Last chance for Assange?

But how long would he serve if convicted?

Julian Assange is facing his last chance to stop extradition, his supporters announced this week. In June, a senior High Court judge turned down his written application for permission to appeal against a decision to approve his extradition taken last year by the then home secretary.

Assange then lodged a renewed application for permission. An oral hearing before two judges will take place on a date to be announced. If they refuse permission, there can be no further appeal.

His wife Stella said in June:

We remain optimistic that we will prevail and that Julian will not be extradited to the United States where he faces charges that could result in him spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison.

There’s a lot riding on that word “could”. It’s true that the maximum sentence available to the court is 175 years. But Eric Lewis, an expert witness called by Assange’s defence team, accepted that the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for unauthorised disclosure to the media was 63 months.

That’s supported by two key documents.