WikiLeaks founder Assange's wife expresses concern about his well-being in UK prison

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's wife, Stella Moris, expressed concern about her husband's health and the condition in which he is living in Belmarsh Prison in south London. While speaking to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia on Friday, Moris said her husband, who is in police custody, is facing a very dangerous situation as the co-prisoners are people who have been charged with manslaughter, premeditated murder, and even some of them are mentally ill.

"One-third of the inmates in his wing have been charged with manslaughter or premeditated murder." He shares a space with very dangerous people. Some of them are mentally ill. So I am very concerned about his well-being as a well-known person," said Moris, according to Sputnik.

Assange's wife claims people in UK prison are 'dying or facing acute mental disorder'

Further, she explained, Assange himself is suffering from some serious mental illness, and the inappropriate prison conditions are worsening his health. During his initial days in prison, Assange faced a serious risk of suicide, and he had spent six months in isolation, she added. Further, she highlighted that the people in Belmarsh Prison are either dying or are in a state of actual mental disorder. "When he arrived in the prison, he faced a serious risk of suicide and spent six months in an infirmary, an extreme form of isolation," Moris told the Spanish newspaper.

"People there are either dying or are in a state of acute mental disorder." Some prisoners engaged in cleaning saw him there and made internal requests about his being transferred [to another chamber]," she added.

Assange's wife accused the prison authorities of treating her husband differently and claimed that he was deprived of his rights in a certain sense. "He hasn't had any family days since he is in prison," she said, adding that there is a day once a month when you can spend five hours with your children but he was not even allowed that.

Founded on October 4, 2006, by Assange, WikiLeaks gained popularity in the year 2010 when it started the publication of large-scale leaks of government information, especially from the United States. Assange has been in Belmarsh Prison in London since April 2019, and he is facing prosecution in the United States under the Espionage Act.

Image: AP