100 doctors alarmed over UK prison ‘torture’ of ailing Julian Assange
- Medical professionals have accused Britain of denying proper health care to the jailed WikiLeaks founder
- Australian citizen Assange is due to face an extradition hearing next week
More than 100 doctors on Monday called on Britain to end Julian Assange’s “torture” in prison pending his extradition on espionage charges to the United States.
The 48-year-old Australian is facing 18 counts in the United States – 17 of them under the Espionage Act – that could see him jailed for 175 years.
Washington’s extradition request will start being heard next Monday at Woolwich Crown Court. Assange is being held at the neighbouring high-security Belmarsh Prison.
A group of 117 physicians and psychologists from 18 nations wrote in a letter to The Lancet medical journal that Assange was being subjected to “torture” in prison.
“We condemn the torture of Assange. We condemn the denial of his fundamental right to appropriate health care,” they wrote in the scientific magazine.
