Julian Assange and his fiancee, Stella Moris, say they are being prevented from getting married and are preparing legal action against the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, and the governor of Belmarsh prison.
The action accuses Raab and Jenny Louis, who runs the prison where the WikiLeaks co-founder is being held while the US is seeking his extradition, of denying the human rights of the couple and their two children.
They say they have had no response to repeated requests seeking agreement that a ceremony can take place at the prison.
Moris, a lawyer, linked the lack of response by British officials to the hostility towards WikiLeaks on the part of the US, where authorities were accused recently of plotting to kill or kidnap Assange during the years he was in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Last month, during an appeal by the US against a ruling that Assange cannot be extradited, his lawyers cited fresh allegations that the CIA plotted to kidnap or kill him as “grounds for fearing what will be done to him” if he was extradited to the US to face espionage charges.
“Those catch-or-kill plans were not implemented but other hostile measures were and this is the sting in the tail,” Moris told the Mail on Sunday, in relation to the problems around their wedding plans. “It’s part of an enormous conspiracy against Julian which makes itself felt in all that we try to do.
“A wedding would be a moment of happiness, a bit of normality in insane circumstances. Julian needs things to hold on to because daily life is a struggle for him in Belmarsh and there is so much uncertainty about his future. Our love for each other is the one thing which has carried us through and being married would be another bulwark in our emotional defences.”
A formal request was made by Assange to the governor’s office on 7 October for agreement that a wedding could take place. Several days later, the couple’s lawyers asked the prison to grant permission for Moris and a registrar from Greenwich Register Office to visit the prison so the couple could give notice of their intention to wed.
The legal action says the lack of responses to these requests creates “a total and indefinite barrier not only to the claimants marrying, but even to them beginning the statutory process for the same”.
Louis has reportedly told the couple’s legal team she was obliged to refer the wedding request to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, those lawyers say this is irrelevant as there are no UK charges against him.
Raab and Louis, who are also accused in the action of abusing their power over Assange, have been given until 12 November to respond. The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.