Ruling on Assange’s extradition plea due today

London: A London court will today make a pronouncement on an extradition plea by Sweden against WikiLeaks founder and anti-establishment crusader, Julian Assange. Either way, the judgement is expected to be challenged by the losing side and a final decision on the matter is not expected to materialise before summer.

The ruling by Judge Howard Riddle at Belmarsh Magistrates court is unlikely to be the final word, with the losing party expected to lodge an appeal in higher courts. The process of appeals is expected to consume another few months.

Indeed lawyers from both sides have admitted they would appeal should the judgement go against them. The Independent paper quoted Mark Stephens, Assange's lawyer, as saying that both sides had informed the judge that they would appeal should they lose.

Assange, 39, is currently residing in Britain and is battling an extradition request for interrogation and possible trial over allegations from two Swedish women of rape and sexual molestation. His lawyers have expressed a widely-believed fear that the rape charges and the extradition request is a mere cover for a furious United States establishment to lay its hands on him.

They have alleged that Assange will be passed on to the United States after his arrival in Sweden. Assange, and his WikiLeaks organisation, have rattled powers-that-be around the world with leaks that have exposed the seamier side of government functioning.

The US in particular has been at the receiving end of WikiLeaks campaign to release information for public consumption and bring increased transparency into the conduct of public affairs, such as war and diplomacy.

WikiLeaks unloaded thousands of documents from the internal records of the US State Department recently that showed up public figures in a different light from their public persona. Understandably he has become public enemy number one for government establishments around the world and a folk hero for others.