Assange vows more leaks

Fears death penalty:

UK: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange vowed Tuesday to step up the website’s release of secret US cables as his defence team warned he could face the death penalty if he is extradited from Britain.

Lawyers for the Australian released documents outlining their case after a brief court appearance in London during which a judge ruled that Sweden’s bid to extradite him would be heard in full on February 7-8.

Swedish authorities want to question Assange about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them, but the 39-year-old insists the extradition attempt is politically motivated and linked to WikiLeaks’ activities.

“Our work with WikiLeaks continues unabated and we are stepping up our publishing for matters related to ‘cablegate’ and other materials,” Assange told reporters after the hearing at the high-security Woolwich Crown Court.

“Those will shortly be occurring through our newspaper partners around the world, big and small newspapers and some human rights organisations,” added the former computer hacker, wearing a dark suit and tie.

He said he was “happy” with the outcome of the 10-minute hearing.

London, AFP