Assange's Ill Health Prevents Him From Attending Court Hearing Via Video Link - Lawyer

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2021) The ill health of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange prevented him from participating in the UK High Court hearing even via video link, the journalist's lawyer Aitor Martinez told Sputnik.

"Yesterday he was present for several minutes via video link ... and looked very thin, broken, practically lying on the table, unable to sit up straight. He was unable to go on and was taken away. At the second meeting, he failed to even get to the video link. His condition is, no doubt, very bad," Martinez said.

He added that the US representatives called into question the medical reports on Assange's health during the hearing.

"However, they were just criticizing these reports, without any 'scientific evidence,'" Martinez said.

According to the lawyer, the US representatives accused one of the doctors of preparing the report without the presence of Assange, but the court denied this statement, stressing that the doctor had personally examined the defendant.

"Actually, Julian Assange's ill health is not only the issue confirmed by the medical reports that were presented to the court of first instance, but the United Nations rapporteur on torture published reports in the same vein... so the US position contradicts, you could say, the entire medical community, which had access to Julian Assange," Martinez said.

On October 27, the UK High Court began a two-day review of the US government's appeal challenging the January ruling by a UK district court judge against extraditing Assange to the US, citing his health and the risk of suicide in the US prison system.

Assange is wanted by the United States on espionage charges after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified documents that shed light on war crimes committed by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If put on trial and convicted in the US, the whistleblower faces up to 175 years in prison.