UK court denies bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange after blocking his extradition request

Julian Assange on January 6 has been denied bail just a couple of days after a British judge ruled that the Wikileaks founder should not be extradited to the United States to face charges including espionage.  The decision came after earlier this week UK court announced its verdict after a three-week extradition hearing in London’s Central Criminal Court. 

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser has reportedly ordered Assange to remain in jail as the courts consider the appeal by US authorities against a decision not to extradite him. The British judge had denied the request of the US government to extradite Assange citing his deteriorating mental health along with the risk of suicide. As per The Associated Press report, the judge said Wednesday that Assange “has an incentive to abscond” and there is a good chance he would fail to return to court if freed.

Assange has not been seen in public as a free man since 2012 when he entered the Ecuadorean embassy in London seeking protection. The WikiLeaks founder had lost his extradition battle to Sweden on rape charged, which were later dropped. Since the Ecuadorian president gave him political asylum, it further triggered a row with the UK. 

Eventually, Scotland Yard officers arrested him from the embassy. The last time Assange was seen in public was 2019 when he was being carried out by the law enforcement officers before 50-week imprisonment for jumping bail back in 2012.

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Julian Assange charged with 17 espionage charges

The prosecutors in the United States have charged Assange with 17 espionage charges along with one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of the confidential US military documents nearly a decade ago. These charges, in totality, carry 175 years in prison. 

However, Assange’s supporters and his defence team have argued that the profession of the 49-year-old is journalism and he is entitled to the First Amendment protections for publishing the leaked documents that exposed the wrongdoings committed by the American troops. According to Assange’s team, the conditions he would face in the US prison would violate his human rights. 

Julian Assange received support from Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who in June 2013 had also revealed thousands of classified documents that proved the United States government was spying on its citizens. Snowden was working with National Security Agency (NSA) after his short stint with CIA and Dell, left the United States for Hong Kong after resigning from his position as a computer security consultant in May 2013. 

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