On Friday, British authorities granted Julian Assange permission to marry Stella Moris at Belmarsh prison. This decision comes after the couple filed a lawsuit against Vice Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Prison Director Jenny Louis, both of whom had blocked his wedding permission requests.
RELATED:
Assange's Isolation In UK Prison Risks His Life: UN Rapporteur
"I am relieved that reason prevailed. However, I remain angry that it has been necessary to take legal action to stop the interference with our basic right to marry," stated 38-year-old lawyer Moris, who has two children with Assange.
She linked the British authorities’ attitude to the hostility towards WikiLeaks on behalf of the U.S., whose authorities were accused recently of plotting to kill or kidnap Assange during the years he was in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Currently, the British justice analyzes whether Assange should be extradited or not to the United States, which accuses him of 17 conspiracy charges over WikiLeaks’ publishing of the U.S. military wrongdoing in the Guantanamo naval base and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In January, British Central Criminal Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser denied the extradition request, arguing that Assange was likely to commit suicide if subjected to harsh conditions in U.S. prisons. Later, however, she rejected Assange's defense arguments, which emphasized that the journalist faces a politically motivated prosecution that would not take into account the protection of freedom of expression.
“The American judicial system would give him a fair trial,” Baraitser alleged and insisted that Assange should wait in the Belmarsh prison for the U.S. to appeal her ruling.
“Assange did not commit any crimes since he was acting as a journalist. If the U.S. manages to extradite him, it could later prosecute any reporter who publishes information that affects its powerful institutions," British Labour Party’s former leader Jeremy Corbyn warned.