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by nabla9 2365 days ago
Assange is presumed innocent.

Assange is in jail because his lawyers are challenging the US extradition request and there is legal process going on.

There is no evidence of him being tortured. He seems to have mental problems. People getting mentally ill in jails is very common.
2 comments
Karunamon 2365 days ago
Solitary confinement is, at least, very unethical given its known deleterious impacts on mental health[1][2], and can be considered torture for most purposes[3].

[1]: https://semanticscholar.org/paper/8f8fbb6bd68357311bb82e48a8...

[2]: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/30/hellhole

[3]: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/appsych/opus/issues/2015/spring/co...

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nabla9 2365 days ago
Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture has said that Assange is not held in solitary confinement at HMP Belmarsh. Melzer objected against the limited ability of Assange to prepare his legal case.

It seems that John Shipton (father of Assange) used therm solitary confinement to describe situation where Assange's access to outside is limited to his lawyers and family.

I thing Assage is currently in the the prison’s medical ward.

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shkkmo 2365 days ago
Melzer was pretty specific and his concerns are not just about "access to legal counsel".

> «He continues to be detained under oppressive conditions of isolation and surveillance, not justified by his detention status,” said Melzer

Melzer fairly clearly states that he believes there is credible evidence that Assange has been subjected to psychological torture.

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nabla9 2365 days ago
"Isolation and detained" refers to his condition being held in jail. He is not in solitary confinement. Melzer arguent opinion that Assagne should should be released and not be detained.

>Although Mr. Assange is not being held in solitary confinement, Mr. Melzer said he was gravely concerned over the limited frequency and duration of lawyers’ visits and lack of access to case files, which make it impossible to prepare and adequate defense.

sources:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039581

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?N...

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sneak 2365 days ago
Why do you think that might be?
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