Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser on Wednesday did not grant bail to WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange after she blocked a U.S. extradition request on Monday.

Westminster Magistrates Court where bail application was heard on Wednesday. (GrimsbyT/Wikimedia Commons)

By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News

Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser on Wednesday failed to release WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange two days after she ordered Assange discharged based on a severe risk of suicide. 

She ordered him back to Belmarsh prison on remand while the U.S. appeals process goes forward.

Assange’s lawyers had pled for him to leave Belmarsh prison, and be placed under house arrest with his partner Stella Morris and their two sons, wearing an ankle monitoring device. 

“Notwithstanding the package offered by the defense, I am satisfied that he might abscond,” Baraitser told the court.  The judge said that Assange had a huge network of supporters that could help him get away. 

In effect, Baraitser went back on her own ruling, not on extradition, but on discharge. “The history of this case is well-known… Assange skipped bail & remained in the Ecuadorian Embassy to avoid extradition to the U.S.,” Baraitser said in her decision. 

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