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Julian Assange unable to attend court hearing due to illness

Yesterday morning at Westminster Magistrates Court, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange missed his third hearing in a row due to ill health. His lawyers told the court he was too ill to attend via videolink from Belmarsh prison and was suffering from a “respiratory problem”. Assange has a chronic lung condition and his health has been ruined by years of psychological torture and medical neglect. Assange’s doctor had advised him not to visit the videoconferencing room to minimise his chance of exposure to coronavirus. He is now effectively being tried in absentia, under pain of a potentially fatal contraction of COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic is being used to further impede Assange’s ability to conduct his defence against Espionage Act charges brought by the United States government carrying a 170-year prison term.

— source wsws.org | 2 Jun 2020

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