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‘No-one extradited from UK to US has dedicated suicide,’ US tells courtroom in Assange allure


A British steal has given participants accused by the US a “trump card” to retain a ways from extradition by discovering in favour of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a courtroom heard on 27 October.

District Take Vanessa Baraitser ruled in January 2021 that it is miles also “oppressive” to ship Assange for trial within the US, the save he might maybe presumably be at excessive likelihood of suicide.

Nonetheless James Lewis QC, representing the US, told a listening to on the Royal Courts of Justice that the steal had utilized the nasty enticing assessments.

The courtroom became within the initiate told that Assange became too unwell to reduction this day’s listening to, but he joined the courtroom by video link from Belmarsh penal complex in South East London some 40 minutes later.

Carrying a white shirt, darkish tie, and a dim face overlaying, Assange spent mighty of the listening to sat at one cease of the video room, with handiest his reflection considered to the penal complex camera.

Prosecutors told the listening to on the Royal Courts of Justice that the US govt had now given now diplomatic assurances to Assange over his medication that marked “sea alternate” within the case if he were extradited.

Talking on basically the necessary day of a two-day listening to, Lewis told the courtroom claims by Assange’s defence crew that the US would violate its assurances over Assange’s medication within the US had “no basis if fact be told”.

Educated witnesses had beforehand testified that Assange became at likelihood of be positioned under particular administrative measures (SAMs) – described by witnesses as a compose of solitary confinement – and held in a Supermax penal complex under administrative segregation with little contact with other prisoners.

Lewis quoted evidence from US prosecutor Gordon Kromberg that prisoners positioned under administrative segregation were in a position to tell to one but every other by walls and doorways, and were in a position to affiliate with other prisoners.

Placement in administrative segregation has no affect on the flexibility of prisoners to fulfill their lawyers, he acknowledged.

“That alone destroys the argument about solitary confinement because he can meet at any time with his lawyers,” Lewis told the courtroom.

Take made errors

The district steal had wrongly interpreted Allotment 91 of the Extradition Act 2003 by angry by the affect of extradition of Assange on his future psychological neatly being.

The real test became whether Assange’s recent psychological articulate within the UK sooner than extradition intended he became at likelihood of suicide.

“One has to note out of no longer going correct into a crystal ball manner in deciding what might maybe presumably or might maybe presumably no longer occur,” Lewis told the courtroom.

The district steal acknowledged that the US took measures to quit suicide, but she based fully her dedication now to not extradite him on the grounds that Assange had the mind to avoid suicide prevention measures.

“No one who has ever been extradited from the UK to the US has ever dedicated suicide,” acknowledged Lewis, including that the steal’s dedication now to not extradite Assange thanks to his functionality of circumventing suicide measures becomes a “trump card”.

“The manner taken by the district steal is to erect a barrier to extradition that right can’t be met by our extradition partners,” he acknowledged.

It can presumably by no manner be acknowledged in UK proceedings that any individual who “dedicated crimes of the magnitude of Assange” might maybe presumably not be save on trial, Lewis told the courtroom.

Clinical evidence must be brushed apart

Exhibiting sooner than the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon and Lord Justice Holroyde, Lewis also argued that evidence given by Assange’s understanding psychiatric expert have to both be chanced on inadmissible or given minute weight.

The US argued that expert peep and psychiatrist Michael Kopelman had severely misled the courtroom by failing to expose Assange’s relationship with his fiancée Stella Moris in his preliminary file.

Moris gave “vital evidence” in Kopelman’s file, but nowhere does the reader model that she became in a relationship with Assange and the mom of his children, Lewis told the courtroom.

Kopelman had signed a assertion of fact announcing that he had endeavoured to incorporate the relaxation in his file which might maybe presumably be unfavorable to his notion.

That assertion became “unsuitable”, acknowledged Lewis. “The prosecution had no understanding that Ms Moris became his accomplice and the mom of his children till Mr Assange made a bail application and elected to deploy files about his children,” he added.

Lewis took the courtroom by Kopelman’s oral evidence, citing examples the save Assange became recorded as having interplay with fellow cell mates, exercising and staring at television.

The prosecutor argued that Kopelman had skipped over examples recorded by penal complex workers that contradicted his findings that Assange had excessive despair and psychotic episodes.

District steal Vanessa Baraitser had chosen to take Kopelman’s evidence to the evidence of other expert witnesses “with out giving cogent clarification why”, acknowledged Lewis.

Unjustifiable claims

Talking for Assange, Edward Fitzgerald QC acknowledged that the district steal had given a careful judgment and had situation out clearly why she most neatly-liked the evidence of Kopelman to other scientific examiners who gave evidence.

The steal chanced on that Kopelman had didn’t expose minute print on Assange’s relationship, but that alternatively he gave honest evidence to the courtroom.

The steal also chanced on that Kopelman’s actions were an “understandable human response” to being requested to retain the connection between Assange and Moris confidential. “By September, this became a matter of historical previous,” Fitzgerald acknowledged.

He added that the prosecution had “made a total load of unjustifiable suggestions” that Kopelman had skipped over gadgets from his file.

Nonetheless the steal chanced on that Kopelman’s review of the medial records became extra compressive and enticing than scientific examiners acting for the prosecution. “One have to respect her findings,” he acknowledged, including that he prosecutions objections are in actual fact an try to re-litigate the case to make a diversified consequence.

Assange has been on suicide safety from the initiate of his time in penal complex, there were a quantity of times the save he discussed self-harm, and he known as the penal complex Samaritans on a quantity of times.

Fitzgerald acknowledged that he authorized there were some entries within the penal complex notes suggesting Assange became in enticing spirits, however the general influence is of a “unhappy and despairing man”.

The steal has given a “total sequence of reasons” why she view the evidence of Kopelman and but every other defence scientific examiner were real.

US Assurances are no longer original evidence

Lewis, representing the US, told the courtroom that the steal must earn notified the US of her provisional seek that Assange would likely be held in SAMs within the US.

He acknowledged that the prosecution’s space became there became no real likelihood of SAMs, but that the steal rejected the argument. “It became the discovering towards us that precipitated the requirement to present assurances [about Assange’s treatment in the US],” he added.

Fitzgerald acknowledged that the assurances earn approach very unhurried within the day and there isn’t this kind of thing as a reason why they must be admitted as evidence.

The case continues.

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