A UK judge denied bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pending a US appeal against the decision to block his extradition to face charges for leaking secret documents.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who turned down Assange plea, was of the view that there were “substantial grounds for believing that if Mr Assange is released today, he will fail to surrender” for the appeal hearings.
She told Westminster Magistrates Court that still “Mr Assange has an incentive to abscond from these as yet unresolved proceedings.”
She said the United States has the right to challenge her decision.
The US had earlier urged Baraitser not to release Assange while preparing to challenge her decision.
Lawyer Clair Dobbin, representing the US government, told the court there were “no conditions that could guarantee his surrender” if he were freed from custody.
“The history of his attempts to evade extradition to the United States demonstrated that he is capable of going to any length to avoid that possibility,” she added.
Assange attended the court proceedings, two days after Judge Baraitser blocked his extradition to the United States on the grounds that he was a suicide risk.
