UK court to hear Assange's final appeal against extradition to US

Julian Assange, a 52-year-old Australian, is facing potential charges under the Espionage Act of 1917 in the US that could result in a sentence of up to 175 years in prison. This week, he has a hearing at the High Court in the UK to determine if he has exhausted his right to appeal within the country. If Assange loses this battle, he will enter the extradition process and may ask the European Court of Human Rights to temporarily halt it. In 2019, the US Department of Justice described the leaks he is accused of as "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States." Previously, Assange has lost several rulings in court and if he loses this hearing, he will have exhausted all UK appeals.