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Julian Assange and Stella Moris Get Permission to Marry in Prison

Julian Assange has been given permission to marry his partner Stella Moris at London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, officials have confirmed.

The WikiLeaks founder, 50, met the South African-born lawyer while he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and they have two children, Max, two, and Gabriel, four.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “Mr Assange’s application was received, considered and processed in the usual way by the prison governor, as for any other prisoner.”

Julian Assange and Stella Moris Get Permission to Marry in Prison
Stella Moris with the couple’s son Max outside Belmarsh prison, where the WikiLeaks founder is being held DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES

The confirmation comes after Moris and Assange warned they were preparing to pursue legal action against the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, and the prison governor.

The two started a relationship in 2015 and got engaged two years later. Moris revealed last year that she’s been raising their two young sons since Assange sought asylum at an Ecuadorian embassy in 2012.

Julian Assange and Stella Moris Get Permission to Marry in Prison
lawyer Stella Morris

Assange, an Australian citizen, sought refuge at the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of sexual assault. He has repeatedly denied the claims, and the charges against him have since been dropped.

In 2019, he was arrested by UK police while facing espionage charges in the US over the leaking of classified documents. Wikileaks had published numerous military and defence documents related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

lawyer Stella Morris

UK law allows inmates to apply to get married in prison, under the 1983 Marriages Act. Applicants have to foot the cost of the wedding, and marriage ceremonies will have to take place in the prison.

The prison service said that Assange’s application was “considered and processed in the usual way by the prison governor, as for any other prisoner,” per the BBC.

Moris said she was “relieved that reason prevailed” and hoped there would be no “further interference” with her marriage, the BBC reported.

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