Lawyer: US promises over Assange extradition not enough

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A lawyer defending WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has argued that promises offered by the U.S. government that he would not be subjected to harsh prison conditions if he is extradited to face American justice are not enough to address concerns about his fragile mental health and high risk of suicide. Assange’s lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said the Australian was too mentally ill to be extradited to the United States to face trial on espionage charges. He spoke during a two-day hearing at Britain’s High Court. The United States government is seeking to overturn an earlier ruling by a lower British court that refused a U.S. request to extradite Assange over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret American military documents a decade ago.