Assange refused bail despite judge ruling against extradition to US

Julian Assange has been refused bail by a judge who this week rejected a US request to have him extradited to face espionage and hacking charges.

WikiLeaks' co-founder has been held at Belmarsh prison in south-east London for the past 18 months after he was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy, where he sought asylum for seven years.

Two days after her ruling against the US extradition request, which is being challenged, district judge Vanessa Baraitser said the 49-year-old "still has an incentive to abscond from these, as yet unresolved, proceedings."

"As a matter of fairness, the US must be allowed to challenge my decision," said the judge, sitting at Westminster magistrates court after overseeing the extradition hearing at the Old Bailey earlier this week and last year.

Assange "had already demonstrated a willingness to flout" the orders of the court, she said, and people who had previously put their trust in him and given sureties had been let down and saw their money forfeited. She was also satisfied that his mental health was being managed at Belmarsh.

Making the bail application, Assange's lawyers said his abscondment eight years ago when he entered the Ecuadorian embassy was in "totally different circumstances," and he now had the opportunity to be reunited in the UK with his partner and two young children. He would live at their address and wear an ankle tag.

After Monday's rejection of the US extradition request, Edward Fitzgerald QC said Assange "now has every reason to stay in this jurisdiction, where he has the protection of the rule of law and this court's decision."

"The experience of going to the Ecuadorian embassy was, in the end, an extremely unpleasant experience leading to him being confined for seven years and a change in the government leading to a change in the position. That is something he is never likely to repeat," he added.