Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange is to remain in prison when his jail term ends because of his “history of absconding”, a judge has ruled.<\/p>\n
He was due to be released on 22 September after serving his sentence for breaching bail conditions.<\/p>\n
But Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard there were “substantial grounds” for believing he would abscond again.<\/p>\n
The Australian, 48, is fighting extradition to the US over allegations of leaking government secrets.<\/p>\n
He will face a full extradition hearing next year, starting on 25 February, after an\u00a0extradition request was signed by the then home secretary<\/a>\u00a0Sajid Javid in June.<\/p>\n Assange received a 50-week sentence in Belmarsh Prison, south-east London, after being found guilty of breaching the Bail Act in April.<\/p>\n He was arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he took refuge in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations – which he has denied.<\/p>\n District judge Vanessa Baraitser on Friday told Assange, who appeared by video-link: “You have been produced today because your sentence of imprisonment is about to come to an end.<\/p>\n “When that happens your remand status changes from a serving prisoner to a person facing extradition.”<\/p>\n She said that his lawyer had declined to make an application for bail on his behalf, adding “perhaps not surprisingly in light of your history of absconding in these proceedings”.<\/p>\n “In my view I have substantial ground for believing if I release you, you will abscond again.”<\/p>\n He faces 18 charges in the US, including computer misuse and the unauthorised disclosure of national defence information.<\/p>\n He is accused of working with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in “unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defence”, according to the US Justice Department.<\/p>\n He spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London before being handed over to British authorities by Ecuador in April.<\/p>\n In May, Swedish prosecutors reopened their investigation into an allegation of rape against Assange.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"