The judge overseeing the case of an American detained on terrorism-related charges closed a hearing to the public on Monday, giving no reason for the decision.
Separately, Mr. Assange will appear in a London court on Friday for the close of a hearing to determine whether he will be extradited to Sweden to face accusations of sexual misconduct made by two women there.
But, he said, it was "just not possible under our system of justice" to conduct a jury trial in a criminal case concerning matters "of great public interest," and in balancing the fair-trial and free-press issues, completely close such a hearing.
And in some cases, a judge will close a sentencing hearing if the defendant is going to talk about his cooperation with investigators.
On Friday, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a candidate for mayor, secured another temporary restraining order to prevent any closing until a hearing on Thursday.
In London, Fabric was closed pending a hearing where its licence was revoked due to the death of two adults over a nine-week period over the summer.
A lawyer for the Barnes Foundation, Ralph G. Wellington, presented closing arguments in a hearing on the fate of the foundation's art collection, saying that selling off paintings and other items would be "unethical," "bad public policy" and "bad business".
Worse, he sees the Inter Services Intelligence agency, the main military spy network, becoming a "state within a state", with the spies in effect getting control of the army, and thus having an unhealthy sway over other institutions.All this deserves a close hearing.
A known but not too often heard 20th-century figure gets a close hearing.
Judge Sand also refused to grant a request by lawyers for Mr. al-'Owhali to close the courtroom during a hearing on whether to bar prosecutors from introducing a statement he made to the authorities after his arrest in Kenya.
