A lawmaker from Italy's ruling anti-establishment 5 Star Movement on Monday welcomed a UK judge's ruling that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US to face espionage and hacking charges due to his mental health.
"I am happy about the non-extradition of Assange, the true hero of our times, who should be honoured, not treated like the criminals whose malfeasance he bravely laid bare," Senator Gianluca Ferrara, wrote on Facebook.
"Instead, the powers that be protect such people, as occurred in recent days in the case of American mercenaries who slaughtered 15 Iraqi civilians in 2007," the post continued.
Ferrara hoped the central criminal court of England and Wales ruling would pave the way for an easing of the "inhumane and disturbing conditions" of Assange's detention "given the grave psycho-physical suffering caused by years of confinement and isolation that have reached levels that cause fears for his survival," read the post.
The case against the 49-year-old Australian relates to WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables, in 2010 and 2011.
While welcoming UK judge Vanessa Baraitser's bar on Assange's US extradition, Amnesty International and other groups criticised the judge's acceptance of US authorities’ claims that Assange's alleged activities were beyond the realm of journalism, arguing this harmed media freedom.
