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US bid to extradite Assange rejected

A London court has rejected a bid by the US to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The US, which wants him to face charges relating to the leak of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011, is expected to appeal the judgment.

'Oppressive'

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser found that the risk of Mr Assange committing suicide, if an extradition order were to be made, would be “substantial”.

She also decided that Mr Assange’s mental condition is such that it would be “oppressive” to extradite him to the US, where he would face “severely restrictive detention conditions designed to remove physical contact and reduce social interaction and contact with the outside world to a bare minimum”.

“He faces these prospects as someone with a diagnosis of clinical depression and persistent thoughts of suicide,” the judge added.

Judge Baraitser made the ruling despite finding that Mr Assange’s lawyers had not established that he had been the target of a politically motivated prosecution. She also said she had no reason to doubt that he would receive a fair trial in the US.