Fearing he would commit suicide, British justice on Monday refused to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, who is suing him for espionage and pleaded “extremely disappointed” while the Australian received a offer political asylum in Mexico.
“I consider Mr Assange’s mental state to be such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States,” Judge Vanessa Baraitser said in London. And he accepted that “Mr Assange’s mental health would deteriorate motivating him to commit suicide driven by the ‘obsessive determination’ of his autism spectrum disorder.”
The United States may appeal this decision and announced that it will do so: “We are extremely disappointed” and “we will continue to seek Mr. Assange’s extradition,” the Justice Department said in Washington.
Assange’s defense will ask for his release on bail at a hearing Wednesday.
Until then, the 49-year-old Australian, who was detained in Belmarsh prison in London for 20 months since his spectacular arrest in April 2019 at the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom – where he lived as a refugee 7 years-, will remain detained.
Then, perhaps he could settle in Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that he would offer him political asylum.
– “Get justice” –
“Today marks a victory for Julian. Today’s victory is a first step in getting justice in this case,” South African lawyer Stella Morris, Assange’s romantic partner with whom he has two, said after the hearing. children.
A shout of joy erupted among the thirty or so protesters who had gathered at the courthouse doors to express their support in a case they denounce as the key to freedom of the press.
“We won!” They shouted, hugging each other and putting aside their banners that read “Don’t extradite Assange, journalism is not a crime” or “Free the truth, release Assange”.
“I’m here this morning to support a man who, in my opinion, has been unjustly imprisoned for basically telling the truth,” a 78-year-old protester, Myra Sands, told AFP.
Also from Russia, where he lives in exile, former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden – himself claimed for leaks – said he hoped “this is the end” for Assange.
Assange and WikiLeaks became famous in 2010 following the publication of some 700,000 confidential military and diplomatic documents that put the United States in more than one compromise.
One of those people saw a video of US fighter jets firing on civilians in Iraq in 2007, killing a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters reporters.
– “The fight is not over” –
Before ruling, Judge Baraitser carefully examined the U.S. application in September, after months of delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Claiming to fear that Assange, whose physical and mental health seemed very weakened, would take his own life, Morris had handed over to the British government a petition with 800,000 signatures against his extradition.
This has been one of the main arguments of the defense, along with the allegation that the Australian, who could be sentenced to 175 years in prison if convicted by US justice of espionage, would not have a fair trial in the States. Units.
Washington accuses him of endangering the lives of his informants with the publication of secret documents on US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, which revealed acts of torture, civilian deaths and other abuses. .
But for their support committee, they are “politically motivated officials.”
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson called on Monday not to lower her guard.
“It’s a victory day for Julian Assange, but we have to be cautious, it’s not necessarily a victory for journalism,” he said. “I am concerned that US government lawyers will immediately say they are going to appeal this decision,” he added, stressing that “the fight is not over.”
The defense of the Australian, coordinated internationally by former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, denounced in the past that US President Donald Trump wanted to practice with him an “exemplary” punishment in his “war against journalists of research “.
It remains to be seen what the attitude of US President-elect Joe Biden will look like.