Last January, Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser refused to hand over the Australian journalist to the US justice system, which wants to try him for reporting on WikiLeaks war crimes committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and publishing secret cables sent by diplomats from the US Department of Justice.
Assange could be facing 175 years in prison if handed over to the US justice system, for which the British judge considered, based on the assessments made by psychologists and psychiatrists presented by the defense, that the cyberactivist could attempt to commit suicide.
The WikiLeaks founder has been locked up in a British maximum security prison since his arrest at the embassy of Ecuador in London in April 2019, after nearly seven years of asylum for fear of being handed over to US prosecutors.
Despite rejecting the extradition request in the first instance, Judge Baraitser determined that Assange must wait in jail for the United Kingdom justice to decide his fate, in a process that according to his defense lawyer Jennifer Robinson could take several months.
The case against the Australian journalist faltered days ago after a key witness brought forward by prosecutors to support the charge of conspiracy to commit computer hacking admitted in an interview that he lied in exchange for immunity.
Assange is also facing 17 other accusations of violating the US Espionage Act dating back to 1917.
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