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mein a London court on Monday rejected the US extradition request of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. Assange, 49, would have threatened up to 175 years in prison if convicted. The judge based her decision on Assange’s mental health and the conditions of detention that would await him in the United States. Hopefully he will commit suicide in solitary confinement.
The litigation is likely to continue in the UK for the time being, as the decision can be appealed. After a new instance, the procedure could go to the British Supreme Court and finally deal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Wikileaks founder had spent around a year and a half in the Belmarsh maximum security prison, in the southeast of the British capital. In view of the corona pandemic, it was only allowed to receive a very limited number of visitors, and phone calls abroad were not unlimited. Due to a crown outbreak in prison, an entire block was temporarily quarantined. Family members have always been concerned about Assange’s mental and health condition.
The US judiciary accuses Australian Assange of stealing and publishing secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, then Bradley Manning. Assange put the lives of American informants at risk, hence the indictment. Yet his supporters see him as an investigative journalist who has exposed war crimes.
Assange’s father, John Shipton, hopes a pardon for his son from President-elect Joe Biden. Assange’s fiancee, Stella Moris, had so far tried in vain to persuade outgoing President Donald Trump to forgive her partner.
Assange had been saved in 2012 for fear of being extradited to Sweden and from there to the United States at the Ecuadorian representative office in London. He remained there until his arrest in spring 2019. Investigations in Sweden into the rape allegations were later closed. The UN expert Melzer described it as “built.”
There are also numerous voices in Germany defending Assange. Before the London decision was announced, Reporters Without Borders demanded the immediate release of the Wikileaks founder. “The US accusation against Julian Assange is clearly politically motivated,” managing director Christian Mihr said Friday. “America wants to set an example and have a deterrent effect on media workers around the world.”
Federal government human rights commissioner Bärbel Kofler expressed concern about the procedure. “Human rights and humanitarian aspects should not be overlooked,” the SPD member of the Bundestag wrote before Monday’s hearing. She had warned that Assange’s physical and mental health “must be taken into account” when deciding on extradition to the United States.
There is now a multi-party task force in the Bundestag advocating for Assange’s release. Members of all parties are represented in it, except the AfD.
