Julian Assange weds partner Stella Moris in prison
March 23, 2022
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange married Stella Moris, the mother of his two children, on Wednesday at a small ceremony in the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London.
The 50-year-old free speech activist has been held at the prison since 2019 on charges related to the publication of a vast trove of classified documents more than a decade ago.
According to Assange's supporters, he and Moris were allowed four guests and two witnesses in attendance for the ceremony.
No wedding pictures for Assange
Moris posed for photos outside the prison with a wedding dress and veil embroidered with messages from friends and family.
British designer Vivienne Westwood, who is one of Assange's vocal supporters, designed Moris' dress.
Westwood also designed a tartan kilt for Assange, who was not pictured.
"No pictures of Julian Assange from today are available as prison authorities deemed images of the groom a 'security risk,'" WikiLeaks wrote on Twitter.
"Every part of this private event is being intensely policed, from our guest list to the wedding picture,'' Moris wrote in the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday.
"This is not a prison wedding, it is a declaration of love and resilience in spite of the prison walls, in spite of the political persecution, in spite of the arbitrary detention, in spite of the harm and harassment inflicted on Julian and our family," she wrote.
Looming extradition
Earlier this month, Assange was denied permission to launch an appeal at Britain's Supreme Court against a decision to extradite him to the United States.
The British home secretary is expected to make her decision on his extradition in the coming weeks. Still, Assange's defense team would have the option of trying to challenge it via a judicial review or take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
If extradited, Assange is likely to face espionage charges for releasing information on US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He could be sentenced to up to 175 years for breaking US espionage laws.
fb/dj (AP, dpa)