London [UK], January 04 (ANI): A British judge on Monday rejected the United States request to extradite WikiLeaks founder and whistleblower Julian Assange.
UK District Judge Vanessa Baraitser indicated that extradition would have a harmful effect on Assange’s mental health and said she ruled against the US request due to fears that the whistleblower has a high risk of committing suicide as a result, Sputnik reported.
Assange is wanted in the US on the charges of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, an American activist and whistleblower, to commit computer intrusion into the Department of Defence network to steal classified documents, namely Afghan and Iraq war logs and secret Department of State cables.
Assange is also facing 17 charges under the US espionage Act 1975 in connection with his release of the logs and cables. If proven guilty on all counts, Assange would face a sentence of up to 175 years.
Several witnesses indicated that Assange’s prison conditions put him at high risk for depression and suicide.
Psychiatrist Michael Kopelman, who also testified in court, claimed that a razor blade was found hidden in Assange’s cell, adding that his patient was engaged in thinking about ways of ending his own life.
Assange was taken to prison in April 2019 after being dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he had lived for years. (ANI)
Mexican President offers political asylum to Assange
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he would grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum if the United Kingdom freed him from jail.
“I am going to ask the foreign minister to prepare documents and ask that the UK frees Mr. Assange to offer him political asylum,” he said at a news conference here.
The President praised the UK court for rejecting the United States’ request for Assange’s extradition and termed it a “triumph of justice”. The judge cited concerns for Assange’s mental health, which was likely to deteriorate had he been moved to a top security US prison. (ANI/Sputnik)
UK court ruling against Assange’s extradition victory for all journalists: Lawyer
The decision of a UK court to block WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange‘s extradition to the United States is a victory for all journalists, the whistleblower’s Ecuadorean lawyer, Carlos Poveda, told Sputnik on Monday.
“This decision is not only a personal triumph for Assange but also for all journalists. It is a global achievement that we all must rally behind,” he said, adding that some journalists were complicit in his persecution by choosing to stay silent.
Poveda added he had a mixed bag of feelings about the ruling because the UK district court judge was only concerned with Assange’s frail mental condition while ignoring the violation of his basic rights to freedom of expression and access to information.
UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange would be a suicide risk if he was handed over to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in jail for publishing classified information on the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as thousands of diplomatic cables. (ANI/Sputnik)
‘Best news’: Assange’s mother after UK court rules against extradition to US
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange‘s mother Christine said Monday’s decision by a UK court to block her son’s extradition to the United States was the “best news”.
“Thank you #TeamAssange… Its not over till he’s safely home & all charges dropped, but today was the best news.. Its been 10 long traumatic years. I hope I will hold my son again soon…like I did here in 2010,” she wrote on Twitter.
Fidel Narvaez, a former Ecuadorean consul who knew Assange from his time as a refugee at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, told the media outside the court that the ruling was a “victory of all the people who never gave up”.
“The British judicial system wanted to save the face today, for those who were inside listening to the judge it was like listening to the prosecutors’ statements to begin with. If it is not for the very, very fragile health condition of Julian Assange he will be already extradited,” he said.
He noted that the UK judicial system had upheld the political arguments provided by the US, meaning that freedom of expression was still under attack.
“The judge had to recognize… the oppressive conditions of the US prison system and their special administrative measure for espionage cases and the risk of Julian going for suicide if he is extradited, that was the only things that stopped that,” he added.
The WikiLeaks founder and whistleblower is wanted in the US on espionage charges after his website leaked thousands of secret US cables on Iraqi and Afghan wars. The court denied a US request to extradite him over concerns for the 49-year-old’s mental health.
