Julian Assange's partner Stella Moris said Monday that a UK court's decision to block the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the United States was a victory but warned that US prosecutors would not rest until he was locked away
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th January, 2021) Julian Assange's partner Stella Moris said Monday that a UK court's decision to block the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the United States was a victory but warned that US prosecutors would not rest until he was locked away.
"We are extremely concerned that the US government has decided to appeal this decision. It continues to want to punish Julian and make him disappear into the deepest, darkest hole of the US prison system for the rest of his life," she told reporters outside the Old Bailey.
The 49-year-old has been held in near total isolation since April 2019, raising concerns about his mental health. A UK district judge ruled earlier in the day that his clinical depression put him at risk of committing suicide if he was handed over to the US.
Moris, who has two sons with the whistleblower, said the court ruling was a victory for Assange and the first step toward justice.
"I had hoped that today would be the day that Julian would come home. Today is not that day but that day will come soon. As long as Julian has to endure suffering and isolation as an unconvicted prisoner... we cannot celebrate," she said.
Moris called on everyone to fight for his release from Belmarsh prison near London.
"I ask you all to shout louder, lobby harder until he is free. I call on everyone else to come together to defend Julian's rights... Julian's freedom is coupled to all our freedoms," Moris said.
"I call on the president of the United States to end this now: Mr. President, tear down these prison walls, let our little boys have their father. Free Julian, free the press, free us all," she added.
Assange faces up to 175 years in solitary confinement inside a top security US prison if he is convicted on 18 espionage and computer fraud charges for leaking thousands of damning cables that suggest US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
