Jun 24, 2022, 01:07 am
Written by Chiara Giordano
Published: June 23, 2022
Julian Assange was strip searched and moved to a bare cell on the day his extradition was announced, his wife has said.
Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder was told he was being moved to a bare cell “for his own protection”.
He had no visits over the weekend following home secretary Priti Patel’s announcement on Friday that she was allowing his extradition to the United States.
“Prison is a constant humiliation but what happened on Friday felt especially cruel,” said Mrs Assange.
“After the announcement of Patel’s decision, Julian was taken from his cell so that he could be strip searched, and then escorted to a bare cell where he remained for the rest of the weekend.
“His own cell was searched. They were looking for things that could be used to take one’s own life.
“In the bare cell, guards logged his status every hour until he was allowed to return to his cell on Tuesday.
“This kind of thing never becomes more tolerable. Any person would find it degrading. The mental strain on Julian is enormous as it is, having to process what is essentially a death sentence.
“The fact he is imprisoned while this outrageous extradition proceeds is a grave injustice in itself. He needs to deal with all that, while preparing for a complex appeal to the High Court.”
She said the fight to prevent his transfer from London to Washington DC would continue – Mr Assange has 14 days to appeal – but said she worried about the strain he was under.
John Rees, a leading member of the campaign for Mr Assange to be freed, said: “This is simply extrajudicial punishment.
“It’s unacceptable and it’s surely illegal. But it shows how much pressure the authorities are under to free Assange that they behave this vindictively.
“We need to redouble our efforts to stop the extradition, for Julian Assange’s sake and for the defence of a free press.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho...07553.html
Published: June 23, 2022
Julian Assange was strip searched and moved to a bare cell on the day his extradition was announced, his wife has said.
Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder was told he was being moved to a bare cell “for his own protection”.
He had no visits over the weekend following home secretary Priti Patel’s announcement on Friday that she was allowing his extradition to the United States.
“Prison is a constant humiliation but what happened on Friday felt especially cruel,” said Mrs Assange.
“After the announcement of Patel’s decision, Julian was taken from his cell so that he could be strip searched, and then escorted to a bare cell where he remained for the rest of the weekend.
“His own cell was searched. They were looking for things that could be used to take one’s own life.
“In the bare cell, guards logged his status every hour until he was allowed to return to his cell on Tuesday.
“This kind of thing never becomes more tolerable. Any person would find it degrading. The mental strain on Julian is enormous as it is, having to process what is essentially a death sentence.
“The fact he is imprisoned while this outrageous extradition proceeds is a grave injustice in itself. He needs to deal with all that, while preparing for a complex appeal to the High Court.”
She said the fight to prevent his transfer from London to Washington DC would continue – Mr Assange has 14 days to appeal – but said she worried about the strain he was under.
John Rees, a leading member of the campaign for Mr Assange to be freed, said: “This is simply extrajudicial punishment.
“It’s unacceptable and it’s surely illegal. But it shows how much pressure the authorities are under to free Assange that they behave this vindictively.
“We need to redouble our efforts to stop the extradition, for Julian Assange’s sake and for the defence of a free press.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho...07553.html
