Nearly 120 doctors from around the world have joined the call to stop psychological torture and medical negligence against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is awaiting trial in the UK, according to the medical journal Lancet.
In November last year, more than 60 health workers wrote a letter to the British Interior Ministry to express serious concern about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.
“In our letter, we have documented the history of denial of access to health care and prolonged psychological torture”, – the Appeal said.
Doctors called for Assange’s transfer from Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison to the university clinic for examination and treatment. Without receiving a substantive response from the British government, the doctors wrote to the Australian government urging it to intervene. However, there was no response either.
In the letter, the doctors insisted on an urgent medical examination of Julian Assange’s physical and psychological condition and expressed their fears about the possible death of the founder of WikiLeaks in the future if he never receives urgent medical care.
“In the meantime, more doctors from around the world have joined our call. Our group currently has 117 doctors representing 18 countries”, – the doctors’ appeal said.
“We condemn the torture against Assange. We condemn the denial of his unconditional right to proper medical care. We call on our fellow doctors to join us as signatories to our letters to add new voices to our appeal”, – the medical workers’ message said.
Assange, who was accused of sexual harassment and rape in Sweden in 2010, has been in hiding since June 2012 at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for fear of extradition to a Scandinavian country. In the morning of 11 April 2019, he was detained at the request of the United States. A court in London found him guilty of violating bail conditions and sentenced him to 11 months in prison. The extradition hearing began on 2 May.
U.S. authorities reported at the end of May 2019 that new charges were brought against Assange in 17 episodes of violation of the law on espionage and disclosure of classified information. Earlier, he was accused of conspiracy to break into a computer. If extradited to the U.S., Assange faces years in prison.