London: An emotional Stella Moris has married Julian Assange in Britain’s maximum-security prison HMP Belmarsh.
Moris’ eyes filled with tears as she alone cut a vegan elderflower sponge wedding cake outside the prison in front of around 200 supporters and a large media pack.
Stella Moris cuts her wedding cake outside Belmarsh Prison on Wednesday March 23, 2022 after marrying Australian detainee and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who is fighting his extradition to the United States to face spying charges.Credit:Latika Bourke
“I’m very happy, I’m very sad,” the 37-year-old said.
“I love Julian with all my heart, and I wish he were here.
“You know what we are going through is cruel and inhuman.
“The love that we have for each other carries us through this situation and any other that will come.
“He should be free,” she said.
The Australian is in jail fighting extradition to the United States, where authorities want to try him under the Espionage Act over the theft of hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic and military cables that WikiLeaks published unredacted.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Assange should be extradited, but further legal appeals are expected.
Assange, 50, says he is a journalist and whistleblower and, while this has not been accepted in court so far, it is likely to be the basis of further appeals his lawyers are set to launch.
Moris’ mother Teresa and brother Adrian attended the wedding, along with Assange’s father John Shipton and brother Gabriel Shipton.
Stella Moris poses with her sons Gabriel, and Max, left, for the media and supporters as she arrives to marry her partner the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a small wedding service to be held inside the high-security Belmarsh Prison.Credit:AP
Assange and Moris’ two sons Gabriel (four) and Max (three) also attended wearing matching purple and mustard kilts. The couple became engaged in 2017 but kept their relationship secret, including their two children, until April 2020.
Assange has been behind bars since April 2019, when he was thrown out of the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had been living after seeking asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face questions about rape allegations made by two women.
Moris’ told this masthead in September 2020 that she planned to marry Assange in Belmarsh that Christmas but their wedding plans were repeatedly delayed by the pandemic and as they fought for permission from the prison governor to hold the ceremony.
While the rare permission to marry was eventually granted they were not allowed to have any photographs taken of their ceremony.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “All weddings in prisons must meet the requirements outlined in the prison service policy.”
Governors can refuse permission for photography if they believe the images will be publicly shared.
The bride wore a couture corseted coat dress in lilac duchess satin designed by Vivienne Westwood, one of the many celebrities who support Assange.
Stella Moris, the partner of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, is photographed in her Vivienne Westwood dress, with their sons Max, 3, and Gabriel, 4, before driving to Belmarsh Prison to marry Assange.Credit:AP
Assange wore a Westwood-designed waistcoat jacket and, in honour of his Scottish ancestry, a kilt made from Culloden Ancient tartan – the same worn by their two sons.
Dame Westwood said the Australian was a “pure soul” and “freedom fighter”.
“We are a global war economy and the authorities have held and trapped Julian by laws which have avoided all due process,” Westwood said.
“To me, Julian is a pure soul and a freedom fighter,” she said.
Moris’ tulle veil was embroidered with messages from the couple’s friends and family with words that included “valiant,” “faith” and the sentence “free enduring love.”
A rose was sewn into the bodice so that the bride could have a fresh flower at her ceremony. Prison rules forbid her from taking in any items including her bouquet which contained fresh eucalyptus.
It was Assange’s second marriage.
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