UK judge refuses to allow Julian Assange extradition

A UK judge on Monday refused a US request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser decided during the morning, saying it would be "oppressive" because of his mental health.

In her ruling, Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected nearly all of the arguments put forward by Assange's lawyers, including that the charges were politically motivated and that he would not receive a fair trial in the US.

However, Judge Baraitser refused the request based on Assange's mental condition and risk of suicide.

Assange, she said, lived with at times severe depression and had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and autism.

"I find that Mr. Assange's risk of committing suicide if an extradition order were to be made, to be substantial," Judge Baraitser said in her ruling at London's Old Bailey.

"Faced with conditions of near-total isolation … I am satisfied that the procedures [outlined by US authorities] will not prevent Mr. Assange from finding a way to commit suicide," she said.

The 49-year-old was born in 1971 in Townsville, north-eastern Australia.

Assange has faced multiple controversies, including charges of sexual assault, following a visit to Sweden.

Human rights groups criticized him for going public with the Afghan war logs while not adequately protecting informants.

To avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations, he stayed in Ecuador's embassy in London from 2012 to 2019, where he was granted asylum.

But Assange was arrested for breaching bail in 2019 after a change of government in Quito brought an end to his asylum in the mission.