WASHINGTON: The United States will continue to seek WikiLeaks founder Julian Assangeis extradition, the US Department of Justice he said Monday after a British judge ruled that he should not be extradited to face criminal charges.
“While we are extremely disappointed with the final decision of the court, we are pleased that the United States prevailed on all points of law raised. In particular, the court rejected all of Mr. Assange’s arguments regarding the political motivation, the crime political, fair trial and freedom of expression. We will continue to search for Mr. Assange extradition to the United States, “department spokesman Marc Raimondi said in a statement.
Earlier, a British judge ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges, including violation of an espionage law, and said his mental health problems meant he would be at risk of suicide.
The United States charges 49-year-old Australian-born Assange with 18 crimes related to WikiLeaks’ disclosure of large amounts of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables that it says put lives at risk.
Assange’s lawyers will seek bail on Wednesday for their client, who has spent most of the last decade in prison or self-imposed confinement. His legal team had argued that the entire prosecution was politically motivated, prompted by the administration of US President Donald Trump, and that AssangeExtradition would pose a serious threat to the work of journalists.
While Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected submissions that extradition should be prohibited because it would violate Assange’s freedom of the press or freedom of expression, she said there was a real risk that he would kill himself if he were in a United States maximum security prison. .
Assange, he said, suffered at times from severe depression and had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and autism. Half a razor blade was found in his London prison cell in May 2019, and he had told medical staff about his suicidal thoughts and made plans to end his life.
“I believe that the risk of suicide of Mr. Assange, if an extradition order were issued, is substantial,” Baraitser said in his ruling, delivered at the Old Bailey court in London.
“The overall impression is that of a depressed and sometimes desperate man who really fears for his future,” he added, saying that he had made regular calls from prison to the Samaritans charity.
Wearing a navy blue suit and mask, Assange showed little emotion at the ruling. Outside of court, his partner Stella Moris, with whom he had two children while seeking asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, said the decision was a victory but the threat of extradition still loomed over him.
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