WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States, according to the judge

LONDON – A British judge ruled on Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, one of the world’s leading whistleblowers, will not be extradited to the United States

Judge Vanessa Baraitser said the extradition would be oppressive because of Assange’s mental health.

“The general impression is of a depressed and sometimes desperate man, who is really afraid of his future,” Baraitser wrote in his opinion. “For all these reasons, I consider the risk of Mr. Assange to commit suicide, if an extradition order is made, to be substantial.”

According to reports, the United States appealed the decision within the allotted two-week deadline.

Assange is wanted in the United States for publishing hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011. He is wanted for 18 charges, 17 of which correspond to the United States Espionage Act.

His health deteriorated while he was detained in a UK prison.

The United States has specifically accused him of conspiring with Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to decrypt a password known as a “hash” to gain access to a U.S. Department of Defense computer and expose military secrets. .

Assange supporters argue that the United States is attacking him for political reasons after his journalism exposed alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as human rights abuses.

If the 49-year-old Australian is extradited to the United States, his lawyers have said he could go to jail for 30 to 40 years. Her mother Christine Assange said on Twitter that she will not survive if she is extradited. Prosecutors have said he will not face more than 63 months in prison.

Assange’s lawyers said in a final letter to Baraitser that the accusation had been politically motivated “during a unique period in U.S. history under the (President Donald) Trump administration.”

The legal team representing the United States said federal prosecutors are prohibited from considering political opinion when making their decisions.

The U.S. Department of Justice released a new indictment in June alleging that Assange conspired with members of hacking organizations and attempted to recruit hackers at conferences in Europe and Asia that could provide WikiLeaks with classified information.

Assange’s attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, QC, tried to delay the hearing, arguing in August that the accusation came too late for his team to review and respond correctly. James Lewis QC represented the US authorities.

Fitzgerald said he had not seen Assange face to face for six months, in part because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the BBC. However, no offer was made to rule out the new charges.

Speaking from a glass box in August, Assange said he does not accept extradition.

The hearing lasted four weeks and dozens of witnesses were called to testify.

WikiLeaks posted U.S. military video footage in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people. He then published thousands of secret military documents and diplomatic cables.

Shortly afterwards, Sweden attempted to extradite Assange from Britain for alleged sex crimes. When he lost this case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London and sought asylum.

Assange was arrested at the embassy in April 2019 for failing to meet his bail conditions and has since been detained in Belmarsh High Security Prison in south-east London.

Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, told PA Media in the summer that her partner’s health was deteriorating.

“It’s an attack on journalism,” he said. “If he is extradited to the US to publish uncomfortable truths about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he will set a precedent and any British journalist or publisher could also be extradited in the future.”

Moris launched a crowdfunding campaign last month to pay Assange’s legal fees. More than £ 175,000 ($ 239,000) has been pledged.