Wikileaks Founder, Julian Assange, To Remain In Belmarsh Prison

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Wikileaks Founder and Australian born Julian Assange remains in London Belmarsh Prison<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that <strong>Wikileaks<&sol;strong> Founder&comma; Julian Assange would remain in British prison for now&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This is coming after the and Australian born foremost journalist had spen 50 weeks in prison&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;On Wednesady&comma; OpenLife Nigeria gathered that a British judge denied bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The same judge had rejected a United States’ request to extradite the journalist to America&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The US said it would appeal against the decision on Monday and asked for Assange to be remanded in custody while that process was ongoing&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Judge Vanessa Baraitser<&sol;a> said in her Wednesday ruling that &&num;8220&semi;there are substantial grounds for believing that if Mr&period; Assange is released today he would fail to surrender to court and face the appeal proceedings&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The 49-year-old Australian will remain in London&&num;8217&semi;s Belmarsh prison&comma; where he has already served a 50-week sentence for violating bail conditions back in 2012 when he entered Ecuador&&num;8217&semi;s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Assange is facing an 18-count US federal indictment for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic cables&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In April 2019&comma; the US charged him with &&num;8220&semi;conspiracy to commit computer intrusion&comma;&&num;8221&semi; a charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years&period; In May 2019&comma; the federal government charged Assange with a further 17 counts under the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic cables&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Each of those counts carries a potential sentence of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">10 years<&sol;a>&comma; meaning that if convicted&comma; Assange could be sentenced to up to 175 years in jail&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The US government alleges that Assange actively solicited classified information from former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning&comma; who obtained thousands of pages of classified material and provided Assange with diplomatic State Department cables&comma; Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Assange&&num;8217&semi;s lawyers and supporters have long argued that the extradition order and charges against him are politically motivated&comma; and that&comma; if carried out&comma; would have a chilling effect on press freedoms in both the United States and the United Kingdom&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Guantanamo Bay&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Army intelligence&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Chelsea Manning&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;United States&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;United Kingdom&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;State Department&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Espionage Act&comma;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;