By Michael Holden
https://www.reuters.com/journalists/michael-holden
Julian Assange’s lawyer said on Monday he was surprised U.S. authorities issued a new and wider indictment last week against the WikiLeaks founder whom they are seeking to extradite from Britain.
Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities to stand trial for 18 offences including conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. Last year, the United States began extradition proceedings after he was dragged from London’s Ecuadorean embassy where he had been holed up for almost seven years.
The U.S. Department for Justice issued a second, superseding indictment last week which, it said, contained no new charges but broadened “the scope of the conspiracy” and included accusations of recruiting hackers.
“We are to say the least surprised by the timing of this development,” Assange’s lawyer Mark Summers told a brief technical hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, adding it could derail the timing for the case.
Assange’s full extradition hearing began in February but was interrupted by Britain’s coronavirus lockdown and is now scheduled to resume on Sept. 7.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-assange/assange-surprised-by-timing-of-new-u-s-indictment-idUSKBN24019K