WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday won his legal battle against extradition from the UK to face espionage charges, after a judge ruled he would probably commit suicide if sent to the US.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled it would be “oppressive” to extradite the 49-year-old Australian for his mental health, as he faces 175 years in prison for allegedly hacking into U.S. government computers.
He described Assange as “a depressed and sometimes desperate man” who had the “intellect and determination” to evade any suicide prevention measures taken by U.S. prison authorities.
The U.S. government immediately announced that it would appeal the decision.
Assange’s lawyers, meanwhile, said they would press for his release from a London jail during a bail hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Assange, who was sitting at the London Central Criminal Court dock for the ruling, wiped his forehead when the decision was announced. His partner Stella Moris, with whom he has two young children, cried.
“Today is a victory for Julian. Today’s victory is the first step to justice in this case, “Moris told the courts, saying she was” extremely concerned “that the U.S. government planned to appeal.
“He still wants to punish Julian and make him disappear into the deepest, darkest hole in the U.S. prison system for the rest of his life,” he said, saying he would only “celebrate the day he returns home.”
Assange has been detained in the UK since April 2019, when he was arrested after being snatched from his refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
U.S. prosecutors have charged Assange with 17 counts of espionage and one count of misuse of computers for posting leaked military and diplomatic documents by WikiLeaks a decade ago.
Assange’s lawyers have insisted that he acted as a journalist and that he has a right to the protection of the First Amendment’s freedom of expression by publishing leaked documents exposing U.S. military crimes in Iraq and the United States. Afghanistan.
Assange’s US lawyer Barry Pollack said the legal team was “hugely pleased with the British court’s decision to deny extradition”.
“The U.S. effort to prosecute Julian Assange and request his extradition was inadvisable from the beginning,” he said. “We hope that after considering the ruling of the UK court, the United States will decide not to continue the case.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation described the attempted extradition and prosecution as “the most dangerous threat to U.S. press freedom in decades.”
“This is a great relief for anyone who cares about the rights of journalists,” he explains he tweeted of Monday’s court ruling. “The result will protect journalists everywhere.”
With publishing cables
With publishing cables