Assange takes extradition battle to Britain’s top court

WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange took his extradition fight to Britain’s Supreme Court yesterday, arguing that sending him to Sweden to face rape allegations would breach legal principles dating back 1,500 years.

The 40-year-old Australian is banking his last throw of the dice within the British legal system on just one technical point – that the Swedish prosecutor who ordered his arrest in December 2010 was not a proper judicial authority.

Mr Assange’s lawyers brought in Latin references and discussed the justice systems of a host of European countries including France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands as they tried to convince the panel of seven judges. But his chief lawyer Dinah Rose told the court: “This appeal involves a single issue of law which can be very simply stated. The question is whether a Swedish prosecutor has judicial authority for the purposes of the extradition act.”