UK judge refuses extradition of Assange
A British judge ruled Monday that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the U.S. on espionage charges because he is a suicide risk, in a move that touches on press freedoms and the international reach of the U.S. justice system.
The ruling ostensibly brings to an end a legal saga that has dragged on for almost a decade and has been full of controversies that pitted Washington against rights campaigners who say the U.S. government tried to redefine what journalists can publish.
U.S. prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling.
Assange was indicted in 2019 by the Department of Justice on 18 counts, alleging 17 forms of espionage and one instance of computer misuse crimes connected to Wikileaks’ dissemination of secret U.S. military documents provided to him by ex-u.s. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Assange denied the charges and claimed the documents exposed war crimes and abuses by the U.S. military in Iraq.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser told London’s Old Bailey Court that a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to have Assange, 49, an Australian national, removed to Washington to face the U.S. charges was denied because she couldn’t be certain he wouldn’t find a
way to kill himself while in a U.S. detention facility either before or after any court case.
In her ruling, Baraitser outlined examples of Assange’s poor mental health and history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
“The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man fearful for his future,” she said, adding that Assange’s high level of intelligence meant he would likely eventually succeed in taking his own life.
“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,” she said.
The ruling does not establish whether Assange is guilty of wrongdoing, and U.S. prosecutors said they will appeal the judgment.
However, Britain’s home secretary has the final say over extraditions, meaning the case may drag on for some time.
Assange had faced 175 years in prison if convicted in a U.S. court.
Assange and his lawyers have long maintained his innocence on the grounds that he simply did what any other journalist would do: publish information in the public interest. Assange’s legal team argued the charges were politically motivated, his mental and physical health was at risk, and conditions in U.S. prisons breach Britain’s human rights laws. The verdict was delayed several times because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Department of Justice argued, in its indictments and as part of the extradition case in Britain, that Assange should not be considered a journalist because he did not write or edit any of the material Wikileaks published. U.S. authorities also claimed he stole, or convinced Manning to steal, the secret documents.
Assange describes himself as a political refugee.