Julian Assange
A London court has denied the US authorities the extradition of Australian journalist and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on charges of violating the espionage law. Reported by Reuters.
The corresponding decision on Monday, January 4, was made by the judge Vanessa Baraitser (Vanessa Baraitser). She refused to allow Assange's extradition to the United States out of fears that he might commit suicide “facing complete isolation.” The judge pointed out that the procedures proposed by the American side will not help prevent such an outcome.
Washington is expected to file an appeal. At the same time, the court ruled that for the time that is necessary for this, the founder of WikiLeaks should remain in prison, reports TASS.
Earlier, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, stated that Assange's solitary confinement in a maximum security prison is disproportionate to the charges against him and is not a necessary measure. He pointed out that the fragile health of the journalist is under threat.
The U.S. Justice Department filed 17 charges against Assange in May 2019, later adding another. If extradited to the United States, the founder of WikiLeaks could face up to 175 years in prison. The current American President Donald Trump claimed that he was ready to pardon Assange if he named the source from whom he received the texts of letters from the hacked servers of the Democratic Party in 2016.
In 2012, fearing extradition to Sweden due to rape charges (the case was dropped in 2019), Assange applied for asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. There he was continuously for almost seven years. Assange is currently serving a prison sentence in the UK for violating bail conditions.
