UK courtroom blocks Julian Assange’s extradition to US citing suicide threat

The Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday blocked the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States on well being grounds, saying that there are considerations over his psychological well being and threat of suicide. Assange, 49, is needed within the US over the publication of 1000’s of labeled paperwork in 2010 and 2011. According to his defence staff, the case is politically motivated. The courtroom’s ruling is anticipated to appealed by US authorities within the excessive courtroom.Judge Vanessa Baraitser dominated that the US was incapable of stopping Assange from trying to take his personal life, including: “The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man fearful for his future.”“Faced with the conditions of near total isolation without the protective factors which limited his risk at HMP Belmarsh, I am satisfied the procedures described by the US will not prevent Mr Assange from finding a way to commit suicide and for this reason I have decided extradition would be oppressive by reason of mental harm and I order his discharge.”Assange has been in jail serving a 50-month sentence since May 2019 for breaching his bail circumstances after being holed up within the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years since 2012.He was arrested in April 2019.He earlier confronted extradition to Sweden on allegations of sexual assault which he denied. The case was later dropped.