There are “a few problems” for American lawyers trying to frame charges against WikiLeaks’ chief Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, argues my erudite friend and blogger Robin Mitchinson.

Firstly, this legislation, dating from the First World War, only appears to apply to agents of a foreign power or to servants of the US government. Assange, a high-profile journalist, hardly fits the bill.

Secondly, if the US seeks to extradite Assange from the UK, he can be expected to fight extradition up through the higher levels of the legal system – the House of Lords, and beyond that, the European Court. The latter, “being very politically motivated, may well find in his favour – but not any time soon. The EC has a backlog of cases stretching years ahead.”

And don’t forget British law bans extradition to countries for offences that could result in a death sentence, which the US law does provide for.

Meanwhile there is the prior matter of deciding whether Assange should first be shipped to Sweden for questioning – not even a charge yet, apparently – about the highly suspicious allegation that he raped a sleeping woman (without wearing a condom).

I have heard stories about the strange sexual behaviour of some Australian males, but this is surely one of the weirdest. Was it dreamt up by the same folks that wanted to send an exploding cigar to Fidel Castro?