In a win for free and independent media, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not be extradited to the United States — at least not right now a judge in the United Kingdom ruled Monday.
Assange is currently facing 175 years in prison in the United States for allegedly violating the Espionage Act and hacking government computers. These charges stem from Assange’s alleged role in publishing Democratic emails during 2016 meant to harm Hillary Clinton’s campaign against Donald Trump. What was glossed over by the media and made public by WikiLeaks was the DNC’s role in sabotaging the Bernie Sanders campaign which resulted in then DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning her post yet keeping her congressional seat.
The United States also took exception to WikiLeaks working with Chelsea Manning who helped pass along documentation to Assange’s group which highlighted the jingoistic U.S. policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. These documents became known as the “Iraq War Logs” and the “Afghan War Diary“.
U.K. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser — who handed down the ruling on denying U.S. extradition of Assange didn’t comment or make any legal determination on Assange’s guilt or innocence cited her decision based on the WikiLeaks founder’s deteriorating mental health and high risk of suicide while in U.S. custody.
Assange was originally arrested in 2019 inside London’s Ecuadorian Embassy after the nation withdrew its offer of an asylum where he spent the previous seven years. Assange originally sought refuge within the Embassy after Sweden announced rape charges against him which were eventually dropped.
The United States is expected to appeal the U.K. judge’s decision while Assange’s defense attorneys continue to make the case that the legal efforts against the WikiLeaks founder are politically motivated.