WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to fight US extradition bid in UK court
London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to fight for his freedom in a British court after a decade of legal drama, as he challenges American authorities' attempt to extradite him on spying charges over the site's publication of secret US Military documents.
Lawyers for Assange and the US Government are scheduled to face off in London Monday at an extradition hearing that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
American prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges adding up to a maximum sentence of 175 years. His lawyers say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle press freedom and put journalists at risk.
Assange attorney Jennifer Robinson said the case is fundamentally about basic human rights and freedom of speech.
Journalists and whistle-blowers who reveal illegal activity by companies or governments and war crimes - such as the publications Julian has been charged for - should be protected from prosecution, she said.
American prosecutors say Assange is a criminal, not a free-speech hero.
They allege that Assange conspired with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Cong to distribute over 40 lakh pamphlets focused on 'Mahalakshmi' scheme
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress is set to step up its outreach to women ahead of the sixth and seventh phases of the Lok Sabha polls with plans in place to distribute more than 40 lakh pamphlets focused on its proposed "Mahalakshmi" scheme under which Rs 1 lakh will be given every year to a woman from a poor family, sources said.
In a video message, Sonia Gandhi had said last week that women of the country are facing tough times in the wake of a "severe crisis" and the party's proposed 'Mahalakshmi scheme' for them will help change their lives.
"The Congress' 'Mahalakshmi' scheme guarantees that we will give Rs 1 lakh every year to a woman from a poor family," she had said in her video message.
Sources said the Congress is all set to distribute more than 40 lakh pamphlets with key focus on "Mahalakshmi" scheme in poll-bound constituencies across the country ahead of the sixth and seventh phases.
Addressing a rally here on Saturday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke about the Mahalakshmi scheme the party intended to bring if the INDIA bloc came to power.
"We will make crores of lakhpatis. Under the scheme, a list of all families living below the poverty line will be drawn and a woman will be chosen from each family and the INDIA bloc will give them one lakh rupees in a year by depositing Rs 8,500 per month," he had said.
At a public meeting earlier, Gandhi had said that on July 1, when the poor women will check their accounts, they will find that Rs 8,500 have 'magically' been deposited.
And this will happen on the first of every month, he had said.
Sources said it was during Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, that several women met Gandhi and shared their grievances with him, and after that the Congress came up with the Mahalakshmi scheme.
Mahalakshmi scheme is among the main five guarantees that the Congress has promised.
"The Congress resolves to launch a Mahalakshmi scheme to provide Rs 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. The poor will be identified among the families in the bottom of the income pyramid," the Congress manifesto has said.
The sixth phase of the Lok Sabha pills will be held on May 25 while the seventh and final phase will be held on June 1.
The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
