Verdict on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradition from UK next week

LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will get to know on Wednesday whether he will be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct in that country, the court hearing the case here said today.

Lawyers for Assange, 40, have insisted that his extradition to Sweden would be "unfair and unlawful".

He is wanted in Sweden to answer accusations of raping one woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August last year.

"The High Court will hand down judgment in the above case at 9.45am (local time) on Wednesday November 2, 2011 at the Royal Courts of Justice, London," a court statement said.

Assange, who was arrested here in December last year, is living under strict bail conditions at the mansion of a supporter in Britain.

Last week he announced that WikiLeaks had been forced to suspend publishing classified files after a funding blockade and may need to shut down by the end of the year.