" Handcuffed eleven times ", " stripped twice ": the defense of the founder of WikiLeaks complained on Tuesday 25 February of the treatment inflicted on Julian Assange, on the second day of the examination of the extradition request made by the United States who wants to try him for spying.
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Ten years after WikiLeaks released more than 700,000 classified documents on US military and diplomatic activities, the British justice system began Monday to examine the request for the surrender of Assange to the American judicial authorities. The 48-year-old Australian is being prosecuted for spying and hacking. He faces 175 years in prison.
" Yesterday (Monday), Mr. Assange was handcuffed eleven times, stripped twice " at Belmarsh prison where he is detained and was " placed in five different cells ," said Tuesday when the TV resumed hearing his lawyer Edward Fitzgerald. In his box, Assange seemed impassive. Such treatment could " affect this procedure ", warned the lawyer before the Woolwich court (east of London) which adjoins the prison, asking the judge Vanessa Baraitser to instruct the prison authorities to relax the measures around Assange.
The magistrate replied that her powers in this regard are " limited ", and that she cannot order the prison authorities how to treat detainees, adding that she is waiting for Julian Assange to be treated fairly, like anyone else. else. The US government lawyer supported the defense’s comments, saying he didn’t want Assange’s treatment to “ jeopardize ” the proceedings.
Read also: Treatment inflicted on Julian Assange would put his life "in danger"
To rule on the extradition request, the examination of which takes place this week and then three weeks from May 18, the British justice system must ensure that it meets a certain number of legal criteria and in particular if it is not not disproportionate or incompatible with human rights. This is one of the main angles of defense for Julian Assange, whose treatment has been severely criticized by many doctors and international observers, who have alerted opinion on his mental health.
The UN rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer estimated in early November that the life of the founder of WikiLeaks was " in danger ". His condition appears to have improved.