International
Wikileaks founder, Assange, denied bail by UK court
A court in the United Kingdom has denied wanted Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, bail days after a judge ruled in favour of the whistle-blower by blocking his extradition to the United States.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in her ruling on Wednesday said Assange was refused bail because he “has an incentive to abscond.”
She added that there is a good chance the Wikileaks founder would fail to return to court if freed.
The judge said: “I am satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that if Mr. Assange is released today he will fail to surrender to the court to face the appellant proceedings.”
The rejection of Assange’s bail application means he would continue to be held at the maximum-security Belmarsh prison in London.
READ ALSO: Wanted WikiLeaks boss, Assange, recruited hackers to obtain govt secrets –US Justice Dept
He has been held at the Belmarsh prison since he was nabbed at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2019 for breaching bail conditions in a separate extradition case involving Sweden.
This came months after reports emerged that Assange secretly fathered two children with his lawyer.
The Australian-born Wikileaks founder fell in love with the lawyer, Stella Morris, while hibernating in the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK.
The South African-born lawyer, 37, was helping Assange fight his extradition to the US when the duo started the affair that led to the birth of the two children.
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