The WikiLeaks founder will now face a court hearing on Friday after Britain's home secretary signs extradition order.

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Julian Assange is set to face an extradition hearing in a London court on Friday after Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid revealed he has given the legal green light for proceedings to go ahead.

The WikiLeaks founder faces charges of computer hacking in the United States after his whistleblowing website published, among other revelations, leaked videos of US troops opening fire on civilians in Iraq.

Javid on Thursday said that Assange was "rightly behind bars".

"I want to see justice done at all times and we've got a legitimate extradition request, so I've signed it, but the final decision is now with the courts," he told the BBC broadcaster.

But the home secretary adding his signature to the US request was "a formality", Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, told Al Jazeera.

"That is an entirely separate question from whether the request will be granted, which is a matter for the court based on the various tests and bars set out in the Extradition Act 2003, which includes that extradition has to be compatible with Mr Assange's human rights," said Vamos, now a partner at Peters & Peters Solicitors.

Last month, a UN human rights expert said Assange showed "obvious" signs of psychological torture.

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