If Assange dies in UK prison it would mean he’d been ‘tortured to death,’ UN special rapporteur on torture tells RT — RT World News
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange isn’t mentally ill and his psychological problems are solely the result of the abuse he suffers in isolation, Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture, has told RT’s Going Underground.
That would be awesome! “tragedy” if Assange died in London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison due to his poor health, Melzer replied when asked about such an unsettling scenario by host Afshin Rattansi.
He’s basically been tortured to death if he dies in prison. That’s the reality of it, and I’m not exaggerating.
According to the official, he visited Assange in prison with a group of medical professionals and had previously taken him there on May 2019. “we all independently from each other came to this conclusion at that time that his life was in danger.” The publisher’s mental and physical condition has entered a “downward spiral”Since then, he has added.
Co-founder of WikiLeaks, the WikiLeaks founder has been detained in Belmarsh ever since April 2019, for breaching bail. Prior to that, the 50 year-old was held in Belmarsh for breach of bail. He spent seven decades in British Capital’s Ecuadorian Embassy, where he sought refuge from an arrest warrant issued in relation to sexual assault claims that he always denied. Because of a dearth of evidence, the probe against him was dropped. Assange’s supporters insisted he was actually being persecuted over his legitimate journalistic activities.
His US arrest warrant is for him on charges of espionage related to the publication classified documents by WikiLeaks, which include those on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo bay. He could face up to 175 years behind bars if he’s extradited to America, despite the fact that the key witness in the case was revealed to have fabricated his claims.
In early 2021, a British judge turned down Washington’s extradition request, citing Assange’s poor health and a risk of suicide. The US’ appeal against the ruling was heard in the UK High Court earlier this week, with no immediate ruling being announced.
“Julian Assange is not mentally ill… He’s a very resilient, intelligent man. He doesn’t belong to a mental institution, right? So, if he has mental issues now it’s because of the abuse that he had suffered,” Melzer insisted.
“Grave medical harm has been caused to him in the last decade through constant isolation”And other abusive means,” he added, noting that WikiLeaks’ co-founder is now suffering from “constant anxiety.”
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The US appeal to exile Julian Assange ends in the UK High Court without an immediate ruling
UN Official Slammed UK Prison Authorities for How They Have Handled the Publisher “You can’t get someone to recover from torture by continuing to torture him. And that’s exactly what they do. They isolate him; they keep him in this limbo,”He disagreed.
Melzer reiterated that there were no grounds to hold Assange at a maximum security prison, as he’s currently not serving any sentence and not facing actual criminal charges. “Even if we presume for the purpose of the argument that the extradition is legitimate and we have to somehow secure his presence, he can be in house arrest,”According to the raporteur, the co-founder of WikiLeaks is also being “isolated absolutely unnecessary and therefore unlawfully.”
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