UK judge blocks Julian Assange extradition

The UK’s top court ruled against the extradition of the
WikiLeaks founder, citing mental health grounds. In the US, he
faces up to 175 years, for multiple espionage charges for releasing
sensitive military documents.

A UK judge on Monday refused a US request to extradite WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange on espionage charges.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser gave the decision during the
morning, saying it would be “oppressive” because of his mental
health.

Assange was likely to commit suicide if sent to the US,
Baraitser said.

Assange faces 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release
by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military
campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If convicted in the US, Assange would be jailed for up to 175
years.

What did the judge rule?
The judge rejected claims by the defense that Assange was protected
by free-speech guarantees. His “conduct, if proved, would therefore
amount to offenses in this jurisdiction that would not be protected
by his right to freedom of speech,” Baraitser said.

But she said Assange suffered from clinical depression that
would be exacerbated by the “severely restrictive detention
conditions designed to remove physical contact” in US prison.

Assange had the “intellect and determination” to circumvent any
suicide prevention measures the authorities could take, the judge
said.

The Judicial Office tweeted a link to the full judgement in the
Assange case.

The US will appeal the decision, Joshua Rozenberg, a legal
commentator and honorary Gray’s Inn bencher, tweeted following the
ruling.

Who is Julian Assange?
The 49-year-old was born in 1971 in Townsville, north-eastern
Australia.

In 2006, he founded WikiLeaks in 2006 as part of a collective.
The website enabled anyone to anonymously submit leaked secret
documents.

He shot to fame in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a
classified US military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache
helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two
Reuters news staff.

WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret US
diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical US appraisals of
world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of
the Saudi royal family.

Assange has faced multiple controversies, including charges of
sexual assault, following a visit to Sweden.

Human rights groups criticized him for going public with the
Afghan war logs while not adequately protecting informants.

In a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault
allegations, he stayed in Ecuador’s embassy in London from 2012 to
2019 where he was granted asylum.

But Assange was arrested for breaching bail in 2019 after a
change of government in Quito brought an end to his asylum in the
mission.

Why was he up for extradition to the US?
In April 2019, a grand jury in the US state of Virginia charged
Assange with one count of computer hacking. This was for allegedly
assisting former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in
accessing classified documents that exposed the US military
activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In May 2019, the WikiLeaks founder was indicted under the US
Espionage Act on 17 counts for soliciting, gathering and publishing
US military and diplomatic documents in 2010, all provided by
Manning.

The US Justice Department on June 11, 2020 formally asked
Britain to extradite Assange to the US to face a total of 18
charges.

What has the reaction been like?
His extradition had sparked criticism, among others by Nils Melzer,
UN special rapporteur on torture who told DW: “the United States is
trying to criminalize investigative journalism.”

Christian Mihr, director of the German branch of Reporters
without Borders (RSF) attended many days of the court proceedings
in London.He told DW he believed that British authorities had
“attempted to systematically shut out international observers.”

The process was “political,” Mihr added.

The German government’s Human Rights Commissioner Bärbel Kofler
has urged the UK to adhere to human rights and fulfil humanitarian
obligations in the extradition process.

German Green party member of parliament Margit Stumpp, told DW
that she sees “the rule of law being violated” in the extradition
procedures.

“I’ve often been to Turkey, and there I had no problems getting
into the courtroom,” Stumpp said.

The UK’s top court ruled against the extradition of the
WikiLeaks founder, citing mental health grounds. In the US, he
faces up to 175 years, for multiple espionage charges for releasing
sensitive military documents.

A UK judge on Monday refused a US request to extradite WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange on espionage charges.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser gave the decision during the
morning, saying it would be “oppressive” because of his mental
health.

Assange was likely to commit suicide if sent to the US,
Baraitser said.

Assange faces 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release
by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military
campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If convicted in the US, Assange would be jailed for up to 175
years.

What did the judge rule?
The judge rejected claims by the defense that Assange was protected
by free-speech guarantees. His “conduct, if proved, would therefore
amount to offenses in this jurisdiction that would not be protected
by his right to freedom of speech,” Baraitser said.

But she said Assange suffered from clinical depression that
would be exacerbated by the “severely restrictive detention
conditions designed to remove physical contact” in US prison.

Assange had the “intellect and determination” to circumvent any
suicide prevention measures the authorities could take, the judge
said.

The Judicial Office tweeted a link to the full judgement in the
Assange case.

The US will appeal the decision, Joshua Rozenberg, a legal
commentator and honorary Gray’s Inn bencher, tweeted following the
ruling.

Who is Julian Assange?
The 49-year-old was born in 1971 in Townsville, north-eastern
Australia.

In 2006, he founded WikiLeaks in 2006 as part of a collective.
The website enabled anyone to anonymously submit leaked secret
documents.

He shot to fame in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a
classified US military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache
helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two
Reuters news staff.

WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret US
diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical US appraisals of
world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of
the Saudi royal family.

Assange has faced multiple controversies, including charges of
sexual assault, following a visit to Sweden.

Human rights groups criticized him for going public with the
Afghan war logs while not adequately protecting informants.

In a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault
allegations, he stayed in Ecuador’s embassy in London from 2012 to
2019 where he was granted asylum.

But Assange was arrested for breaching bail in 2019 after a
change of government in Quito brought an end to his asylum in the
mission.

Why was he up for extradition to the US?
In April 2019, a grand jury in the US state of Virginia charged
Assange with one count of computer hacking. This was for allegedly
assisting former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in
accessing classified documents that exposed the US military
activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In May 2019, the WikiLeaks founder was indicted under the US
Espionage Act on 17 counts for soliciting, gathering and publishing
US military and diplomatic documents in 2010, all provided by
Manning.

The US Justice Department on June 11, 2020 formally asked
Britain to extradite Assange to the US to face a total of 18
charges.

What has the reaction been like?
His extradition had sparked criticism, among others by Nils Melzer,
UN special rapporteur on torture who told DW: “the United States is
trying to criminalize investigative journalism.”

Christian Mihr, director of the German branch of Reporters
without Borders (RSF) attended many days of the court proceedings
in London.He told DW he believed that British authorities had
“attempted to systematically shut out international observers.”

The process was “political,” Mihr added.

The German government’s Human Rights Commissioner Bärbel Kofler
has urged the UK to adhere to human rights and fulfil humanitarian
obligations in the extradition process.

German Green party member of parliament Margit Stumpp, told DW
that she sees “the rule of law being violated” in the extradition
procedures.

“I’ve often been to Turkey, and there I had no problems getting
into the courtroom,” Stumpp said.