UK judge rejects US plea for Assange’s extradition

London, Jan. 4: A British judge on Monday rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, ruling that such a move would be “oppressive” because of his mental health. The 49-year-old Australian has been charged in the US under the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic cables.

“I have decided that extradition would be oppressive and I order his discharge,” District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said in her ruling. Judge

Baraitser, presiding over the case at the Old Bailey court in London, ruled that Assange was likely to commit suicide if extradited to the US, where he is wanted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

“The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man fearful for his future,” the judge said. The US government said it would appeal the decision and have 14 days to lodge the paperwork. This means Assange is not likely to be freed from London’s Belmarsh Prison, where he is being held, right away. A full application for his bail will be made on Wednesday.

Lawyers for the activist, who was re-arrested in September last year over the espionage charges, argued that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing leaked documents that exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. —