“In the event of extradition, the experts highlight a risk of suicide and a fairly serious deterioration in his psychological state,” warned lawyer Antoine Vey.
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“Julian Assange is not being prosecuted like a normal person”, said Wednesday February 21 on franceinfo the lawyer of the founder of WikiLeaks, Master Antoine Vey. The first day of the hearing relating to the last appeal against the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States opened in the absence of the 52-year-old Australian.
Prosecuted for a massive leak of confidential documents concerning American activity in Afghanistan and Iraq and locked up for 12 years in the United Kingdom – seven years refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy, then five years detained in a high security prison in London – Julian Assange’s defense warns about Julian Assange’s state of health. “In the event of extradition, experts underline a risk of suicide and a fairly serious deterioration in his psychological state”alerted lawyer Antoine Vey.
Apply to the European Court of Human Rights
“Julian Assange is being prosecuted for political acts”denounced the lawyer. “This espionage offense dates back to 1917 and appears, at least to international observers, to be something entirely anachronistic and political.”, he stressed. According to him, the Australian is being prosecuted for his journalistic practices, “this is someone who spread information and this information only revealed true information”argued his French lawyer. “Consider that a person could have been incarcerated at that time under these conditions, and that today’s hearing only aims to grant him a right of appeal for extradition to a country in which we know that he will not be able to have a fair trial should mobilize public opinion”supported Master Antoine Vey.
“The United States tries to be at the same time victims, prosecutors and judges, only international justice would be able to truly separate things”, he added. If the founder of WikiLeaks does not obtain the opportunity to appeal his extradition, he will be handed over to the United States where he risks a sentence of 175 years in prison. If the London judges refuse to grant him this possibility, his defense still hopes to be able to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. But “does England wait and respect the decision of the European Court”asked Antoine Vey, who underlines that, on the British side, “the European judicial authority is somewhat mishandled”.
