Assange’s legal team will apply for bail on Wednesday, and the Mexican president has said he will offer him political asylum.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is free to return to Australia if the U.S. extradition request is rejected by a British court.
On Monday (Jan. 4) local time, British Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges, citing concerns about his mental health and the prison conditions he could face in the United States.
Baraitser read her ruling at Old Bailey court in London. She said she was shocked by the impact of Britain’s Belmarsh prison on the 49-year-old Australian activist’s mental health.
But the U.S. Justice Department said it would seek to appeal the ruling, calling it “extremely disappointing. Appeals must be filed within 14 days.
If the appeal is successful, the case will be heard in the U.K. Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement, “We will continue to seek Assange’s extradition to the United States.” The statement added that the U.S. had prevailed on all legal issues, including arguments about free speech and political motives.
In an interview with Melbourne’s 3AW radio station Tuesday, Morrison said he had “taken note” of the ruling.
“Assuming it comes to pass, he (Assange) is free to go home if he wants to, just like any other Australian,” he said.
“He is going through these procedures and (the Australian government) has been providing consular support to Assange.”
The 49-year-old Australian citizen faces 14 charges of espionage in the United States and could be sentenced to 175 years in prison if convicted.
Assange, dressed in a suit and blue scarf, wiped his forehead after the verdict, while his partner, Stella Moris, the mother of his two children, wept in court, according to the Press Association (U.K.).
The district judge’s ruling does not mean Assange will be automatically released.
Jennifer Robinson, a member of Assange’s legal team, told ABC News Tuesday morning that they will file a bail application Wednesday on the grounds that Assange has spent a “disproportionate” amount of time in a high-security prison.
She said, “The Australian government should step up its efforts to …… He (Assange) is a publisher and journalist who has won awards around the world, and for which WikiLeaks has received the Australian Journalism Most Outstanding Contribution Award and the Sydney Peace Prize. ), but he is being prosecuted for the same publications.”
Following this ruling, Mexico offered Assange political asylum.
Mexican President Francois Obrador (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) told reporters, “I will ask the foreign minister to carry out the relevant procedures and ask the British government to release Assange and Mexico to offer him political asylum.”
Assange’s international supporters also took to the Internet to applaud the ruling, with Edward Snowden satisfied with the outcome and thanking Assange’s supporters.
He tweeted, “Thank you to all those who stood against one of the most dangerous threats to press freedom in decades.”
U.S. authorities have accused Assange of violating the Espionage Act, saying he conspired with former U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak a large amount of classified material related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010.
And Assange’s supporters say the charges are an attack on freedom of speech and the press.
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