Wikileaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States, a London court today ruled. The judge decided that Assange's health is at risk there: "The U.S. will not prevent Mr. Assange from finding a way to commit suicide."
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that while US prosecutors met the tests for Mr Assange to be extradited for trial, the US was incapable of preventing him from attempting to take his own life.
She outlined evidence of his self harm and suicidal thoughts and said: "The overall impression is of a depressed and sometimes despairing man fearful for his future
This repeats the outcome of the Gary McKinnon case (to quote then-Home Secretary Theresa May, "Mr McKinnon's extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights.") and the Lauri Love case ("The lord chief justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, is highly critical of the conditions Love would have endured in US jails, warning of the risk of suicide").
