Holding Assange’s persecutors to account (Aug. 30, 2019)
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Holding Assange’s persecutors to account
Dear @hmpbelmarsh
I have heard that Julian Assange is emaciated, isolated, not allowed to mingle with other inmates or workers passing by his single cell in the health wing, unable to work on defending himself legally and is in extremely rough shape. Please help. I understand that the Prison warden / governor would want to punish other inmates for taking a video of Mr. Assange which was later posted online… but it is exacerbating the psychological torture and physical challenges he faces daily. He should not be punished for the video.
I am very grateful that someone took that video. As a member of the public, I am very angry at the British gov’t that he is shut away in your prison to begin with. I am even more angry that he is hidden away in some corner of that foreboding, loud, overcrowded, decaying building.
He is being treated like a political prisoner who is not allowed to speak to the media, be seen or heard. If he were being treated “equally” as the other murderers, rapists and grave criminals in your facility, he would be allowed to fraternize, chat and interact with people. He would have access to the library, computer, tv, legal documents, pen and paper, have more time outside his cell and have proper medical care. I understand that his spectacles were poorly done following an optician’s prescription for his loss of sight. The man has been cooped up for 8 years now. The breach of bail is such a minor infraction, it does not even qualify as being a “crime” so it does not make sense to me that he went directly from Ecuador’s embassy to your facility. He’s not a criminal.
Assange is a criminal *suspect* in the US, not the UK. He is a person who placed priority on preserving his life, freedom of expression and avoidance of US torture — so he sought asylum at the embassy instead of fulfilling his bail conditions in June 2012. His instinct was right.
From Dec. 7 2010 until June 19 2012 Mr.Assange dutifully fulfilled his bail conditions. He infracted them when he reached a tipping point of knowing he was about to be handed over to the United States with a stopover in Sweden or extended stay in Britain. He was right. Mr. Assange was placed in Belmarsh before the details of the US indictment(s) were unsealed. Up until May 1 2019, Mr. Assange was thought to be delusional / paranoid about his fear of persecution / prosecution in the US. As it turned out, he was right. The US charges came after..
US charges came after the utterly disproportionate, insanely severe punishment was dealt by your British court — he was still in shock (capture shock) following his illegal extraction from the embassy and a fresh victim of US theft of his belongings / paperwork / jump drives.
It is not @hmpbelmarsh ‘s job to mete out the judgement. It is your job to mete out the punishment which was handed down by your courts. In Mr. Assange’s case, your courts got it wrong, but you still bear the responsibility of carrying out his disproportionate punishment.
You are under surveillance in all your activities and actions at the prison. Your duty to punish Mr. Assange is difficult. If you deviate from the directions you are given, it will show up on cameras, audio recordings and notes from informants.
I understand that the Prison warden / governor would want to punish other inmates for taking a video of Mr. Assange which was later posted online… but it is exacerbating the psychological torture and physical challenges he faces daily. He should not be punished for the video.
I am very grateful that someone took that video. As a member of the public, I am very angry at the British gov’t that he is shut away in your prison to begin with. I am even more angry that he is hidden away in some corner of that foreboding, loud, overcrowded, decaying building.
He is being treated like a political prisoner who is not allowed to speak to the media, be seen or heard. If he were being treated “equally” as the other murderers, rapists and grave criminals in your facility, he would be allowed to fraternize, chat and interact with people.
He would have access to the library, computer, tv, legal documents, pen and paper, have more time outside his cell and have proper medical care. I understand that his spectacles were poorly done following an optician’s prescription for his loss of sight.
The man has been cooped up for 8 years now. The breach of bail is such a minor infraction, it does not even qualify as being a “crime” so it does not make sense to me that he went directly from Ecuador’s embassy to your facility. He’s not a criminal.
Mr. Assange was placed in Belmarsh before the details of the US indictment(s) were unsealed. Up until May 1 2019, Mr. Assange was thought to be delusional / paranoid about his fear of persecution / prosecution in the US. As it turned out, he was right. The US charges came after..
US charges came after the utterly disproportionate, insanely severe punishment was dealt by your British court — he was still in shock (capture shock) following his illegal extraction from the embassy and a fresh victim of US theft of his belongings / paperwork / jump drives.
It is not @hmpbelmarsh ‘s job to mete out the judgement. It is your job to mete out the punishment which was handed down by your courts. In Mr. Assange’s case, your courts got it wrong, but you still bear the responsibility of carrying out his disproportionate punishment.
You are under surveillance in all your activities and actions at the prison. Your duty to punish Mr. Assange is difficult. If you deviate from the directions you are given, it will show up on cameras, audio recordings and notes from informants.
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