By James Simons-
The co-founder of WikiLeaks has been refused bail and continues to be held at Belmarsh prison in south-east London for the past 18 months after he was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy, where he sought asylum for seven years.
Just 48 hours after a judge’s ruling against the U.S extradition request, which is being challenged, district judge Vanessa Baraitser said the 49-year-old “still has an incentive to abscond from these, as yet unresolved, proceedings”.
“As a matter of fairness the US must be allowed to challenge my decision,” the judge said, sitting at Westminster magistrates court after overseeing the extradition hearing at the Old Bailey earlier this week and last year.
She said Assange “had already demonstrated a willingness to flout” the orders of the court, she said, and people who had previously put their trust in him and given sureties had been let down and had their money forfeited. She was also satisfied that his mental health was being managed at Belmarsh.
The refusal of bail comes after his extradition to the US was blocked over concerns about his mental health.
Assange, 49, has not been a free man since June 2012 when he approached the Ecuadorean embassy in London for sanctuary.
He was given political asylum by the Ecuadorean president, sparking a diplomatic row with the UK, though after seven years he became an unwelcome house guest and Scotland Yard officers were invited into the embassy to arrest him.
The last time Assange was seen on a London street was in April 2019 – being carried out, dishevelled, full-bearded and protesting by police ahead of a 50-week jail sentence for jumping bail in 2012.
Charges
U.S prosecutors indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of the leaked documents.
He was rearrested in September over the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Assange and his lawyers fought US extradition, arguing that he was no more than an investigative journalist and his treatment so far had so damaged his mental health it had made him suicidal.
On Monday the judge rejected his main defence, ruling that he had sacrificed the safety of others in the name of free speech. She expressed confidence Mr.Assange would get a fair trial in the US.
However, judge Baraitser agreed that isolation in a maximum security U.S jail “would not prevent Mr Assange from finding a way to commit suicide”.
She said such incarceration had not been enough to stop the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious American financier and sex offender found hanged in his New York cell 17 months ago..
His fiancee Stella Moris told Good Morning Britain TV today that until Monday’s extradition ruling, she had not seen Assange, the father of her two young children, since October because of a COVID outbreak at Belmarsh prison where he has been held in custody.
.Assange “had already demonstrated a willingness to flout” the orders of the court, she said, and people who had previously put their trust in him and given sureties had been let down and had their money forfeited. She was also satisfied that his mental health was being managed at Belmarsh.
Assange’s lawyers dispute the grounds of the bail rejection, arguing that when he absconded eight years ago to enter the Ecuadorian embassy, it was done in “totally different circumstances” and he now had the opportunity to be reunited in the UK with his partner and two young children. He would live at their address and wear an ankle tag.
Rule Of Law
Edward Fitzgerald QC said Assange “now has every reason to stay in this jurisdiction, where he has the protection of the rule of law and this court’s decision”.
“The experience of going to the Ecuadorian embassy was in the end an extremely unpleasant experience leading to him being confined for seven years and a change in the government leading to a change in the position. That is something he is never likely to repeat,” he added.
The bail application was contested by Clair Dobin, a barrister appearing for the US authorities, who said the court “should be under no illusions” as to readiness of other states to offer protection to Assange.
She referred to an offer of asylum the president of Mexico had extended to Assange following Monday’s ruling. Assange would not necessarily have to leave the UK, she said, adding: “He would just have to enter another country’s embassy.”
His past activities, including involvement in helping the US whistleblower Edward Snowden, showed Assange had resources and “the sheer wherewithal” to arrange his own flight.
There was a dispute over Covid-19 rates in Belmarsh prison, where Assange’s lawyers maintained there had been a severe outbreak among dozens of prisoners on the wing where the 49-year-old was being held.
“In any view, the [Covid-19 in prison] position is worse now than before Christmas and he would be safer isolating with his family in the community subject to severe restrictions rather than at Belmarsh, which clearly has had a very significant outbreak,” said Fitzgerald.
The court also received confirmation that lawyers for the US would appeal against Monday’s extradition ruling. While rejecting arguments that Assange would not get a fair trial in the US, on Monday Baraitser blocked extradition on the basis that procedures in prisons there would not prevent him from potentially taking his own life.