Standing Up For Assange, Human Rights, and Press Freedom
“It’s so much broader than just Julian Assange”
Nearly two years after being expelled from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and his subsequent arrest, Julian Assange continues to await his uncertain fate in Belmarsh prison in the UK. A judge there recently blocked his extradition to the US, citing the conditions he would be likely to face and potential suicide risk, but it should be noted that Belmarsh itself has come under criticism for the conditions prisoners there are held under. Amnesty International has compared the UK prison to Guantanamo Bay, and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer has more than once referred to Assange’s treatment there as just that, torture. Although none of the prisoners in Belmarsh are treated humanely, Assange had been singled out to such a degree that the other inmates “petitioned the prison governor on three occasions, insisting that the treatment of Assange was unjust and unfair,” as WikiLeaks Ambassador Joseph Farrell said in a statement at the time.
The decision by the UK judge not to extradite was a small victory, but short-lived, as Assange was later denied bail by the same judge. Craig Murray laid out the absurdity of this decision, writing in a blog post, “In effect… Julian is now being punished again for the same offence, spending years in…
