WikiLeaks founder could walk free TODAY as he faces bail hearing
WikiLeaks founder’s bail is DENIED: Julian Assange will remain behind bars for at least two more weeks while US officials appeal UK judge’s extradition ban
- Julian Assange, who successfully fought extradition on Monday, was in court again today for a bail hearing
- Refused bail from jail due to the risk he could try to flee while US officials put together fresh legal challenge
- Stella Moris – with whom he shares two sons – watched the proceedings at Westminster Magistrates Court
- Decision not to bail him made by Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who earlier refused the US extradition request
Julian Assange today lost his bid to become a free man after almost 10 years of prison and self-imposed confinement as he was denied bail by a judge.
The WikiLeaks founder dramatically won his legal fight against a US attempt to extradite him on Monday, and at a hearing this morning his lawyers argued he should be immediately released from HMP Belmarsh and held under house arrest.
But he was refused bail from the high-security prison due to the risk he could try to flee while US officials put together a fresh legal challenge, meaning he will continue to be held there for at least two weeks.
Assange’s lawyers had argued he had ‘every reason’ to remain in the UK now the threat of extradition to the US had been removed, and claimed Belmarsh was unsafe due to a Covid outbreak.
However, Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected their arguments, telling the court: ‘I’m satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that if MA is released today, he would fail to surrender to this court.
‘It is on these grounds that the application for bail is denied.’
Assange, who was sitting in the dock, stared at the ground as the judge delivered her ruling. His partner, Stella Morris, who was also in court, looked towards him with a shocked expression.
She said outside court: ‘This is a huge disappointment. Julian should not be in Belmarsh prison in the first place.’
Meanwhile, a number of maskless pro-Assange protesters who had gathered outside the court were led away by police.
Julian Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, spoke to the press after he was refused bail. She said: ‘This is a huge disappointment. Julian should not be in Belmarsh prison in the first place’
On Monday, Assange won his legal battle against US officials who wanted to put him on trial for helping hack government computers and violating an espionage law by releasing confidential cables (he is seen in a court sketch)
Police apprehend an Assange supporter holding a placard reading ‘Don’t extradite Assange’ outside Westminster Magistrates Court
A man carrying an Asda ‘eco jute bag’ is led away by Met Police officers after gathering outside Westminster Magistrates Court today
Assange is to be returned to top security Belmarsh prison to await the outcome of an appeal by the United States against a ruling earlier this week that he should not be extradited on espionage charges.
His lawyers had argued that he should be freed and be allowed to live with his partner and two children because it was better for his fragile mental health.
They also claimed that it was safer to be at home because of concerns about Covid in the prison.
But the judge told the court in her ruling: ‘Stringent previous conditions did not stop him from absconding and people who stood surety lost a considerable amount of money.
‘He still has a huge support network available to him should he choose to go to ground.’
Referring to her own decision on Monday, in which she rejected the US’s request for Assange’s extradition, the judge said: ‘As a matter of fairness, the US must be allowed to challenge my decision and if Mr Assange absconds during this process they will lose the opportunity to do so.
‘Mr Assange still has a huge support network available to him should he again choose to go to ground.’
On fears of Covid-19 spreading in Belmarsh prison, the judge added that the latest information demonstrated it was managing the health of inmates.
On Monday, Judge Baraitser said there was an ‘unmanageable high risk’ of Assange taking his own life if he was housed amid the grim conditions as she revealed he has autism, Asperger’s and a severe depressive disorder.
She accepted the evidence of medical experts who revealed that Assange had spoken openly about suicide while in Belmarsh and had prepared for it by writing a will. A razor blade was also found in his cell.
Mexico offered political asylum to Mr Assange earlier this week. The country’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said: ‘I’m going to ask the foreign minister to carry out the relevant procedures to request that the UK government releases Mr Assange and that Mexico offers him political asylum.’
He said Mexico would ensure ‘that whoever receives asylum does not intervene or interfere in the political affairs of any country.’
The country has previously offered political asylum to high-profile international figures such as former Bolivian president Evo Morales.
Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister said Assange can remain a free man if he chooses to return to his native country when his legal battle is over.
Scott Morrison avoided passing judgement on the decision but said Assange would be able to travel home if he his freed.
‘I note the decision overnight and like any other Australian I understand that’s subject to appeal… assuming that all turns out, he’s like any other Australian, he’s free to return home to Australia if he wishes,’ Mr Morrison told 3AW radio.
‘Consular support has been offered to Assange… it’s a matter for him [if he returns] when proceedings and processes end,’ the prime minister added.
On Monday, Assange’s supporters were overjoyed at the decision not to extradite him to the US but expressed dismay that the ruling was made on health grounds rather than in defence of freedom of expression.
The activist has been backed by a raft of celebrities including Pamela Anderson, artist Al Weiwei and designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Assange’s mother, Christine urged the US not to appeal, saying her son had suffered enough.
She tweeted after Monday’s ruling: ‘UK Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled against extraditing my son Julian to the US on medical grounds.
‘US prosecutors state they will appeal. I implore Pres Trump & Pres elect Biden to order them to stand down. The decade long process was the punishment. He has suffered enough.’
Conservative MP David Davis said: ‘Good news Julian Assange’s extradition has been blocked. Extradition treaties should not be used for political prosecutions.’
Jeremy Corbyn, whose brother, Piers, was outside the Old Bailey on Monday, said: ‘Good news that the extradition of Julian Assange has been refused – my congratulations to him and his legal team. Extradition would be an attack on press freedom.
‘And it is alarming that the judge has accepted US government arguments threatening freedom of speech and freedom to publish. There remains much at stake in his case, which is being observed by so many around the world. Assange should be released.’
A woman is put into handcuffs by police after a large crowd of protesters held pro-Assange placards outside the court
Assange, 49, faced an 18-count indictment, alleging a plot to hack computers and a conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information
A prison van arrives at the Westminster Magistrates Court this morning ahead of Assange’s bail application hearing, as photographers try to picture Assange inside
A large crowd gathered outside the court today, with several police officers urging people to adhere to social distancing rules
Moris, with whom Assange shares two young sons, speaks to the media outside the Old Bailey in London on Monday
How Assange is being defended by celebrity lawyer Jennifer Robinson – while judge overseeing case extradited Sarkozy fraud suspect
Jennifer Robinson, a key member of Assange’s defence team, is the go-to barrister for the rich and famous, most recently walking hand in hand with actress Amber Heard in her showdown against her ex-husband Johnny Depp in his acrimonious libel trial.
She counts the Hollywood elite among her inner circle, travelling to George and Amal Clooney’s wedding on a speedboat with actor Bill Murray.
A self-confessed Kyle Minogue fan, who has ‘nothing in her fridge but Champagne’ , the human rights lawyer once set headlines alight after she was spotted canoodling with Jeremy Corbyn’s former spin doctor, Seumas Milne.
Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson (left) with Assange’s partner Stella Moris (right) at an earlier Old Bailey hearing
Ms Robinson and Mr Milne – a then-married father-of-two – were photographed in a passionate embrace on the terrace of the Courthouse hotel in East London in 2017. The 39-year-old, who came from humble beginnings in Australia, has been known to use her social media as an outlet to criticise the Tories on their human rights record and tweet support for Corbyn.
Less is known about Vanessa Baraitser, the district judge overseeing Assange’s case.
She appears to be a specialist in extradition cases and last year gave the go ahead for an associate of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to be returned to France for trial.
Alexandre Djouhri, who was arrested at Heathrow last year after arriving on a flight from his Swiss home, and is accused by French prosecutors of nine offences relating to money laundering and corruption. These are alleged to have been committed in circumstances connected to Mr Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser delivering her verdict on Monday
The journalist Glenn Greenwald added a note of caution, saying the judge had endorsed most of the arguments put forward by the US in favour of extradition – including dismissing the idea that it was an attack on freedom of speech.
He said: ‘This wasn’t a victory for press freedom. Quite the contrary: the judge made clear she believed there are grounds to prosecute Assange in connection with the 2010 publication. It was, instead, an indictment of the insanely oppressive US prison system for security ‘threats.’
Meanwhile, Edward Snowden – the whistleblower who worked with Wikileaks and is currently living in Russia after leaking U.S. surveillance secrets – called for an end to the proceedings, tweeting: ‘Let this be the end of it.’
Amnesty International tweeted: ‘We welcome the fact that Julian Assange will not be sent to the USA, but this does not absolve the UK from having engaged in this politically-motivated process at the behest of the USA and putting media freedom and freedom of expression on trial.’
Judge Baraitser ruled that Assange risked being held under Special Administrative Measures (Sams), which would have seen him in solitary confinement with limited access to family and only two phone calls per month.
She said: ‘Faced with the conditions of near total isolation without the protective factors which limited his risk at HMP Belmarsh, I am satisfied the procedures described by the US will not prevent Mr Assange from finding a way to commit suicide and for this reason I have decided extradition would be oppressive by reason of mental harm and I order his discharge.
‘Despite his lighter spirit at times, he’s a depressed and sometimes despairing man who is genuinely fearful of his future. He represents an unmanageable high risk of suicide, both in Belmarsh and the US.’
She revealed that in 1991 Mr Assange had tried to take his own life and that there was a history of depression in the family.
His maternal grandmother and uncle both died by suicide, and Assange phoned the Samaritans most nights while in jail.
Australian-born Assange had been charged under the US’s 1917 Espionage Act for conspiring with Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, to hack into a Pentagon computer network and publish secret documents related to ‘national defence.’
The WikiLeaks founder faced a total of 18 charges and was also accused of putting the lives of US informants at risk by publishing the material.
Assange has been locked in a bitter dispute with US authorities since July 2010 when WikiLeaks started publishing hundreds of thousands of classified US military and political documents from the Afghan and Iraq wars.
As US officials pursued him through the British courts, in June 2012, Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy, requesting political asylum, which was granted two months later.
Assange remained holed up at the embassy until April 2019 when Ecuador revoked his asylum status, leading to his arrest and kickstarting a legal battle that culminated in Monday’s judgment.
During his time in the embassy, the WikiLeaks founder fathered two children with his partner Stella Morris.
For the past 19 months, Assange has been held at Belmarsh top security jail.
He first appeared at the Old Bailey last February, but the case was pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
If Assange had stood trial in the US, he faced a possible 175 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
The controversial WikiLeaks founder has attracted a number of high-profile supporters including Pamela Anderson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who visited him at the Ecuadorian embassy.
Others to have lent their support include the artist Al Weiwei and designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Assange was represented at his Old Bailey trial last year by eminent lawyer Jennifer Robinson.
The court head extraordinary details of the lengths US authorities were prepared to go to ensure that Assange stood trial in the country.
Stella Moris, the mother of Julian Assange’s children, Max and Gabriel (pictured left and right) this weekend said Britain ‘would no longer be a haven for free speech’ if he was extradited
This included hiring a US security contractor to bug Assange’s meetings in the Ecuadorian embassy and even a possible kidnap or poison plot to end the stalemate.
Judge Baraitser heard that if convicted, Assange faced the prospect of being held in a Supermax ADX facility in Colorado, where convicted terrorist Abu Hamza has been housed under Sams in solitary confinement.
Psychiatrists for the defence said Assange had suffered from severe depression and was a high suicide risk.
But lawyers for the US Government claimed that the prospect of Assange being held under Sams was ‘speculative’ and the sentence was likely to be much lower.
Chelsea Manning had been sentenced to 35 years over her role in leaking classified material but was given clemency after seven years.
However, she was jailed again for contempt in 2019 and fined for refusing to testify in court about Assange.
