WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange won his legal battle against extradition from the UK on Monday for espionage charges – after a judge ruled he would likely kill himself if he were sent to the US.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that it would be “oppressive” to extradite the 49-year-old Australian for his mental health, as he was sentenced to 175 years in prison for allegedly hacking into US government computers.
She described Assange as “a depressed and sometimes desperate man” who had the “intellect and determination” to circumvent all suicide prevention measures by the US prison authorities.
The US government immediately announced that it would appeal the decision.
Assange’s lawyers, meanwhile, said they would push for his release from a London jail during a bail hearing on Wednesday.
Assange, who was sitting at the port of the Central Criminal Court in London for the verdict, wiped his forehead when the decision was announced. His partner Stella Moris, with whom he has two young sons, was crying.
“Today is a victory for Julian. Today’s victory is the first step to justice in this case, ”said Moris out of court, saying she was“ extremely concerned ”that the US government was planning to appeal.
“It continues to punish Julian and make him disappear for the rest of his life into the deepest, darkest hole of the US prison system,” she said, saying 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 booted from safe haven in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one computer abuse charge over the publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents on Wikileaks a decade ago.
Assange’s lawyers have insisted that he act as a journalist and be entitled to First Amendment protection of freedom of speech for publishing leaked documents exposing US military misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange’s US attorney Barry Pollack said the legal team was “very pleased with the UK court’s decision to deny extradition.”
“The United States’ attempt to prosecute Julian Assange and request his extradition was unwise from the start,” he said. “We hope that the United States, after considering the UK court ruling, will decide not to pursue the case further.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation called the attempted extradition and prosecution “the most dangerous threat to US press freedom in decades.”
“This is a huge relief for anyone who cares about journalists’ rights,” he says tweeted of Monday’s court ruling. “The result will protect journalists everywhere.”
With pole wires
With pole wires