Julian Assange fears secret trial on sex charges in Sweden (UPDATES) (VIDEO)

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be unfairly tried in secret in Sweden if extradited from Britain to face questioning over sexual-assault allegations, his lawyer has told a British judge. 

Assange’s right to “open justice” will be breached if he is subjected to a closed trial in Sweden —typical for rape cases in the country — said his lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, Bloomberg reported

Celebrities including Bianca Jagger and Jemima Khan came to lend their support to Assange who appeared in a British court Monday to fight attempts to extradite him to Sweden over sex crime charges.

What the Assange extradition case is really all about

Claire Montgomery QC, for the prosecutor's office, confirmed that Swedish prosectors intended to prosecute Assange for rape.

"In our submission there is no room for any doubt as to the purpose of the [European Arrest] warrant; namely that it is for the purpose of prosecution," she told the Belmarsh Magistrates' Court, The Guardian reported.

Until now, the Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, had always said that Assange was only wanted for questioning.

Lawyers for the 39-year-old Australian are expected to argue that the extradition request is unacceptable because he has not been charged with any crime, Agence France-Press reported.

Assange, who was arrested in London in Dec. 7, also faces a widening criminal probe in the United States after his website released of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables and hundreds of thousands of confidential U.S. documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The former computer hacker insists the attempts to extradite him are politically motivated. His legal team was to take the rare step of publishing their defense argument in full online later Monday.

A decision in the two-day hearing is not expected Tuesday, with the judge expected to defer until later this month.

If the ruling goes against Assange he will be able to appeal all the way to England's supreme court.

His lawyers have argued that if Assange were extradited to Sweden, he would risk extradition or could even be passed on to the United States where they say he could face the death penalty.

Police documents, viewed by AFP, contain a statement from the alleged rape victim alleging that Assange forced himself on her, without wearing a condom, while she slept.

The woman, identified only as Miss W, said she had had consensual sex with Assange earlier in the evening and had then fallen asleep with him, only "to wake up because he has forced himself inside of her," the report said.

"'She asked immediately: are you wearing anything?' and he answered 'you,'" it added.

"She told him 'You better not have HIV,' and he answered 'Of course not.'"

After that, Miss W allowed the intercourse to continue.

The documents include a forensic report on the condom used during a sexual encounter with Assange's other alleged victim, Miss A, who accused him of having deliberately broken the prophylactic. The report says the condom had not been cut with scissors or a knife.

Celebrity backers including socialite Jemima Khan, wealthy former wife of Pakistan cricketer Imran Khan, were planning to lead rallies in London for Assange during his extradition hearing.

Khan, who has previously offered sureties to guarantee Assange's bail, was asked to remove her black leather boots during security checks.

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