Tuesday 18 February 2020

Australian MPs say Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is 'a man under enormous pressure' following prison visit

Australian MPs Andrew Wilkie and George Christensen have raised concerns over Julian Assange's mental wellbeing after meeting with him in a British jail.

Assange has been held there since he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London last April and arrested for skipping bail.

Prior to that he had spent seven years inside the embassy after seeking asylum in 2012, and Mr Christensen said his lack of exposure to the outside world showed.

"It was kind of state you'd expect from a man who has been absolutely and utterly isolated and who doesn't know what has been going on," he said.

"It was clear to us that his mental state isn't good."

Mr Wilkie echoed Mr Christensen's assessment.

"I'm not a psychologist. but it was obvious that there's a man who's under enormous pressure," he said.

"Clearly his health and mental health has deteriorated during what is effectively years in captivity."

The 48-year-old is fighting extradition to the US, where he faces 18 charges including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law, and Mr Wilkie said if Assange is found guilty it would almost amount to a death sentence.

"If he is convicted of those charges he faces up to 175 years in a US federal prison," he said.

"It's a life sentence and it could be said to almost a death sentence."

ABC.


Christensen ain't no bleedin' heart leftie:

Christensen said: “I am a big fan of Trump, I am a big fan of Bojo [Boris Johnson] but I’ll tell you what I value more: free speech,” he said [my emph.] “There are a lot of Australians on the right and left who think that Julian Assange is a rat bag, that I am a rat bag, but that he should be brought home.”

4 comments:

  1. Tom Fitton @ Judicial Watch has just filed a Freedom of Information Act Request for any info DOJ/FBI has on Seth Rich based upon the following e-mail they received in another FOIA action (btw- WFO is short for FBI Washington Field Office):

    A public affairs official whose name was redacted opens the WFO email chain, writing:


    Various news outlets are reporting today that Julian Assange suggested during a recent overseas interview that DNC Staffer, Seth Rich was a Wikileaks source, and may have been killed because he leaked the DNC e-mails to his organization, and that Wikileak’s was offering $20,000 for information regarding Rich’s death last month. Based on this news, we anticipate additional press coverage on this matter. I hear that you are in class today; however, when you have a moment, can you please give me a call to discuss what involvement the Bureau has in the investigation.

    An unidentified WFO agent responds: “I’m aware of this reporting from earlier this week but not any specific involvement in any related case.”

    An unidentified WFO agent subsequently writes deputy assistant director in the bureau’s Counterintelligence Division Jonathan Moffa and Strzok: “Just FYSA. I squashed this with [redacted]”.

    Strzok then forwards the email chain to Page.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never believed in the Seth Rich CT primarily because it Venn diagrams with Pizzagate and assorted total nonsense.

    But if Seth's part could be proven then that would be good for Julian, so it's one to follow...

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  3. The US attempt to extradite Julian Assange is the “the Dreyfus case of our age”, John McDonnell has said, as Europe’s human rights watchdog added her voice to opposition to the move.

    The shadow chancellor paid a two-hour visit to see Assange in Belmarsh prison in London on Thursday and said Britain’s standing in the world would be severely damaged if the extradition went ahead


    The Guardian.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There's a reason why people believe in Occham's razor.

    ReplyDelete