Judge refuses to free Julian Assange on bail as US appeals ruling against extradition

Judge says WikiLeaks founder could potentially ‘go to ground’ to avoid risk of extradition

Julian Assange has lost an attempt to be freed on bail as he awaits a US appeal against a judge’s ruling that he cannot be extradited.

The WikiLeaks founder’s legal team argued he was no longer a flight risk but a judge said he still had an incentive to abscond, and would remain in custody.

District judge Vanessa Baraitser 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.”

Stella Moris, Assange's partner, said the ruling was a “huge disappointment".

"Julian should not be in Belmarsh prison in the first place,“ she added, speaking outside Westminster Magistrates' Court.

“I urge the Department of Justice to drop the charges and the president of the United States to pardon Julian.”

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said the decision to refuse bail would be appealed.

He argued that it was ”unjust, unfair and illogical“ in light of the same judge's previous findings on Assange's mental health.

Assange spent seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London while wanted in Sweden under a European Arrest Warrant over sexual allegations which have since been dropped.

But Ed Fitzgerald QC, representing Assange, told the judge her ruling this week against his extradition to the US had “changed everything”.

“It certainly changes any motive to abscond rather than to continue to pursue his remedies within this country and with confidence in the due process in this country,” he told Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

“'I discharge you from this extradition request should mean he should at least regain his conditional liberty.”

Mr Fitzgerald said Assange has already spent 15 months in custody solely on the basis of the extradition request, and there was a “very grave” crisis of coronavirus where he is being held in HMP Belmarsh.

He argued the Australian citizen now had “every reason to stay in this jurisdiction where he has the protection of the rule of law and this court's decision”.

But a lawyer representing the US government argued that Assange’s flight to London’s Ecuadorian embassy, where he was granted asylum in 2012, showed his willingness to flee.

Assange denied the accusations over the Swedish case, and said his stay in the embassy was to guard against extradition to the US.

Clair Dobbin, a British lawyer acting for the US, said there were no conditions that would guarantee Assange would surrender to bail, adding: ”He is someone who has shown himself as capable of going to extraordinary lengths to avoid extradition.“

She said the court should be under no illusions of the willingness of other states to help Assange, citing the president of Mexico offering him asylum during a briefing.

Ms Dobbin said Assange was capable of going to ”almost any lengths“ to avoid being sent to the US, to the point of spending seven years living in the Ecuadorian embassy.

She told the court the history demonstrated that he “regards himself as above the law and no cost is too great, whether that cost be to himself or others”.

Ms Dobbin highlighted that people who had offered sureties for his release in the past had lost “considerable sums of money”, adding: “Given Mr Assange's conduct, there is no surety that would secure his attendance.

“The exceptional feature of this case is all the lengths Mr Assange expressly went to to avoid being sent to the US.”

She pointed out that previously the court had not been “swayed in the least by Covid in the prison system”.

Mr Fitzgerald said Assange wished for a “sheltered life” with his family, adding it would be his first opportunity to live with his young children since he took up residence at the Ecuador embassy.

A “significant number of responsible people” had offered “substantial sums” of surety for Assange, the court heard.

Mr Fitzgerald argued: “We say the absconsion was eight years ago in a totally different situation, in relation to a totally different request, and a totally different ruling.

”Since then, everything has changed with the nature of the request, the ruling of the court and the importance of, for the first time, he has the opportunity to be reunited with his family."

He said Assange would be under ”house arrest“ at an address in London with his partner and two children if bailed, and there would be no repeat of him seeking protection in another embassy.

On Monday, district judge Baraitser said Assange’s extradition would be “oppressive” because of his mental health and the conditions he would face under “special administrative measures” in US detention, and at the ADX Florence prison.

She told the Old Bailey that he would be in “conditions of near total isolation” and without the factors needed to moderate his suicide risk, meaning his extradition should be barred under section 91 of the Extradition Action 2003.

The law states that when “the physical or mental condition of the person is such that it would be unjust or oppressive to extradite him, the judge must order the person’s discharge”.

The court heard that Assange has been held at HMP Belmarsh in London since April 2019, and has been under a care plan for prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm for the duration of his imprisonment.

Medical notes record numerous occasions of him telling a prison psychologist and other medical staff that he has suicidal or self-harming thoughts, felt despairing or hopeless and had plans to end his life, the judge said.

Assange has contacted the Samaritans’ phone service on several occasions and a razor blade was found in his cell in 2019.

District judge Baraitser said she had accepted experts’ findings that Assange suffers from a recurrent depressive disorder, which is sometimes accompanied by psychotic features.

She said she also accepted the opinion that Assange suffers from autism spectrum disorder, “albeit high-functioning”, and Asperger’s syndrome.

The US immediately announced its intention to appeal the decision, and the case will be heard at a later date.

Additional reporting by PA