A judge in the UK has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will face a full extradition hearing in February.
The five-day process will decide whether Mr Assange will be sent to the US, where he faces computer hacking allegations.
Yesterday, the UK's home secretary Sajid Javid confirmed he had signed a US request for Julian Assange to be extradited.
Mr Javid had to 'rubber-stamp' the request before it could go before the courts.
Authorities in the US are seeking Mr Assange's extradition to face charges related to the publication of the documents which exposed evidence of war crimes carried out by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They claim thousands of secret and classified documents published on the WikiLeaks website “risked serious harm” to US national security.
An 18-count indictment include charges accusing Mr Assange of conspiring with whistleblower Chelsea Manning to gain access to a government computer, and of conspiring to obtain and disclose national defence documents.
Lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder have labelled the charges against him a "threat" to all journalists.
WikiLeaks itself, meanwhile, suggested the charges mark the "end of national security journalism and the first amendment".
Assange's extradition hearing is now at 11 am in court 3 at Westminster Magistrates Court. pic.twitter.com/QXMb8YLL3S
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 14, 2019
Mr Assange is currently serving 50 weeks in jail for breaching UK bail conditions.
The 47-year-old was arrested at London's Ecuadorian Embassy in April.
He spent nearly seven years in the embassy after seeking refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden.
