Wikileaks founder faces extradition hearing.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was appearing in

court here Monday for a full extradition hearing over alleged sex offences,

his lawyers confirmed.

The 39-year-old whistleblower is wanted by the Swedish authorities over

claims that he sexually assaulted two women during a visit to Stockholm in

August.

But his lawyers are expected to argue that he could face execution in the

United States if he is extradited to Sweden.

They believe there is a "real risk" he could be extradited on to the US,

where he could be detained in Guantanamo Bay or even face the death penalty.

His two-day extradition hearing was starting today at Woolwich Crown Court

in south east London.

The claim that he could face extradition to the US and even execution

emerged in a skeleton argument released by his lawyers in the wake of a

preparatory legal hearing at the same court last month.

Assange's legal team have also suggested that extraditing him to Sweden

could breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR),

which bans torture.

They wrote "It is submitted that there is a real risk that, if extradited

to Sweden, the US will seek his extradition and/or illegal rendition to the

USA, where there will be a risk of him being detained at Guantanamo Bay or

elsewhere, in conditions which would breach Article 3 of the ECHR.

"Indeed, if Assange were rendered to the USA without assurances that the

death penalty would not be carried out, there is a real risk that he could be

made subject to the death penalty."

They added that "mere suspicion" should not create a request for

extradition, adding "A person's extradition should not be sought merely in

order for him to be questioned."

The legal document released here said Assange believed the extradition

request had been issued to punish him for his political opinions.

The internet activist, who is currently on bail, has vowed his work will

continue unabated as the extradition battle rages on.

He denies committing any offences and his supporters claim the criminal

inquiry and extradition request is unfair and politically motivated.

The high security court where his hearing will be held today has been the

scene for a string of terrorism trials including the airline bomb plotters and

London Glasgow suicide bomber.

Mark Stephens, Assange's lawyer, has promised to take the unprecedented

step of posting his client's defence argument online at the start of today's

hearing.

Stephens, of law firm "Finers Stephens Innocent", told the Daily Telegraph

newspaper "We will put our defence argument on my firm's home page at 10am.

You will see some fundamental challenges to the European Arrest Warrant

scheme."

The 39-year-old Australian computer expert has infuriated the US government

by releasing thousands of secret diplomatic cables on his website.

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