Dhaka, Feb. 21 -- A grand total of 1,776 days: That's how long Julian Assange will have been detained in Britain's maximum-security Belmarsh Prison by Tuesday, when he faces what could be the final hearing in the tug-of-war over his extradition to the US.

Before that, the 52-year-old founder of the whistleblowing platform Wikileaks had spent seven years under diplomatic asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. And if US prosecutors have their way, he will soon be facing another 175 years in prison.

The hearing before the High Court in London will take up the question: Has Assange already exhausted all legal options for preventing his impending extradition to the US? Or can he continue to fight it in the British courts?

If the High C...