NEW DELHI: UK District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange He will not be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges for the publication of secret US military documents a decade ago.
US prosecutors had charged Assange with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Lawyers for the 49-year-old Australian argued that he was acting as a journalist and that he is entitled to First Amendment protections of free speech for publishing leaked documents exposing US military irregularities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The defense had argued that the extradition threatens Assange’s human rights because he risks “a tremendously disproportionate sentence” and detention in “draconian and inhuman conditions” that would exacerbate his severe depression and other mental health problems.
US prosecutors had charged Assange with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Lawyers for the 49-year-old Australian argued that he was acting as a journalist and that he is entitled to First Amendment protections of free speech for publishing leaked documents exposing US military irregularities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The defense had argued that the extradition threatens Assange’s human rights because he risks “a tremendously disproportionate sentence” and detention in “draconian and inhuman conditions” that would exacerbate his severe depression and other mental health problems.
Who is Julian Assange: the controversial founder of WikiLeaks
- Assange is the figurehead for the whistleblower website that exposed government secrets around the world, notably the explosive leak of US military and diplomatic files related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- For some, the Australian citizen is a courageous defender of press freedom. For others, it was reckless with classified information, possibly jeopardizing sources.
- He has spent most of the last decade in custody or in hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as he has tried to avoid extradition, first to Sweden to respond to rape allegations and then to the United States.
- Born in Townsville, Queensland, in 1971, Assange has described an itinerant childhood and claims to have attended 37 schools before settling in Melbourne.
- As a teenager, Assange discovered a talent for hacking, which soon caught the attention of the Australian police.
- He admitted most of the charges against him, for which he paid a fine.
- Assange launched WikiLeaks in 2006 with a group of like-minded activists and IT experts.
Things to know about WikiLeaks
- While the WikiLeaks website was registered in 2006, the group began operations in 2007, and Assange said it would use encryption and a censorship-proof website to protect sources and publish secret information.
- WikiLeaks first came to the world’s attention when it published manuals for US prison guards at Guantanamo Bay.
- He has published more than 10 million leaked documents, to the dismay of politicians, governments and corporations.
- In its early days, WikiLeaks worked with dissidents around the world to expose the secrets of the United States government to Europe, China, Africa and the Middle East.
- But over time, he has increasingly set his sights on the United States, fueling suspicions of collaboration with Russia, claims that Assange has denied.
- The worst scandals to hit WikiLeaks have involved Assange himself.
- Hailed as a hero by supporters and vilified as a manipulator by critics, the white-haired Australian was held at the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2012 to 2019 to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape charges.
(With inputs from agencies)
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