Julian Assange Can Now Get Married

Stella Moris had said the couple was being blocked from wedding
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2021 9:25 AM CST
Updated Nov 12, 2021 12:00 AM CST
Assange Fiancee Claims 'Sinister' UK Plot Against Their Wedding
Stella Moris, partner of Julian Assange, waits outside the High Court in London on Oct. 28, 2021.   (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Update: Julian Assange has been given permission to marry his fiancee in prison. The WikiLeaks founder and Stella Moris must pay all the costs themselves, with no taxpayer money involved, the BBC reports. Moris reportedly said she's "relieved that reason prevailed" and that she hopes "there will be no further interference with our marriage." Our original story from Monday follows:

The nuptials of Julian Assange and fiancee Stella Moris have been delayed against their will, at least according to a lawsuit Moris says they're filing. Per the Guardian, the complaint is being prepared against UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Jenny Louis, who runs the Belmarsh prison where the WikiLeaks founder is being detained as he awaits possible extradition to the US on espionage charges. The filing claims they've asked for formal permission to wed several times, only to be ignored.

"UK authorities have erected a total and indefinite barrier not only to marrying, but even to beginning the statutory process to marry," Moris, an attorney and the mother of Assange's two young children, tweeted on Sunday. "This behaviour by the UK government is unfair, irrational and sinister." In a separate post, Moris calls the alleged stonewallers "creepy elements."

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Louis, for her part, is said to have told the couple's attorneys that she had to send the marriage request to the Crown Prosecution Service, the agency responsible for handling criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. However, lawyers from there are washing their hands clean of the case, as Assange doesn't have charges against him in the UK. In an interview last month with the Sydney Morning Herald, Moris said she felt like a "target" and "prey" over her ties to Assange. Both Raab and Louis have until Friday to officially respond to the filing. (More Julian Assange stories.)

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