Dobbin sought to rebut the arguments made by the WikiLeaks founder’s counsel the day before, when they claimed the US was seeking politically motivated retaliation for his exposure of state criminality, including torture, rendition and extrajudicial killings.

She said Assange, who was not well enough to attend court for a second day, had not merely published material but had conspired with and aided and abetted US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing and disclosing classified information. He is also alleged to have sought to recruit other hackers and leakers of classified information.

Assange is supported by journalist organisations including Australia’s Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Reporters Without Borders and the National Union of Journalists in Britain, and his lawyers described his prosecution as unprecedented and a threat to press freedom.

But Dobbin said Assange “knowingly and indiscriminately published to the world the names of individuals who acted as sources of information to the United States”. She said that was a core fact which distinguished the position of Assange from “The New York Times and other media outlets”.

“It is this which forms the objective basis for his prosecution. It is these facts which distinguish him, not his political opinions,” she said.

Dobbin said that in encouraging Manning and others to hack into government computers and steal from them, Assange was “going a very considerable way beyond” a journalist gathering information.

He was “not someone who has just set up an online box to which people can provide classified information,” she said. “The allegations are that he sought to encourage theft and hacking that would benefit WikiLeaks.”

Assange, who founded WikiLeaks in 2006, has been held in London’s high security Belmarsh Prison for almost five years while US authorities seek to extradite him to face trial on espionage charges. His website claims to have published more than 10 million classified files, including official reports on corruption, spying and civilian deaths.

In 2019, the US Department of Justice described the leaks as “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States”. He was charged with 18 offences under the Espionage Act of 1917 and extradition proceedings were brought against him in the US.

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Dobbin told the court the fact the Biden administration was committed to Assange’s prosecution when the charges were laid under the Trump administration was evidence it was not political.

On Tuesday, Assange’s counsel Mark Summers KC argued the publication of unredacted cables was inadvertent but that, even if it were deliberate, the public interest could have outweighed the naming of individuals. He also said that no harm to any of the named individuals had been proven.

Assange’s lawyers say he could be given a sentence of up to 175 years, but it is likely to be up to 40 years. US prosecutors have said it would be no more than 63 months. US authorities have said that if they agree to extradite Assange, he could serve any US prison sentence he received in Australia.

If Assange wins this case, a full appeal hearing will be held but if loses, his only remaining option would be at the European Court of Human Rights. His wife Stella Assange has said his lawyers would apply to the European judges for an emergency injunction if necessary.

with agencies

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