GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th January, 2021) The heath of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has visibly improved since early 2020 and he now shows no signs of depression or suicidal mood, Monika Karbowska, a member of the French NGO WikiJustice for Assange, who was in the court on Monday when the whistleblower was denied extradition to the US, told Sputnik.
UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday not to extradite Assange to the United States, citing health reasons and the risk of suicide in the US prison system, but did not release him from the Belmarsh high-security prison where he is detained. Earlier in the day, the court denied bail on the grounds that the whistleblower had previously violated the bail conditions.
"I saw a man whom I recognized as the man I saw on 21 October 2019, 13 January, 24, 25, 26 and 27 February, and 9 September 2020. I recognized his gestures and body language. Having been trained by our doctor to spot signs of suffering due to torture I can confirm that he was visibly better than the one we saw from October 2019 to February 2020," Karbowska said.
She also complained that it was incredibly hard to get to the court room, as the Old Bailey does not register the human rights associations that come as observers and the team of lawyers does not provide any assistance either.
"He was dressed in a grey suit and had a big scarf on his neck, he had half long hair. His gestures were assured, natural, even quite sure of himself. I felt a man who had regained confidence in life, but I couldn't see his face very well. Not suicidal nor dying nor depressive," Karbowska said.
"I am afraid that the strategy of the lawyers, however, will lead him to a forced hospitalization in a psychiatric unit. I do not need to stress that we will oppose this with all our forces, on the basis of the SOS call for help we received from Julian Assange. We consider it our duty to help him and there is no question of his being locked up again here or elsewhere," Karbowska added.
