More than 60 doctors have written an open letter saying that Julian Assange could die in the British prison he is being detained in if he does not receive urgent medical care at a university hospital.
The doctors based their assessment on the 48-year-old's October 21 court appearance and a report published last month by the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, which said that Assange's detention "may soon end up costing his life".
The letter, published on Monday, was sent to the UK’s interior minister Priti Patel and was signed by doctors from Britain, Sweden, Australia, the United States, Germany, Italy, Sri Lanka and Poland.
Assange is currently in top-security prison Belmarsh, having been arrested in April at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he had been seeking asylum since 2012.
The Australian national was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching bail conditions when he took refuge in the embassy. He has served his jail sentence but remains in prison until a hearing in February in which he will fight extradition to the United States.
Assange faces 18 charges in the US in connection with the 2010 WikiLeaks’ publication of classified military and diplomatic files.
The doctors said that they had “serious concerns about the physical and mental health” of Assange and his fitness to go through the full extradition hearing.
“Mr Assange requires urgent expert medical assessment of both his physical and psychological state of health,” the doctors wrote.
“Any medical treatment indicated should be administered in a properly equipped and expertly staffed university teaching hospital (tertiary care).
“Were such urgent assessment and treatment not to take place, we have real concerns, on the evidence currently available, that Mr Assange could die in prison. The medical situation is thereby urgent. There is no time to lose.”
During his appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court last month, Assange seemed frail and confused. He said he had not understood what had happened in court at the end of the hearing.
His father, John Shipton, said after the hearing that he feared his son would die in jail.
Last week, Swedish prosecutors said they were dropping an investigation into a 2010 rape claim against Assange.
