Stella Moris, the partner of Julian Assange and mother of two of his children, wept in a London courtroom as the WikiLeaks founder was delivered a dramatic victory.
More than 18 months after he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy and taken into police custody after years claiming political asylum, a British judge last night ruled the Australian would not be extradited to the US to face espionage charges.
But the reason for the ruling was tragic: District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange would almost undoubtedly kill himself if held under harsh US prison conditions.
READ MORE: UK judge rules Assange will not be extradited to US
Baraitser rejected Assange's legal team's arguments that the 49-year-old faces a politically motivated American prosecution that rides roughshod over free-speech protections.
But she said Assange's precarious mental health would likely deteriorate further under the conditions of "near total isolation" he would face in a US prison.
"I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America," the judge said.
She said Assange was "a depressed and sometimes despairing man" who had the "intellect and determination" to circumvent any suicide prevention measures taken by American prison authorities.
The Australia sat quietly in the dock of London's Central Criminal Court as he learned the news.
Outside court, Moris said the ruling was "the first step towards justice", but it was not yet time to celebrate.
"I had hoped that today would be the day that Julian would come home," she said.
"Today is not that day, but that day will come soon."
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Final chapter not even opened yet
The ruling marks a dramatic moment in Assange's years-long legal battles in Britain — though likely not its final chapter.
The US government said it would appeal the decision.
Assange's lawyers said they would ask for his release from a London prison where he has been held for more than a 18 months at a bail hearing on Wednesday.
It's unclear whether the incoming Biden administration will pursue the prosecution, initiated under President Donald Trump.
Assange's American lawyer, Barry Pollack, said the legal team was "enormously gratified" by the British court's decision.
"We hope that after consideration of the UK court's ruling, the United States will decide not to pursue the case further," he said.
Moris urged Trump to pardon Assange before he leaves office later this month.
"Mr President, tear down these prison walls," she said.
"Let our little boys have their father."
Facing 175 years in prison
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Lawyers for Assange argue that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing documents that exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lawyers for the US government denied that Assange was being prosecuted merely for publishing, saying the case "is in large part based upon his unlawful involvement" in the theft of the diplomatic cables and military files by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
The British judge sided with US lawyers on that score, saying Assange's actions, if proven, would "amount to offences in this jurisdiction that would not be protected by his right to freedom of speech." She also said the US judicial system would give him a fair trial.
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The defence also argued during a three-week hearing in the fall that Assange risked "a grossly disproportionate sentence" and detention in "draconian and inhumane conditions" if he was sent to the United States,
The judge agreed that US prison conditions would be oppressive. She accepted evidence from expert witnesses that Assange had a depressive disorder and an autism spectrum disorder.
"I accept that oppression as a bar to extradition requires a high threshold. … However, I am satisfied that, in these harsh conditions, Mr Assange's mental health would deteriorate causing him to commit suicide with the 'single minded determination' of his autism spectrum disorder," the judge said in her ruling.
Rights groups praise latest victory
The prosecution of Assange has been condemned by journalists and human rights groups, who say it undermines free speech around the world.
They welcomed the judge's decision, even though it was not made on free-speech grounds.
"This is a huge relief to anyone who cares about the rights of journalists," The Freedom of the Press Foundation tweeted.
Assange's legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women.
In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond the reach of UK and Swedish authorities — but also effectively a prisoner, unable to leave the tiny diplomatic mission in London's Knightsbridge area.
The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested him for breaching bail in 2012.
Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed, but Assange has remained in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison throughout his extradition hearing.
