Fearing he would commit suicide, the British court on Monday rejected the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, who claims him for espionage and said he was “extremely disappointed”, while the Australian received an offer of political asylum in Mexico.
“I think Mr Assange’s mental state is such that it would be stressful to extradite him to the United States,” said Judge Vanessa Baraitser in London. And he accepted that “Mr Assange’s mental health would deteriorate, prompting him to commit suicide due to his ‘obsessive determination’ of his autism spectrum disorder.”
The United States can appeal the decision and has said it will: “We are extremely disappointed” and “we will continue to seek Mr. Assange’s extradition,” the Washington Justice Department said.
Assange’s defense will ask for bail at a hearing on Wednesday.
Until then, the 49-year-old Australian, who has been held in London’s Belmarsh prison for 20 months since his spectacular April 2019 arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom – where he lived as a refugee for seven years – will remain in detention.
Later, he could probably settle in Mexico, whose president Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that he would offer him political asylum.
– “Get justice” –
“Today marks a victory for Julian. Today’s victory is a first step in getting justice in this case,” said South African lawyer Stella Morris, Assange’s partner with whom he has two children, after the hearing.
A shout of joy erupted from the thirty protesters who gathered in front of the court to express their support in a case they denounce as the key to freedom of the press.
“I won!” They shouted, hugging each other and putting aside their banners that read “Don’t extradite Assange, journalism is not a crime” or “Release the truth, release Assange.”
“I am here this morning because I support a man who, in my opinion, was unjustly imprisoned because he practically told the truth,” a 78-year-old protester, Myra Sands, told AFP.
Also in Russia, where he lives in exile, former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden – himself claimed for leaks – said he hoped “this is the end” for Assange.
Assange and WikiLeaks became famous in 2010, after the publication of about 700,000 confidential military and diplomatic documents that put the United States in more than one connection.
Among them was a video showing US helicopter guns firing on Iraqi civilians in 2007, killing a dozen people in Baghdad, including two journalists from the Reuters news agency.
– “The fight is not over” –
Before ruling, Judge Baraitser carefully examined the US request in September, after months of delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pretending to fear that Assange, whose physical and mental health appeared to be severely impaired, would take his own life, Morris handed over to the British government a petition with 800,000 signatures against his extradition.
This was one of the main arguments of the defense, along with the complaint that the Australian, who could be sentenced to 175 years in prison if American justice found him guilty of espionage, would not have a fair trial in the United States.
Washington accuses him of endangering the lives of his informants by publishing secret documents about US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, which revealed acts of torture, civilian deaths and other abuses.
But for his support committee, these are “politically motivated positions”.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson asked on Monday not to lower your guard.
“It’s a victory day for Julian Assange, but we have to be careful, it’s not necessarily a victory for journalism,” he said. “I am concerned that US government lawyers will immediately say they will appeal this decision,” he added, noting that “the fight is not over.”
The Australian’s defense, coordinated internationally by former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, denounced in the past that US President Donald Trump wanted to carry out an “exemplary” punishment with him in the “war against investigative journalists”.
It remains to be seen what the attitude of US President-elect Democrat Joe Biden will be.