Demand for Julian Assange’s release grows strong after first coronavirus case in UK prison

After first case of coronavirus in a British inmate was confirmed on March 18, demands to release WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange grew strong. first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in a UK prisoner at Strangeways prison in Manchester which has created fear of chaos and widespre outbreak in prisons which are usually overcrowded.

Julian Assange’s mor, Christine, has initiated a public petition to demand release of whistleblower highlighting his underlying medical conditions. In a series of social media posts, Christine said that Assange is alrey weak from chronic illness and prisons will be hit hard by coronavirus pandemic.

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Guidelines for prisons

UK government has issued guidelines for prisons and or prescribed places of detention in wake of coronavirus which has claimed 144 lives in Britain. As per guidelines, any prisoner or detainee with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature should be placed in protective isolation for seven days.

“People who are severely unwell may be transferred to appropriate healthcare facilities with usual escorts and following vice on safe transfers,” guidelines re.

During an interview to BBC, whistleblower’s far John Shipton h said that Assange's long solitary confinement damd his health. He said that ceaseless anxiety that Julian's been under for w 10 years has h a profoundly deleterious effect.

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Assange, who is kept in a maximum-security prison in souast London, is fighting an extrition request from United States on charges of violating Espion Act and conspiring to hack into classified government documents. WikiLeaks founder is charged on 18 counts including computer intrusion, espion for encouraging, receiving and publishing national defence information in cahoots with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. 

US authorities claim that publishing unredacted classified documents put informants, journalists and human rights activists at risk of torture, abuse or death. lawyer representing United States for Assange’s extrition argued that whistleblower’s action endangered lives of people from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, who helped US.

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