A supporter of Julian Assange holds a placard as she stands outside Westminster Magistrates Court during a hearing into Assange's ongoing extradition case, in London, Britain on November 10, 2019. Photo: VCG

The US government will on Wednesday begin an appeal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face trial for publishing military secrets, after a British judge blocked a request earlier in 2021, according to a report by AFP on Monday.

Washington said after the decision in January that it was "extremely disappointed" by District Judge Vanessa Baraitser's decision, which was made on the grounds of Assange being a suicide risk.

It is seeking to overturn that ruling at a two-day hearing from Wednesday, having argued during its request for an appeal that the judge "didn't appreciate the weight" of expert evidence that said he was not at risk of taking his own life.

Instead, it claimed the judge was "misled" by relying on evidence presented by Assange's psychiatric expert Michael Kopelman.

Assange, 50, was arrested in Britain in 2019 for jumping bail after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to evade extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault, which were later dropped.

Despite his extradition being blocked, Assange has been refused bail pending the outcome of the appeal over fears that he would abscond and is being held at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison. 

He is wanted in Washington to face 18 charges relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If convicted in the US, he faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in jail.

Judge Baraitser said it was not evident that the US, keeping him jailed while awaiting trial, would be able to ensure his safety in prisons known for "harsh conditions."

She rejected US experts' testimony that Assange would be protected from self-harm, noting that others such as disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein had managed to kill themselves in custody despite wardens' supervision.

Legal expert Carl Tobias, from the University of Richmond, said there was "some chance" of the US winning its appeal.

"The US may be able to convince the High Court that Baraitser assigned too much weight" to the Kopelman report, he told AFP.

Assange was indicted for violating the US espionage act in leaking the US files, and for hacking, based on the alleged assistance he provided to former military intelligence officer Chelsea Manning in obtaining the documents from secure military computer systems.

But the US case raised free speech issues, with Assange and his defenders maintaining that WikiLeaks enjoys the rights of any other media to publish secret materials in the public interest.

AFP