LONDON (AP) – A British judge on Monday rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges over the publication of classified US documents a decade ago, saying he was likely to commit suicide if he were to be held in hard American prison. requirements.
In a mixed verdict for Assange and his supporters, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser dismissed the defense’s arguments that the 49-year-old Australian is facing a politically motivated American prosecution that suppresses freedom of speech. But she said Assange’s precarious mental health would likely deteriorate even further under the conditions of “near total isolation” he would face in a US prison.
“I think Mr. Assange’s mental state is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America,” the judge said.
US government lawyers said they would appeal the decision, and the US Department of Justice said it would continue to seek Assange’s extradition.
“While we are extremely disappointed with the court’s final decision, we are delighted that the United States was victorious on every point of the law,” he said in a statement. “In particular, the court rejected all of Mr. Assange’s arguments regarding political motivation, political crime, fair trial and freedom of expression.”
Assange’s lawyers said they would request his release from a London jail where he has been held for over 18 months during a bail hearing on Wednesday.
Assange, who sat quietly in the harbor of the Central Criminal Court in London before the verdict, wiped his forehead when the decision was announced. His partner Stella Moris, with whom he has two young sons, was crying.
Out of court, Moris said the verdict was “ the first step to justice, ” but it was not time to celebrate yet.
“I was hoping today would be when Julian would come home,” she said. “Today is not that day, but that day is coming soon.”
The ruling marked a dramatic moment in Assange’s long legal battle in Britain – though probably not the final chapter.
It is unclear whether the new Biden administration will continue the prosecution initiated under President Donald Trump.
Assange’s US attorney Barry Pollack said the legal team was “extremely pleased” with the UK court’s decision.
“We hope that, after considering the UK court ruling, the United States will decide not to pursue the case any further,” he said.
Moris urged Trump to pardon Assange before leaving office this month.
“Mr. President, tear down these prison walls,” she said. “Let our little boys have their daddy.”
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and a computer misuse charge over Wikileaks’ publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents. The indictment carries a maximum prison sentence of 175 years.
Assange’s attorneys claim he acted as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protection of freedom of speech for publishing documents revealing US military misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US government lawyers denied that Assange was being prosecuted for publication alone, saying the case is “largely based on his unlawful involvement” in the theft of diplomatic cables and military files by US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
The British judge sided with US lawyers on that point, saying that Assange’s actions, if proven, would amount to violations “that would not be protected by his right to freedom of expression.” She also said the US legal system would give him a fair trial.
The defense also argued in a three-week hearing in the fall that Assange ran the risk of risking “an extremely disproportionate sentence” and detention in “draconian and inhumane conditions” if he was sent to the United States.
The judge agreed that conditions in the US prison would be oppressive, saying there was a “real risk” that he would be sent to the maximum administrative facility in Florence, Colorado. It is the highest security prison in the US, where Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman are also held.
She accepted evidence from expert witnesses that Assange had major depressive disorder and autism spectrum disorder.
“I am convinced that Mr. Assange’s mental health would deteriorate under these harsh conditions, causing him to commit suicide with the determination of his autism spectrum disorder,” the judge said.
She said Assange was “a depressed and sometimes desperate man” who had the “intellect and determination” to circumvent all suicide prevention measures by the US prison authorities.
Britain’s extradition agreement with the US says that extradition can be blocked if “it would be unjust or oppressive to extradite him because of the person’s mental or physical state”.
This is not the first time that the UK has refused extradition to the United States for those reasons.
In 2018, a UK court refused to extradite Lauri Love, a hacker accused of penetrating US government networks over the risk of committing suicide. In 2012, then Secretary of the Interior Theresa May blocked the extradition of Gary McKinnon, who was accused of breaking into the US military and space networks, at the risk of ending his life.
Assange’s prosecution has been condemned by journalists and human rights groups, who say it undermines freedom of expression and endangers journalists. They welcomed the judge’s decision, even though it was not taken on the basis of freedom of expression.
“This is a tremendous relief to anyone who cares about journalists’ rights,” tweeted The Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Assange’s legal troubles began in 2010 when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, who wanted to question him on allegations of rape and sexual assault by two women. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy, where he was out of reach of the British and Swedish authorities – but in fact also a prisoner, unable to enter the small diplomatic space in London’s Knightsbridge area. to leave.
The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured and he was expelled from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested him for breach of bail in 2012.
Sweden halted the investigation into sex crimes in November 2019 because so much time had passed, but Assange was in the maximum-security Belmarsh prison in London during his extradition hearing.