WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange refused bail after avoiding extradition to US

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London Britain

A British judge denied the US request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to America citing "mental health" issues.

The decision to refuse Julian Assange bail will be appealed against at the High Court, WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief has said.

"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", Baraitser said Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Judge Vanessa Baraitser made the announcement just two days after denying a request from the United States to send Assange across the Atlantic, arguing that he is likely to commit suicide if extradited to face espionage charges.

UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday not to extradite Assange to the United States, citing health reasons and the risk of suicide in the USA prison system, but did not release him from the Belmarsh high-security prison where he is detained.

Assange's lawyer argued that his client has a family in the United Kingdom and thus there is no risk of escaping.

A lawyer for the USA government earlier urged Baraitser not to release the controversial Australian publisher, and detailed how it planned to challenge her decision to block his extradition on mental health grounds.

Assange sought sanctuary in Ecuador's embassy in 2012, after Sweden issued an arrest warrant in connection with sexual assault allegations.

Fitzgerald also said it is not known if the incoming Joe Biden administration will pursue the prosecution of Assange, initiated under President Donald Trump.

British judge denies WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange bail in extradition case
The Guild's statement came after the United Kingdom court's judgment turning down the USA government's request to extradite Mr. He was holed up there for years after Sweden issued an arrest warrant in connection with sexual assault allegations.

"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.

Apart from the espionage prices, Assange has additionally been indicted in the USA on one cost of laptop misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of leaked army and diplomatic paperwork detailing alleged US army operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

Judge Baraitser said Assange had boasted of helping US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden to flee justice.

Assange's lawyers have insisted that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing leaked documents that exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. She also said that the USA judicial system would give him a fair trial.

The judge rejected that argument in her extradition ruling, saying Assange's actions, if proven, would amount to offences "that would not be protected by his right to freedom of speech".

In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond the reach of United Kingdom and Swedish authorities - but also effectively was a prisoner in the tiny diplomatic mission.

He has been held at the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London.

He remained in the embassy, living in confined conditions, until being dragged out in April 2019.

After leaving the Ecuadorean embassy, Assange was jailed for breaching British bail conditions and his supporters forfeited sureties of 93,500 pounds ($127,076).

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