Although the Australian was not convicted of any crime, he passed almost fourteen years of captivity in the United Kingdom, for the last five years in London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison.

Initially detained in 2010 at the request of Sweden. In connection with the case, which has now been archived, Assange was undercover at the Ecuadorian embassy in London from June 19, 2012 until his expulsion and arrest in April 2019 at the request of the United States, which triggered the current trial.

He accused that the North American country is asking He has 175 years in prison. with the aim that such long sentences, sometimes even on the verge of the death penalty or life imprisonment, force the accused to admit at least something, in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The former diplomat argued that there is no possibility of a fair trial for Assange in the US if he is extradited, given that it was charged under the Espionage Act Thus, people accused under these articles do not have the opportunity to argue the public interest in their defense.

“Yes, I published documents that you consider secret, but these documents show the criminality of the state, the criminality of its army, its corporations, the corruption of its officials and this is of public interest. He would not have had the opportunity to defend himself in this sense, and his lawyers would not have been able to argue something like that, because The law simply doesn’t allow it.“he added.

He explained that in the case of Assange, they were simply going to discuss whether he had released the documents or not, so having checked this and taking into account that they were classified, it was already He had a verdict and a sentence.

“If Julian had been extradited to the United States from day one, he would have been sent to the maximum security prison opposite Belmarsh Prison. what is the worst thing about the United Kingdom is the holiday camp because the United States is accused of espionage and acts against national security. They are subjected to the most repressive prison conditions. This is known in every country in the world: zero contact with people,” he added.

What was Julian Assange like?

Fidel Narvaez spent six years with Julian Assange when he was given asylum in the embassy he led, where he got to know him closely because they saw each other every day and they shared the same workspace.

“It’s very difficult to describe Julián, many of us suspected he was autistic, something that was clinically diagnosed now that he was in prison and that already makes him different in some way. Julian is what we call work.workaholic, He only works, he lives only for his business.”– he noted.

He said that he worked all the time while in prison. published books, millions of documents and he defended himself vehemently against the persecution to which he was subjected.

“When people imagine that someone was locked in an apartment, in an embassy, ​​for six years, seven years. In his case, one would think that he is bored, that he must be watching TV, playing video games, he worked all the time“, he said.

In addition, he reported that he had a warm sense of humor and was often harsh in confrontations, but was always respectful of the staff who assisted him at the embassy.

“Apparently, he is very tough in his proposals, and if he has a confrontation with someone, it is usually harsh, but inside the embassy, ​​apart from the security company and the guards spying on him, he never had any problems or inconvenience, beyond any exception, yes, it would be impossible not to do this, but Overall he was very respectful with those who defended him, and this was reciprocated.”

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