Thursday, March 24, 2022

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange marries at Belmarsh Prison

 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has married his fiancée at Belmarsh Prison, just weeks before the third anniversary of his arrest.

Assange has been held in the high-security prison since he was dragged out of London's Ecuadorian embassy in 2019. He was given permission to marry last year.  


He is fighting extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. 

His partner Stella Moris, 38, a lawyer, arrived at the southeast London jail in a dress designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood.

She was joined by the couple's sons Gabriel, four, and Max, two, and Assange's father and brother, Richard and Gabriel Shipton.  


Thirty of his supporters gathered outside the prison with a marquee and wedding cake. Adorned with white flowers and yellow ribbons, a sign at the entrance read: "The world is with you - free Assange."

Assange, 50, has always denied any wrongdoing and won support for his case from human rights organisations and journalist groups across the world.  


He spent seven years in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.

He was arrested in the embassy after Ecuador revoked his asylum status.  


Ms Moris spoke of her joy at being allowed to marry the WikiLeaks founder - despite restrictions being placed on their wedding.

Four guests and two witnesses were allowed to attend the ceremony, as well as two security guards.  


She said before the wedding: "Obviously we are very excited, even though the circumstances are very restrictive.

"All the guests and witnesses must leave as soon as the ceremony is over, even though that will be before normal visiting time ends.

"Julian is looking forward to the wedding because it is finally happening, many months after we first made the request."  


https://news.sky.com/story/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-marries-at-belmarsh-prison-12572697?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter