V-day for Assange!

Julian Assange cannot be extradited to US, British judge rules

Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US to face charges of espionage and of hacking government computers, a British judge has decided.

The ruling was delivered at the central criminal court by the district judge, Vanessa Baraitser.

She said the WikiLeaks founder was likely to be held in conditions of isolation in a so-called supermax prison in the US and procedures described by US authorities would not prevent him from potentially finding a way to take his own life.

“I find that the mental condition of Mr Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America,” said the judge. Lawyers for US authorities have been given 15 days to appeal.

Grauniad.