LONDON (Technology) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s partner announced that his life is in danger as he is held in a London prison over the coronavirus lockdown.
Assange is fighting a U.S. extradition request to stand trial for conspiration to hack government computers and espionage, hearings are scheduled for later this month and will not proceed due to the lockdown.
“The life of my partner, Julian Assange, is at severe risk. He is on remand at HMP Belmarsh, and COVID-19 is spreading within its walls. Julian needs to be released now. For him, for our family, and for the society we all want our children to grow up in.”
– Stella Moris, Assange’s partner
Moris, a lawyer who has two children with Assange, said last month that she met Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2011 where he spent seven years avoiding British police arrest.
The U.S. Government was enraged by Assange and WikiLeaks a decade ago by publishing thousands of secret American documents.
Assange’s supporters believe he is a champion of free speech exposing abuses of power and hypocrisy by Washington.
The U.S. authorities claim that he is wanted not because he embarrassed them but because he endangered informants, dissidents and rights activists in several countries like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan by illegal actions.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.