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January 4, 2021 10:10 pm

Julian Assange: UK Judge Blocks Extradition of Wikileaks Founder to US

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States, a court in London has ruled. The BBC reports: The judge blocked the request because of concerns over Mr Assange's mental health and risk of suicide in the U.S. Mr Assange, who is wanted over the publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011, says the case is politically motivated. Expressing disappointment at the ruling, the U.S. justice department noted that its legal arguments had prevailed. Its position is that the leaks broke the law and endangered lives. "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," the justice department said. The U.S. authorities have 14 days in which to lodge an appeal and are expected to do so. Mr Assange will now be taken back to Belmarsh Prison -- where he is being held -- and a full application for his bail will be made on Wednesday. His lawyer Ed Fitzgerald QC told the court there would be evidence to show Mr Assange would not abscond. [...] If convicted in the U.S., Mr Assange faces a possible penalty of up to 175 years in jail, his lawyers have said. However the U.S. government said the sentence was more likely to be between four and six years. Mr Assange faces an 18-count indictment from the U.S. government, accusing him of conspiring to hack into U.S. military databases to acquire sensitive secret information relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, which was then published on the Wikileaks website. He says the information exposed abuses by the U.S. military. But U.S. prosecutors say the leaks of classified material endangered lives, and so the U.S. sought his extradition from the UK.

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