International
Doctors fear WikiLeaks founder Asange may die in prison over untreated ailments
An open letter has been written by at least 60 doctors to British interior minister, Priti Patel, informing him that WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, should be sent from prison to hospital.
In the 16-page letter published by WikiLeaks on Monday, doctors said they feared Assange’s health was so bad that he could die inside a top-security British prison.
They added in the letter that the Swede, 48, who spent seven years holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London before he was dragged out in April suffers from psychological problems including depression, dental issues and a serious shoulder ailment.
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The doctors based their assessment on “harrowing eyewitness accounts” of his October 21 court appearance in London and a November 1 report by Nils Melzer, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture.
The independent UN rights expert said Assange’s “continued exposure to arbitrariness and abuse may cost him his life.”
“Were such urgent assessment and treatment not to take place, we have real concerns, on the evidence currently available that Mr Assange could die in prison. The medical situation is thereby urgent. There is no time to lose,” the doctors said.
Assange is wanted in the United States to face 18- count charges including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.
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