Ben Brandon, representing the US, formally opened the case on Friday, a day after an extradition request was signed off by Home Secretary Sajid Javid. Mr Brandon said: “This is related to one of the largest compromises of confidential information in the history of the United States.” A full five-day extradition hearing will take place in February 2020.

Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ordered for a full extradition hearing expected to last five days to begin on February 25.

Assange is now fighting against extradition on 18 counts lodged in the US.

Meanwhile, protesters outside the court where Julian Assange will face extradition proceedings have said the Home Secretary’s decision to rubber stamp the US request was “illegal and immoral”.

Jeannie Farr, who held a banner which said the UK “must resist”, said: “It completely forgets the due process of law.

“We used to have some notion in a democracy that you were innocent until proven guilty.”

Ms Farr, who travelled to the demonstration from Stratford-upon-Avon, added: “I don’t think a process can be legal if it’s been set in motion through illegal actions and taking Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy was not done in any way from the rule of law.”

More to follow…

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