Julian Assange’s Fight for Freedom Is Far From Over

  • London judge blocks extradition of WikiLeaks founder to U.S.
  • Appeals will likely mean years before any final ruling

Julian Assange leaves court in a security van in London on May 1, 2019.

Photographer: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

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The decision to block Julian Assange’s extradition to the U.S. is unlikely to make him a free man anytime soon.

Assange, who has spent the last decade either in a U.K. prison or stuck in Ecuador’s embassy in London, won an important legal fight Monday when a judge ruled that he shouldn’t be sent to the U.S. to face criminal charges. While his legal team prepares for a bail hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said they will fight his release as they appeal the decision, dragging the process through the British courts for months or years.