WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to remain in prison despite winning extradition battle
Judge cites Assange’s support of NSA whistleblower as one of the reasons for him being at high risk of absconding. He will remain in Belmarsh prison until the US government completes its appeal
Share this item with your network: By Published: 06 Jan 2021 14:14
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was denied release on bail today following a court ruling that he should not be extradited to the US to face hacking and espionage charges.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser cited Assange’s support in helping National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden evade arrest as one of the reasons for keeping him in prison until the US can appeal her decision.
2021-01-06 12:40:30 GMT2021-01-06 20:40:30(Beijing Time) Sina English
AFP
Stella Morris, partner of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange leaves Westminster Magistrates court in London after he was denied bail on January 6, 2021.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will have to remain in custody in Britain, pending a US appeal of the decision to block his extradition to face charges for leaking secret documents, a judge in London ruled Wednesday.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser told Westminster Magistrates Court there were substantial grounds for believing that if Mr Assange is released today he will fail to surrender for the appeal hearings. Mr Assange still has an incentive to abscond from these as yet unresolved proceedings, she said.
The ruling means Assange must remain in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison where he has been held since he was arrested in April 2019 for skipping bail during a separate legal battle seven years earlier.
Assange s partner, Stella Moris, said the decision was “a huge disappointment.” WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said it is inhumane. It is illogical.”
Lawyers for the U.S. government have appealed the decision not to extradite Assange, and the case will be heard by Britain s Hugh Court at an unspecified date.
Clair Dobbin, a British lawyer acting for the U.S., said Assange had shown he would go “to almost any length” to avoid extradition, and it was likely he would flee if granted bail.
Matt Dunham/AP
toggle caption Matt Dunham/AP
A Julian Assange supporter holds up a placard of the WikiLeaks founder outside Westminster Magistrates Court, the site of his bail hearing, in London on Wednesday. Matt Dunham/AP
Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET
Julian Assange will remain in a British prison after a U.K. court denied his request to go free on bail Wednesday, citing the U.S. government s ongoing attempts to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to face espionage charges.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser who gave Assange a court victory earlier this week by rejecting the U.S. extradition request ruled that Assange must be held in custody while the U.S. government appeals, saying he poses a flight risk.
Here are some key events and details in his life to date:
July 1971 – Assange is born in Townsville, Australia, to a mother and stepfather involved in theatre. As a teenager, he gains a reputation as a computer programmer, and in 1995 is fined for computer hacking but avoids prison on condition he does not offend again.
2006 – Founds WikiLeaks, creating an internet-based “dead letter drop” for leakers of classified or sensitive information.
April 5, 2010 – WikiLeaks releases leaked video from a US helicopter showing an air raid that killed civilians in Baghdad, Iraq, including two Reuters news agency staff.
July 25, 2010 – WikiLeaks releases more than 91,000 documents, mostly secret US military reports about the Afghanistan war.