Julian Assange will be able to marry in prison, according to his partner

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may marry in the high-security prison where he is being held near London, awaiting or not being extradited to the United States, according to his partner Stella Moris.

“Good news: the UK government has backed down 24 hours before the deadline. Julian and I have permission to marry in Belmarsh prison, ”tweeted the South African lawyer, who had two children with Assange when he was taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

“I am relieved but still angry that legal action has been necessary to stop the illegal interference with our basic right to marry,” she added.

In recent days, Moris filed a lawsuit against the authorities’ refusal to allow the union.

The wedding date has not yet been set.

There is also no date for the British court’s decision on the US appeal against the UK’s refusal to extradite Assange, delivered in January.

The British justice system had rejected Washington’s extradition request in the first instance, alleging that there was a risk that he would commit suicide.

In late October, the High Court in London considered Washington’s appeal.

The US government claims the 50-year-old Australian on espionage charges and a massive leak of more than 700,000 classified documents, for which he can be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

He was arrested by British police in April 2019, after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he took refuge when he was free on bail. He feared extradition to the United States or Sweden, who claimed him for rape, charges that have since been dropped. (I)