THE United States’ bid to extradite Julian Assange came under unusual pressure from one of the judges hearing the case today.

Clair Dobbin KC, representing the US, conceded to Judge Victor Johnson that she had no evidence that the Wikileaks founder would be protected as US citizens are by the American constitution.

She also admitted that he could have been prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for similar offences in Britain and accepted that Mr Assange was not the original publisher of the leaks.