UK court denies bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
- Judge says there is a risk the 49-year-old may abscond while the US tries to secure his extradition from Britain
- Assange has spent more than eight years either holed up in the London’s Ecuadorean embassy or in jail
Assange has spent more than eight years either holed up in the London’s Ecuadorean embassy or in jail.
“I am satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that if Mr Assange is released today he would fail to surrender to court to face the appeal proceedings,” Judge Vanessa Baraitser said.
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The US Department of Justice says it will continue to seek Assange’s extradition.
“As far as Mr Assange is concerned this case has not yet been won … the outcome of this appeal is not yet known,” Baraitser said.
Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, said the judge’s decision to deny him bail was a huge disappointment and urged the US to pardon him. WikiLeaks said it would appeal against the denial of bail.
“This is a huge disappointment,” Moris told reporters. “Julian should not be in Belmarsh prison in the first place. I urge the Department of Justice to drop the charges and the President of the United States to pardon Julian.”
Admirers hail Australian-born Assange as a hero for exposing what they describe as abuses of power by the US. But detractors cast him as a dangerous figure who has undermined the security of the West, and dispute that he is a journalist.
Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified US military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff.
UK judge refuses extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
Clair Dobbin, a lawyer representing the US at the hearing, said Assange had gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid extradition and that he could try to leave the UK to flee justice.
“This court should be in no doubt as to Mr Assange’s resources, abilities and sheer wherewithal to arrange flight to another country,” Dobbin said. “This court should be under no illusion either as to the readiness of other states to offer Mr Assange protection.”
She said that the extradition request had been denied “on a single ground, that of his mental health. It is a decision that hangs on a single thread.”
