Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been given permission to marry in prison. His fiancée Stella Moris reported this to the AP news agency.
The couple, who have two sons, will wed on March 23 at Belmarsh Prison in south-east London. According to Moris, only four guests and two witnesses will be allowed to attend the ceremony. Two security officers will also be present.
The guests will have to leave the prison immediately after the ceremony, even if it takes place during visiting hours.
British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood will create the wedding dress, as well as a kilt for Assange. His parents have Scottish roots.
“Obviously we are very excited, even though the possibilities will be very limited. Julian is looking forward to the wedding as he can finally go ahead, months after we made an initial request,” Moris told AP.
Escaped
The Australian fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, where he eventually lived for seven years. In 2019, Assange was removed from the property and subsequently sentenced to prison for violating the terms of his bail. The 50-year-old Australian has since been detained in London.
There he is fighting extradition to the US. The United States accused him of having released more than 700,000 classified documents about US military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, since 2010. There are a lot of charges against him and he faces a total of up to 175 years in prison. According to his supporters, the case constitutes a serious attack on freedom of the press.
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