Tareq Haddad

(1/10) Summary from #Assange hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court this morning: As was the case in previous hearings, main issue discussed was the amount of time lawyers had access to their client.

(2/10) His lawyer Gareth Peirce raised concerns about this lack of access and told District Judge Vanessa Baraitser she has only had 2 hours with Assange since the last hearing.

(3/10) Baraitser said 47 people were currently in custody at court with only 8 rooms available for interviewing so Peirce would only be given an additional hour today. The judge said it would not be fair or just to delay or restrict the access to counsel for others in custody.

(4/10) Peirce told the court she had 3 substantial sets of documents and evidence she needed to go through with Assange and have him sign off on before they could be submitted to prosecution for response. Said she would struggle to do this under current time constraints.

(5/10) Peirce added that the last-minute change to move the hearing from tomorrow to today means she lost additional time with Assange. "This slippage in the timetable is extremely worrying."

(6/10) Peirce also added she was considering filing a claim for a judicial review regarding this lack of access to Assange as it was a breach of his rights. She said access was restricted at Belmarsh prison in spite of several empty rooms being available.

(7/10) Baraitser adjourned the hearing to 2pm this afternoon so Peirce could have the intervening time with Assange and she will have another hour with him on Thursday to finalise the exhibits to be given to prosecution prior to Friday, 18th January.