to avoid extradition over sexual assault allegations, which he denies, but was arrested last month after his asylum was revoked.