"The medical situation is urgent, there is no time to lose": more than 60 doctors have appealed to British Home Secretary Priti Patel in an urgent appeal. The background is the state of health of Julian Assange.
The WikiLeaks founder urgently needs physical and psychological help. He would have to be transferred from the maximum security prison in Belmarsh southeast of London in a university hospital, wrote the doctors in an open letter. Otherwise, there would be "real worries" that Assange might "die in prison."
In their assessment, the doctors said they relied on eyewitness accounts of Assange's trial date on October 21 and a report by UN rapporteur Nils Melzer. The doctors expressed doubts that Assange is fit enough for the upcoming hearings on US requesting extradition.
Assange had made a confused impression at the court date. The Australian said he could not "think clearly". So he could not seem to remember his date of birth and told the judge after the hearing, he had not understood exactly what happened in the courtroom (read an interview with the father of Assange here).
Julia Quenzler / Handout via REUTERS
Court of Assange court hearing in London
Since April, Assange has been serving an almost one-year prison term in the UK for breach of bail. Previously, he had been hiding in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden for the alleged rape allegations. The Swedish judiciary had closed its investigation against Assange for alleged rape last Tuesday.
In the US, the WikiLeaks founder is charged with publishing secret documents and violating the anti-espionage law. The extradition procedure is currently in the UK. In the case of a guilty verdict on all counts in the US, he faces life imprisonment there.
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