WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his fiancée Stella Moris wed Wednesday at the maximum-security London prison where he is being held during his extradition trial. Assange is resisting attempts to have him put on trial in the US for publishing classified files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange and Moris, who have two children together, announced their engagement in November and were allowed to marry at Belmarsh Prison in London, where he is in police custody. The wedding will be conducted by a clerk, with only four guests, two witnesses and two guards. The guests will have to leave immediately after the ceremony.
British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, an outspoken WikiLeaks ally, designed Moris’s wedding dress. Westwood also supplied Assange with a kilt, a nod to his Scottish heritage. Moris will cut a wedding cake and give a speech outside the prison to their supporters.
Last week, Britain’s Supreme Court rejected a request to appeal Assange’s extradition. This means that deportation to the US of Australian-born Assange is a lot closer. Eighteen charges have been filed against him in the US. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 175 years.
Assange has been incarcerated in a London prison since 2019, despite serving his prison sentence for violating his bail conditions. Assange was suspected of sexual abuse in Sweden. He fled to Ecuador’s embassy in London and stayed there for seven years to avoid being extradited to the US via Sweden.
Morris has been campaigning for the release of Assange and against his extradition to the US for years. His health is weak, she believes, and he is therefore at extra risk of contracting the corona virus. She also believes that he is not safe in prison.
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