"It's about the right to be able to speak freely without being put in prison," says Julian Assange's wife Stella outside the London High Court where a hearing for his final appeal against extradition to the United States is underway. The hearing opened in the absence of the 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder who "is not feeling well", according to his lawyer Edward Fitzgerald. Assange is facing trial in the United States for publishing secret military and diplomatic files.