Wedding behind bars
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange marries longtime partner in prison
Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison if convicted
© Frank Augstein / DPA
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his fiancé Stella Moris want to say yes in London’s maximum security prison. Only four guests and two witnesses are allowed to attend the wedding.
The founder of the Wikileaks disclosure platform Julian Assange and his fiancé Stella Moris want to marry in London’s maximum security prison Belmarsh. The couple met during Assange’s asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London between 2012 and 2019 and have two children.
Julian Assange and Stella Moris: Hardly any time for togetherness
According to supporters, only four guests and two witnesses are allowed at the civil wedding behind the prison walls. Moris will wear a wedding dress by Vivienne Westwood and Assange will wear a kilt by the fashion designer, which is intended to commemorate his family’s Scottish origins, according to a statement. The guests and witnesses must leave the prison immediately after the ceremony, according to the information. Assange and Moris are only allowed to be together for a short time, the German Press Agency learned from Wikileaks circles.
Moris plans to meet supporters outside the prison this afternoon and make a statement before cutting a cake. People were encouraged to come dressed for the occasion and bring flowers.
Appeal against extradition rejected
Assange and Moris’ long-planned nuptials have been overshadowed by the Supreme Court’s rejection of an appeal against the Australian-born Australian’s extradition to the United States. The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal as inadmissible last week. The decision now rests with Home Secretary Priti Patel.
The editor-in-chief of the disclosure platform, Kristinn Hrafnsson, called on Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to position herself clearly on Assange’s side. “I’m not completely satisfied,” said Hrafnsson of the German Press Agency when asked whether the Greens politician had campaigned sufficiently for the Wikileaks founder.
As recently as last September, when asked by a citizen on the website “Ababdatenwatch.de”, Team Baerbock’s team called for Assange’s immediate release. Hrafnsson called for putting pressure on Baerbock. “It shouldn’t go uncriticized if people don’t stand by you just because you’re in a position of power,” he said.
The US judiciary wants to put Assange on trial for allegations of espionage. The 50-year-old faces up to 175 years in prison if convicted. He is accused of having stolen and published secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. His supporters, on the other hand, see him as an investigative journalist who has brought war crimes to light and who is now to be made an example of. Assange has been incarcerated in Belmarsh, a high-security prison in London, for the past three years.