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Champagne and cake in the shadow of a maximum security prison: Much at the wedding of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his partner Stella Moris seemed like a normal marriage. Under a gazebo decorated with garlands of flowers was a tiered wedding cake topped with sugar roses and a small sculpture of the couple. Festively dressed guests danced to music in the sunshine.
But nothing could hide the overwhelming presence of the prison surrounded by a concrete wall as high as a house, which served as the wedding location for Assange, who had been imprisoned for around three years.
“I don’t even know what to say. I’m very happy and very sad,” said the newlywed bride after the wedding ceremony after cutting the wedding cake in front of reporters. “I wish he was here,” she added, looking at her groom, with whom she only got to enjoy a little togetherness after the wedding.
“You are now Mr. and Mrs. Assange,” Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, who was one of the few guests in prison to witness the marriage, told the German Press Agency. It was initially unclear whether Stella Moris would officially use her husband’s surname in the future.
At midday, the bride appeared in a silver gown by designer and Assange supporter Vivienne Westwood, accompanied by a small circle of loved ones. With a floor-length veil over her head, she disappeared behind the walls to say yes to her fiancé. According to a statement, Assange wanted to wear a kilt that was intended to commemorate his family’s Scottish origins. Initially, no current photos of him were made public – due to security concerns, as Stella Moris wrote in a guest article in the “Guardian”.
“This is not a prison wedding, it is a declaration of love and resistance despite the prison walls, despite the political persecution, despite the arbitrary imprisonment, despite the damage and harassment inflicted on Julian and our family,” Assange’s partner wrote. “Their torment only makes our love grow stronger.”
Couple met during Assange’s embassy asylum
The couple met during Assange’s years of embassy asylum at the Ecuadorian mission in London between 2012 and 2019 and have two children together. However, the family has never been able to enjoy everyday life together.
Despite the spring sunshine, a black cloud hung over the couple’s happy day: only recently the appeal of the native Australian against extradition to the USA was rejected by the Supreme Court. The UK Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as inadmissible. The decision now rests with Home Secretary Priti Patel.
“It is now more important than ever to emphasize that this is a political case,” said the editor-in-chief of the disclosure platform, Kristinn Hrafnsson, the German Press Agency. Nevertheless, the litigation continues. There is the possibility of requesting another appeal on the basis of other reasons, since the previous one was only about Assange’s health. However, it is unclear whether such a procedure would be permitted.
The US judiciary wants to put Assange on trial for allegations of espionage. The 50-year-old faces up to 175 years in prison if convicted. He is accused of having stolen and published secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. His supporters, on the other hand, see him as an investigative journalist who has brought war crimes to light and who is now to be made an example of.
Source: Nachrichten
