Julian Assange weds Stella Moris in low-key prison ceremony

Moris was greeted by a crowd of supporters as she left for the ceremony, who threw confetti and held a placard that read “free Julian Assange”.

Stella Moris cuts a wedding cake after marrying her partner the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a small wedding service held inside the high-security Belmarsh Prison, in south east London. (AP)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange married his long-term partner Stella Moris in a low-key ceremony at the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London.

Assange and Moris, the mother of his two children, were allowed four guests and two witnesses for the ceremony, according to DW. Assange’s father, brother and two children were in attendance.

Ahead of the ceremony, 38-year-old Moris posed in a wedding dress designed by Vivienne Westwood, one of Assange’s vocal supporters. Westwood also designed a tartan kilt for Assange, whose pictures were not taken owing to the “security risk”. Meanwhile, the bride’s veil was embroidered with messages from friends and family, The Associated Press reported.

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A view shows a detail of the wedding dress worn by Stella Moris, partner of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as she arrives at Belmarsh prison before her wedding to Assange. (Reuters)

Moris was greeted by a crowd of supporters as she left for the ceremony, who threw confetti and held a placard that read “free Julian Assange”. Terming her husband’s detention “cruel and inhuman”, she added, “ I am very happy and very sad. I love Julian with all my heart, and I wish he were here. The love we have for each other carries us through. He’s the most amazing person.”

Julian Assange’s new bride Stella Moris makes tearful speech after cutting cake following today’s #Assangewedding – “I love Julian with all my heart, I wish he was here” #FreeAssangeNOW @StellaMoris1 pic.twitter.com/nqiZfs7Gom

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 23, 2022

The private event was under immense scrutiny, from the guest list to the wedding picture, according to Moris. “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 in The Guardian.

Stella Moris poses with her sons Gabriel and Max. (AP)

Assange, 50, has been in prison since 2019 on charges pertaining to the publication of a vast trove of classified documents related to the US and its allies’ military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan over a decade ago. Assange was denied permission to file an appeal against his extradition to the United States at Britain’s Supreme Court. His case will now go back to District Judge Vanessa Baraitser, the judge who assessed the US extradition request. Home Secretary Priti Patel is then expected to make a final decision. If extradited, Assange will likely face espionage charges in the US for which he could face a sentence of up to 175 years.

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