A British judge on Monday ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges for publishing secret documents online.
She said Assange would be kept in custody, ahead of an appeal expected from the US.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser made the ruling at the Old Bailey court in central London in the long-running case, which has become a cause celebre for media freedom.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said that the isolated conditions Assange would likely to face in the US meant that extradition would be “oppressive”.
Assange, 49, would face a total of 17 charges of espionage and computer hacking in the US after he enflamed Washington by publishing documents revealing the grim realities of the so-called “war on terror”.
If extradited, the WikiLeaks founder could have been sentenced to as many as 175 years in a high security jail.
She said Assange would be kept in custody, ahead of an appeal expected from the US.
