Julian Assange marries Stella Moris in prison
The wedding between the founder of WikiLeaks and his former lawyer takes place this Wednesday in the maximum security prison in Belmarsh.
Julian Assange is wanted by the U.S. judiciary, which wants to put him on trial for distributing classified documents about U.S. military and diplomatic activities.
KEYSTONE / Praxis Films / Showtime via AP
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, marries on Wednesday one of his former lawyers, Stella Moris, in the British maximum security prison, from where he continues to fight against his extradition to the United States.
Stella Moris in London, January 24, 2022.
KEYSTONE / EPA / ANDY RAIN
British designer Vivienne Westwood, heavily involved in the release of Julian Assange, designed the kilt that the person will wear on this occasion – citing his Scottish origins – as well as Stella Moris’ wedding dress according to the “Do Not Hand Out Assange” support group ( “Do not extradite Assange”).
Trapped in a lengthy legal saga, the 50-year-old Australian is wanted by the US justice system, which will try him for mediation, from 2010, of more than 700,000 classified documents on US military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Julian Assange, who has been particularly prosecuted under anti-espionage law, risks 175 years in prison in a case that has been condemned by human rights organizations as a serious attack on press freedom.
“This is not a prison wedding, it’s a declaration of love and resilience.”
“This is not a prison wedding, this is a declaration of love and resilience in spite of prison walls, in spite of political persecution, in spite of arbitrary detention, in spite of the harm and harassment inflicted on Julian and our family,” he wrote. Stella Moris in a column on “Guardian”.
She said the prison authorities had rejected the proposed witnesses – journalists – as well as the photographer – who also works for the press – even though they were to attend the ceremony “in private”.
“They want Julian to remain invisible to the public at all costs, even on his wedding day, and especially on his wedding day,” his fiancé claimed, comparing this “logic to making someone disappear in the hope that ‘it will be forgotten ‘to’ what Soviet Russia did ‘.
Hope to avoid extradition
On March 14, Julian Assange saw one of his last hopes of avoiding his extradition disappear, with the British Supreme Court refusing to investigate his appeal.
His partner, a South African lawyer in his 30s, has since pleaded with British Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is responsible for approving his extradition, preventing it and ending this “political affair”.
Meeting in 2011
Julian Assange and Stella Moris first met in 2011 when the lawyer was hired to join the legal team fighting the extradition of Julian Assange. Their engagement was announced in November 2021.
Stella Moris had two children with Julian Assange, two little boys who were conceived while living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The founder of WikiLeaks spent seven years in this embassy, where he sought refuge in 2012 while on bail. He then feared extradition to the United States or Sweden, where he had been the subject of rape since he was abandoned. He was finally arrested by British police in April 2019 and jailed.
After the wedding ceremony, Stella Moris will cut a wedding cake and give a speech, Julian Assange Support Group has said.
Instead of sending gifts to the newlyweds, their supporters have suggested joining a new fundraiser to support the campaign against his extradition and putting up posters calling for the Australian’s release.
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