WikiLeaks founder Assange begins last-ditch legal bid to stop US extradition, not in court due to illness

The 52-year-old has been fighting extradition for more than a decade, including seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five years in a high-security prison.

Assange "is unwell" and is not attending a British court for his extradition hearing for that reason, his lawyer said.

Dozens of supporters holding “Free Julian Assange” signs and chanting “there is only one decision – no extradition” held a noisy protest outside the High Court in London, where Assange’s attorneys will ask two High Court judges to grant a new appeal hearing, his last legal roll of the dice in Britain.