On 24 January 2020 – the day before a demonstration called jointly by Julian Assange’s supporters in Britain and members of the Gilets Jaunes movement in France, who had travelled to London to protest outside Belmarsh prison – the prison authorities announced that Assange was being moved out of solitary confinement.
In a statement to the media and supporters, ‘WikiLeaks Ambassador’ Joseph Farrell said: ‘In a dramatic climbdown, authorities at Belmarsh prison have moved Julian Assange from solitary confinement in the medical wing and relocated him to an area with other inmates. The move is a huge victory for Assange’s legal team and for campaigners who have been insisting for weeks that the prison authorities must end the punitive treatment of Assange. But the decision to relocate Assange is also a massive victory of prisoners in Belmarsh. A group of inmates have petitioned the prison governor on three occasions, insisting that the treatment of Assange was unjust and unfair. After meetings between prisoners, lawyers and the Belmarsh authorities, Assange was moved to a different prison wing — albeit one with only 40 inmates.’
Julian Assange’s full extradition hearing begins on 24 February at Woolwich Crown Court, lasting a week then resuming on 18 May for a further three weeks. He faces the prospect of lengthy incarceration in intolerable conditions in the US prison system in retribution for exposing the war-crimes of the US and its ‘allies’. The Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign is organising a march on the Saturday prior to the trial, starting at the Australian Embassy and ending at Downing Street. Details of the march can be found here https://www.facebook.com/events/931609000567992/
For the background to Julian Assange’s fight against extradition, see:
https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/americas/ecuador/2648-assange-aug-2012
https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/britain/police-prisons/5687-julian-assange-criminalised-for-exposing-imperialist-crimes
https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/britain/police-prisons/5525-free-julian-assange-no-to-extradition
