LONDON, England (AP) — A British judge on Monday rejected a request by lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to ignore allegations against him in a US indictment that the defense says was sprung on it “out of the blue”.

The move came as Assange appeared in a London court to fight American prosecutors’ attempt to send him to the US to stand trial for espionage.

US prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret US military documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

The US Justice Department expanded its case against Assange in a new indictment announced in June, though it did not introduce new charges. But Assange attorney Mark Summers said it was “an impossible task” for the legal team to deal with the new allegations in time for Monday’s court hearing.

He said District Judge Vanessa Baraitser should “excise from your consideration of this case” the new American claims.

The judge refused, saying she had offered the defense the chance in August to postpone the hearing, and “they declined to do so.” The case has already been held up for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Assange, who has spent almost a year and a half in a British prison, sat in the dock at the Old Bailey criminal court and formally refused the US extradition demand. Assange, who lawyers say has suffered physical and mental ill-health because of his ordeal, spoke clearly to confirm his name and date of birth. He wore a dark suit, white shirt and maroon tie, with glasses perched atop his neatly trimmed white hair.

Several dozen supporters, including fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, gathered outside the courthouse, chanting, banging drums and calling his prosecution a threat to press freedom.

“Julian Assange is the trigger, he is shining the light on all the corruption in the world,” Westwood said.

American authorities allege that Assange conspired with US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The June indictment added claims that he conspired with members of hacking organisations and sought to recruit hackers to provide WikiLeaks with classified information.

The extradition hearing opened in February but was put on hold when the UK went into lockdown in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It is resuming with social distancing measures in court and video feeds so that journalists and observers can watch remotely.

The case is due to run until early October. The judge is expected to take weeks or even months to consider her verdict, with the losing side likely to appeal.