With his supporters rallying outside the court building, Julian Assange showed signs of exhaustion and psychological torment as his lawyer made a bid to delay US extradition proceedings – but the London court ruled against him.
Cleanly shaven and dressed in a navy suit, the WikiLeaks co-founder appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday to seek the postponement of an extradition hearing scheduled for February – but the impact of six months behind bars at London’s maximum security Belmarsh Prison have clearly taken a toll.
A weary Assange defiantly raised his fist to supporters in the public gallery, but the imprisoned Australian whistleblower understandably did not appear to be in good spirits. Reports from inside the court suggest that Assange, who shot to international prominence for revealing US war crimes, even struggled to say his own name and date of birth. He reportedly held back tears as he told the court that he couldn’t “think properly.”
His lawyer argued that the US government had attempted to kidnap and cause harm to Assange, and said he would need more time to compile evidence for the case.
UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer warned in July that Assange’s health was deteriorating in prison after visiting him with two medical experts to assess the extent of ill-treatment he has been facing.
Melzer said Assange showed all the symptoms typical “prolonged and sustained exposure to severe psychological stress, anxiety and related mental and emotional suffering” and that his cognitive and sensory capacity have been “significantly impaired.” Fellow Australian journalist John Pilger also spoke of Assange’s unabated “psychological torture” after a visit to Belmarsh in August, though their warnings have typically fallen on deaf ears among the UK media and officialdom.
Outside the court, angry protesters chanted slogans and held up a giant banner reading “Don’t extradite Assange” – but the court ultimately rejected the proposed delay.
In a video published by Ruptly, activists can be seen trying to surround a police van believed to be carrying Assange. Officers at the scene rushed to move protesters away from the vehicle.
The United States has charged Assange with possession and dissemination of classified information. If found guilty, he could receive up to 175 years in prison. The journalist has been in Washington’s crosshairs for more than a decade, after WikiLeaks published a video showing the US military attacking journalists and civilians in Iraq in July 2007.
The Western world who boast about their human rights has become a travesty of justice. Why is this man even persecuted in the first place? For being a dissident and for revealing what the “beloved democratic empire” has done in Iraq? Assange was a fool, he should have fled to Russia like Snowden. Russia is now the land of the free and the home of the brave. America is the land of the transgender and the home of the injustice.
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Nothing, …NOTHING published by WikiLeaks has EVER been proven to be False!
There is no greater terrorist organization in the world than the combined forces of the Intelligence Community (IC). The United States government has been responsible for 30 million deaths worldwide since WWII. Furthermore, the Islamic State was created and enabled by the CIA, MI6, and Mossad in their failed effort to overthrow Assad. If not for Assad and Putin’s valiant efforts combating Western-financed proxies, Christianity in the Middle East would have become extinct. In the last 20 years, the population of ancient Christians in the Middle East, primarily in Iraq and Syria, have been decimated from greater than 3,000,000 to less than 300,000 — largely due to Western interventionism.
Assange and Snowden are heroes — regardless of the erroneous allegations brought against them by the US government.