A British judge ruled Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, one of the world’s most high-profile whistleblowers, cannot be extradited to the US.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser said extradition would be oppressive due to Assange’s mental health.
“The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man, who is genuinely fearful about his future,” Baraitser wrote in her ruling.
“For all of these reasons I find that Mr Assange’s risk of committing suicide, if an extradition order were to be made, to be substantial.”
The US is expected to appeal the decision within the allocated two-week time frame.
Assange is wanted in the US over the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011. He is wanted on 18 charges, 17 of which fall under the US Espionage Act.
His health has deteriorated while being held in the UK’s Belmarsh prison in southeast London. He was returned to the prison following the court hearing and a full application for his bail will be made on Wednesday.
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Baraitser ruled that while US prosecutors met the tests for Assange to be extradited, the US was incapable of preventing him from attempting to commit suicide.
“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 US 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,” she said.
The US has specifically accused Assange of conspiring with army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to decipher a password known as “hash” in order to access a classified US Department of Defense computer and expose military secrets.
Assange’s supporters argue that the US is targeting him for political reasons after his journalism exposed alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as human rights abuses.
If the 49-year-old Australian is extradited and convicted in the US, he could be sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison, his lawyers have said. His mother, Christine Assange, said on Twitter that he won’t survive if he is extradited. Prosecutors have said he would face no more than 5¼ years behind bars.
Assange’s lawyers said in a closing written submission to Baraitser that the prosecution had been politically motivated “during a unique period of US history under the (President Donald) Trump administration.”
The legal team representing the US said federal prosecutors are forbidden to consider political opinion in making their decisions.