Flight Risk: UK Court Denies Bail For Julian Assange

January 6, 2021 Britain, Politics

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been denied bail, a U.K. court ruled on Wednesday, and will remain in prison while lawyers for the U.S. government try to secure his extradition from Britain.

The bail ruling comes just days after the same judge found that Assange could not be legally extradited to the United States to face espionage charges, due to concerns about his mental health and the risk of suicide.

Lawyers for Assange made the case that his mental health could deteriorate if he continued to be separated from his partner and two young children, and cited concerns over the levels of coronavirus in U.K. jails.

BREAKING: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been denied bail in the U.K., two days after a judge rejected a US extradition bid. A judge said that Assange “has an incentive to abscond” and there is a good chance he would fail to return to court if freed. https://t.co/UuG3aAVK2S

— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) January 6, 2021