WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is planning to get married to his long-time fiancé Stella Moris. The Australian citizen has been incarcerated in maximum security prison Belmarsh prison in London. He has been under the radar of some administrators in the U.S. government for publishing reams and reams of documents on his website WikiLeaks. The files contained details of the US military campaign in Iraq and Afghanistan including excesses committed by some military personnel.
On Saturday, Stella Morris told German news agency DPA that the couple hopes to get married in the prison although they have to clear a lot of impediments that are on their path. She said that the prison had not held a wedding in 12 years. So, getting married there would not be “straightforward.” They could also face nationality issues as Assange is an Australian citizen and his British visa expired years ago
She also said that they would first get married in prison and they would have another celebration with family and friends later as she hopes that he would be freed.
Morris met Assange when he sought refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The couple got engaged in 2016. They have two children; both are boys aged 4 years and 2 years and six months.
The US extradition request was rejected in January. Both his fiancé and the British judge believed that he would not survive the stress of going to Washington. The charges were also very harsh and could include 175 years of solitary confinement. However, in February, the Justice Department said that it would seek extradition from Britain over hacking charges
Assange’s partner has requested Washington to drop the charges and show that it is a fearless champion of press freedom. Former President Barack Obama and Former Vice President Joe Biden had not followed through extradition charges.
It was former president Donald Trump who was fiercely following through charges against the WikiLeaks founder. Assange’s lawyer said that the then U.S. President Trump had reportedly offered him a pardon if he agreed to say that there was no Russian involvement in 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak, but Trump denied that he had offered to do so.
Julian Assange is seen by many as an investigative journalist who fearlessly did his job but got caught for his efforts. However, certain leaders in Britain, the U.S. and Sweden (where he faced alleged trumped up rape charges which were later dropped) made sure that he paid a price for reporting data which they considered as secret and classified information.
