WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Denied Bail by London Court
The development comes two days after a UK judge rejected his US extradition bid, citing a suicide risk.
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been denied bail by a London court, AFP reported on Wednesday, 6 January. The development comes two days after a UK judge rejected the United States’ bid to extradite him, citing a suicide risk.
Assange has so far been placed in judicial custody.
According to Reuters, Judge Vanessa Baraitser told Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday that she was “satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that if Assange is released today he will fail to surrender to the court to face the appellant proceedings.”
On Monday, Baraitser had rejected the United States’ plea to extradite Assange on account of facing espionage charges, stating that it would be ‘oppressive by reason of mental harm. She had said that the risk of Assange dying by suicide upon detention was ‘substantial’.
The US government is appealing against the decision to prevent his extradition.
The Australian-born has been accused of 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse by the United States prosecutors, after WikiLeaks published leaked documents, exposing the US government’s military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago.
WikiLeaks founder and his advocates have argued that the 49-year-old was executing his responsibility as a journalist and is protected by the right to freedom of speech, and have also claimed that the prolonged case is politically motivated.
(With inputs from AFP and Reuters.)
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