While most of the stories regarding Wikileaks which make the pages of good old Hot Gas tend to follow the continuing adventures of Bradley Manning, it’s worth noting that the founder of the document dump is having legal problems of his own. Julian Assange is still in the UK and has been fighting extradition to Sweden on charges of rape and sexual assault. Let’s just say that Thursday wasn’t his day.

The Supreme Court has dismissed a bid by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to reopen his appeal against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.

Seven judges of Britain’s top court unanimously dismissed the move by Mr Assange as being “without merit”.

Two weeks ago the court rejected his argument that a European arrest warrant for extradition was invalid.

He still has one shot left, in the form of an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) but that’s not expected to get very far. Failing that, Assange should be shipped off for a tour of Sweden’s criminal justice system some time between June 28 and July 7.

But for a look at the type of coverage the European media provides, you’ll get a real eye-full from PressTV. These guys not only treat both Assange and Manning like national heroes, but promote every kind of conspiracy theory about them.

Concerns are being voiced over the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on the extradition case of Julian Assange saying he could face the same fate as that of US army private Bradley Manning…

Following the release of documents, Bradley Manning, a US army soldier, was arrested in Iraq over the suspicion that he had passed the classified documents to Assange.

Media reports said he was subject to torture. Assange and Manning have been targeted by the US government as criminals and concerns are being voiced over what Assange’s extradition to Sweden could lead to.

In an interview with Russia’s English news channel Russia Today, author and activist David Swanson said the US government “has issued a secret closed indictment and pressured other governments in Britain and in Sweden to ship Julian Assange to the US”.

In 2010, The Independent revealed that informal talks had been held between Sweden and the US about Assange’s “temporary surrender” to the US.

If that’s the only kind of coverage you’re seeing, it’s no wonder that the stories about these guys turn into massive conspiracy theory fodder on the web. As far as “secret indictments” go, I’m still not entirely sure what Assange could be charged with in the United States even if we got hold of him. I also don’t recall the President demonstrating much interest in getting his hands on the man either. But that all may wind up being irrelevant if the Swedes toss him into a cell someplace for the next few years.