WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday won his legal battle against extradition from the UK to face charges of espionage – after a judge ruled he was likely to commit suicide if sent to the US.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that it would be ‘oppressive’ to extradite the 49-year-old Australian due to his mental health, as he was sentenced to 175 years in prison for allegedly hacking into the US government’s computers.
She described Assange as “a depressed and sometimes desperate man” who had the “mind and determination” to circumvent the prevention of suicide measures by US prison authorities.
The US government immediately announced that it would appeal against the decision.
Assange’s lawyers meanwhile said they would press for his release from a London jail during a bail hearing on Wednesday.
Assange, who was sitting in the dock at the central criminal court in London for the verdict, wiped his forehead when the verdict was announced. His partner Stella Moris, with whom he has two young sons, cried.
“Today is a victory for Julian. “Today’s victory is the first step towards justice in this case,” Moris said outside court, saying she was “extremely concerned” that the US government was planning to appeal.
“It still wants to punish Julian and make him disappear into the deepest, darkest hole of the American prison system for the rest of his life,” she said, adding that they “will only celebrate the day he comes home.”
Assange has been in custody in the UK since April 2019, when he was arrested after being looted from his safe haven at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
U.S. prosecutors have charged Assange with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer abuse following WikiLeaks’ publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago.
Assange’s lawyers have insisted he is acting as a journalist and are entitled to the protection of freedom of speech through the first amendment to the publication of leaked documents exposing US military offenses in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange’s US lawyer Barry Pollack said the legal team was “very pleased with the British court’s ruling to deny extradition.”
“The attempt by the United States to prosecute Julian Assange and seek his extradition has been unsettling from the outset.” “We hope that the United States, after considering the decision of the British court, will decide not to pursue the matter further.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation calls the extradition and prosecution attempt “the most dangerous threat to American press freedom in decades.”
‘This is a great relief for anyone who cares about the rights of journalists’ tweeted of Monday’s court ruling. “The result will protect journalists everywhere.”
With Post threads
With Post threads