The British Judge Vanessa Baraitser Monday allowed new U.S. charges to be included in the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was already facing 18 criminal accusations.
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In June, the U.S. Justice Department filed the new charges that linked the Australian journalist to an alleged conspiracy with former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to access a Pentagon computer.
The alleged espionage's purpose was to steal diplomatic documents and information from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The U.S. also alleged that Assange contacted international hackers so they would leak classified information to him.
Baraitser allowed the new charges even though "they are not a simple narrative details' addition, as the U.S. prosecutors want to present them," Assange's attorney Mark Summers said.
The defense did not have the time to deal with the new charges because of their late filing. According to Baraitser, Assange's lawyers could have requested a hearing to have more time.
Assange's lawyers refused that option because "we did not want to lengthen the process for our client," Summers assured.
During the hearing, Assange remained in a cubicle with no contact with his lawyers. He only intervened when Baraitser asked him to identify himself.