Security News > 2021 > January > Julian Assange will NOT be extradited to the US over WikiLeaks hacking and spy charges, rules British judge

Accused hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US to stand trial, Westminster Magistrates' Court has ruled.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser told Assange this morning that there was no legal obstacle to his being sent to the US, where he faces multiple criminal charges under America's Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act over his WikiLeaks website.

Assange is a suicide risk and the judge decided not to order his extradition to the US, despite giving a ruling in which she demolished all of his legal team's other arguments against extradition.

US lawyers successfully argued that Assange's actions were outside journalistic norms, with the judge approvingly quoting news articles from The Guardian and New York Times that condemned him for dumping about 250,000 stolen US diplomatic cables online in clear text.

Judge Baraitser also dismissed Assange's legal arguments that publishing stolen US government documents on WikiLeaks was not a crime in the UK, ruling that had he been charged in the UK, he would have been guilty of offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911-1989.

Assange spent years hiding from British justice in Ecuador's London embassy, entering in 2012 before eventually outstaying his welcome and being thrown out in 2019 - right into the hands of waiting police.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/01/04/julian_assange_extradition_judgment/