WikiLeaks' Julian Assange cannot be extradited to US, rules UK court

London, Jan 04: A British court ruled on Monday that WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face charges of breaking a spying law and conspiring to hack government computers.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser made the ruling at the Old Bailey court in central London in the long-running case, which has become a cause celebre for media freedom.

U.S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of secret American military documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

Assange's legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women.

He refused to go to Stockholm, saying he feared extradition or illegal rendition to the United States or the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In 2012, Assange sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond the reach of U.K. and Swedish authorities -- but also effectively a prisoner, unable to leave the tiny diplomatic mission in London's tony Knightsbridge area.

The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested him for jumping bail in 2012.

Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed, but Assange remains in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison as he awaits the extradition decision.

Supporters say the ordeal has harmed Assange's physical and mental health, leaving him with depression, dental problems and a serious shoulder ailment.

Assange's partner Stella Moris, who had two sons with him while he lived in the embassy, said he looked thinner and was in "a lot of pain" when she visited him in prison in late August for the first time since March.

The extradition hearing opened in February but was put on hold when the U.K. went into lockdown in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It is resuming with social distancing measures in court and video feeds so that journalists and observers can watch remotely.

with PTI inputs