THE Ministry of Justice has been accused of being “dishonest” about the prison wedding of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, The National can reveal.

Stella Moris and Assange were only allowed six guests at a small ceremony in Belmarsh Prison on Wednesday – from which independence activist and former diplomat Craig Murray was barred over security concerns.

Prison authorities told the bride-to-be that Murray – a long-time friend of the couple – would not be allowed to visit the maximum-security London prison for the ceremony.

Despite appearing to claim Murray had not been invited to the wedding, the Ministry of Justice has now confirmed he was but his appearance was barred.

Murray, who was present at the reception held at Stella’s home after the ceremony, told The National he believed his ban was “plainly an excuse” to isolate Assange.

The National:

Assange (above), who is being held on charges of endangering national security for which he may be extradited to stand trial in the US, is reportedly suffering in the English prison and his family fear for his mental health.

The WikiLeaks founder has been friends for a number of years with Murray, a former British diplomat who was removed from his post for exposing human rights abuses in Uzbekistan, where he was posted.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told The National on Wednesday that Assange had invited six people to his wedding and that “Murray was not one of the six”.

But messages between Stella and Murray show he was invited via a Signal message on March 7 and informed in the same way he could not attend on March 21.

A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The National the governor of Belmarsh prison had raised concerns over Murray’s attendance and that he had been barred from the ceremony by the authorities.

Murray said: “To say I wasn’t on the final list isn’t a lie but it’s very far from being the full story.

“The reason I wasn’t on the final list was that they knocked me off the first list.

“It’s plainly dishonest, to say someone is not on the list when you’ve vetoed them from the first list is plainly less than the truth.

“Technically, it’s possibly not a lie but it’s a lie in intent – it’s deliberately misleading.

“If I’m a danger to prisons they should stop putting me in them.”

The Ministry of Justice told The National previously Assange was told he would only be allowed close family at the ceremony on March 11.

“It’s just messing [Julian] about,” said Murray.

“It’s just ridiculous mind games, nobody can honestly believe that I am a danger to security.”

Assange remains in prison while he awaits the outcome of a protracted legal battle to extradite him to America following WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

His last appeal to the High Court to refuse extradition was rejected in December 2021.

Assange has always denied wrongdoing and has won support for his case from human rights organisations and journalist groups across the world.

The wedding came just weeks before the third anniversary of his dramatic arrest when he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in the capital.

Moris and Assange wore specially created outfits by the celebrated designer Vivienne Westwood.

A small number of people – including Murray – were present at Belmarsh Prison to support the mother of two on her wedding day.