By Andrew MacAskill and Sarah Young,Reuters•February 18, 2020
WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in LondonMore
LONDON (Reuters) - Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer being kept in solitary confinement and his health is improving, his spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told reporters on Tuesday.
Assange, 48, is in Belmarsh high-security prison in London, fighting an extradition request from the United States where he faces 18 counts including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.
His supporters had expressed concern about the state of his health after he appeared confused during a court hearing in October, struggling to recall his age and name and saying he was unable to think properly.
Assange was moved from solitary confinement in the medical wing to a different part of the prison with 40 other inmates after his legal team and prisoners complained that his treatment was unfair, Hrafnsson said.
"I saw him about 10 days ago - he has improved thanks to the pressure from his legal team, the general public, and amazingly, actually from other inmates in Belmarsh Prison to get him out of isolation," Hrafnsson said ahead of an extradition hearing that starts next week.
Australian-born Assange made global headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.
WikiLeaks later angered the United States by publishing caches of leaked military documents and diplomatic cables.
Assange has consistently presented himself as a champion of free speech being persecuted for exposing abuses of power. But his critics paint him as a dangerous figure complicit in Russian efforts to undermine the West.
He fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning about allegations of sex crimes which have since been dropped. He spent seven years holed up in the embassy until Ecuador decided to stop giving him refuge and he was dragged out last May.
Earlier, a group of doctors representing 117 physicians and psychologists from 18 nations called in a letter for an end to what they described as "the psychological torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange".
His father, John Shipton, said Assange's long confinement indoors had damaged his health and feared that sending his son to the US would be akin to a "death sentence".
"His situation is dire, he has had nine years of ceaseless psychological torture where false accusations are constantly being made," he told reporters.
More than 100 physicians warn Julian Assange could die in prison
By Clyde Hughes UPI
Protesters rally to support WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at an event in Sydney, Australia, on May 3, 2019. File Photo by Bianca de Marchi/EPA-EFE
Feb. 18 (UPI) -- More than 100 physicians have signed onto an open letter that says WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange could die behind bars in Britain due to "psychological torture and medical neglect."
Assange is in a London prison awaiting a Feb. 24 hearing that could ultimately send him to the United States to face conspiracy charges.
The letter, which was posted by The Lancet medical journal, says Assange is denied medical care and has suffered mentally for years while in Britain. The Australian spent several years living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London until he was arrested and imprisoned last year.
"We condemn the torture of Assange," the letter states. "We condemn the denial of his fundamental right to appropriate health care. We condemn the climate of fear surrounding the provision of healthcare to him.
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"We condemn the violations of his right to doctor-patient confidentiality. Politics cannot be allowed to interfere with the right to health and the practice of medicine."
Echoing the letter, Australian lawmakers Andrew Wilkie and George Christensen called on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to block Assange's extradition to the United States, where he faces charges related to breaches involving Defense Department computers.
Wilkie and Christensen argued that allowing extradition would set a precedent that puts journalists worldwide at risk of being harassed and jailed.
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"If you are a journalist who does anything that offends any government in the world then you face the very real prospect of being extradited to that country," Wilkie said. "This is a political case and what is at stake is not just the life of Julian Assange. It is about the future of journalism."
In their letter, the physicians said Assange should receive medical treatment to address his mental state.
"Our appeals are simple: We are calling upon governments to end the torture of Assange and ensure his access to the best available healthcare before it is too late," they wrote.
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