British court denies Assange extradition
LONDON — A British judge ruled Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face charges of violating the Espionage Act because he is at extreme risk of suicide and might not be protected from harming himself in a U.S. prison.
Assange — who has been held at London’s Belmarsh prison since the Ecuadoran Embassy revoked his political asylum two years ago — is charged with 18 federal crimes, including conspiring to obtain and disclose classified diplomatic cables and sensitive military reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the Justice Department said the U.S. government will appeal the ruling. Prosecutors want him flown to Virginia to face the charges, which carry a prison sentence of up to 175 years.
British District Judge Vanessa Baraitser did not object to the merits of the case. She rejected claims by Assange’s legal team that the U.S. government was seeking to punish the 49-yearold Australian for his political opinions.
The judge said she had no doubt that Assange could have a fair trial with an impartial jury in the United States, and she was not concerned that his prosecution would upend protections for journalists and publishers. She said that in encouraging hackers to join the CIA or break into government computers to give WikiLeaks material to publish, Assange had not acted as a traditional investigative journalist.
But Baraitser blocked the extradition based on testimony from psychiatrists called by the defense, who stressed that Assange was actively planning to kill himself if ordered to face trial in the United States.
She said the defense had provided compelling evidence that Assange suffers from severe depression, that he has written a will, sought absolution from a priest and that a razor blade was found hidden in his cell.
“The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man fearful for his future,” Baraitser said.
She focused on the harsh environment Assange could face if convicted. She described America’s supermax prison, the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colo., as a facility where inmates are kept in lockdown 23 hours a day with almost no human contact.
“Faced with the conditions of near-total isolation without the protective factors which limited his risk at HMP Belmarsh, I am satisfied the procedures described by the U.S. will not prevent Mr. Assange from finding a way to commit suicide, and for this reason I have decided extradition would be oppressive by reason of mental harm and I order his discharge,” Baraitser said from the bench.
Assange was at the rear of the courtroom and he closed his eyes as he listened to the judge block his extradition. His partner and mother of their two children, Stella Moris, wept as WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson put his arm around her shoulders.
A spokesman for the Justice Department said: “While we are extremely disappointed in the court’s ultimate decision, we are gratified that the United States prevailed on every point of law raised. In particular, the court rejected all of Mr. Assange’s arguments regarding political motivation, political offense, fair trial and freedom of speech. We will continue to seek Mr. Assange’s extradition to the United States.”
As the case has been long and complex, the British High Court will probably agree to hear the appeal, said Nick Vamos, formerly head of the extradition unit at the Crown Prosecution Service and now a partner at Peters & Peters law firm in London.
But the appeals process could take several months — perhaps even longer because of Assange’s poor health and the soaring outbreak of coronavirus in Britain.
Assange was returned to prison. He will seek release on bail, and his attorney Edward Fitzgerald said the defense will submit new evidence Wednesday to counter a previous ruling that Assange is a flight risk.
After Monday’s ruling, the Mexican government offered Assange asylum, with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador saying he “deserves a second chance.”