Julian Assange's US extradition trial continues in London

https://twitter.com/_/status/1308392183242854402

This Judge will rule against keeping this private I believe. The defense asked her to keep the names of Assange's 'New" wife and two young children private. She ruled against it and the names were released.

Free Julian Now!

I said NOW!

I said NOW!

Look at this shit. Somehow I doubt these are hallucinations. He's likely being harassed by military-grade psychological weapons.

https://imgur.com/a/gjOlP2i

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is preparing to kill himself in prison after hearing voices in his head saying 'we're coming to get you', a psychiatrist told his extradition hearing.

Assange, 49, had a history of depression and frequently called the Samaritans after suffering from auditory hallucinations, the psychiatrist said, branding him at 'high risk' of suicide.

Professor Michael Kopelman said the Australian had even begun making preparations to end his own life including confessing to a Catholic priest, drafting farewell letters to his family and drafting a will.

Assange is wanted in the US for allegedly conspiring with army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to expose military secrets between January and May 2010.

He is fighting extradition to the US, where he faces an 18-count indictment alleging a plot to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

Professor Kopelman told the Old Bailey on Tuesday he has visited Assange some 20 times in high-security Belmarsh prison, where he is being held on remand.

The emeritus professor of neuropsychiatry at King's College London said: 'He reported auditory hallucinations, which were voices either inside or outside his head, somatic hallucinations, funny bodily experiences, these have now disappeared.

'He also has a long history of musical hallucinations, which is maybe a separate phenomenon, that got worse when he was in prison.

'The voices are things like, "you are dust, you are dead, we are coming to get you". They are derogatory and persecutory.'

He added: 'They seem to have diminished. Subsequently the musical hallucinations have also reduced, and the somatic hallucinations have disappeared.'

Professor Kopelman said: 'The risk of suicide arises out of clinical factors...but it is the imminence of extradition and or an actual extradition that would trigger the attempt, in my opinion.'

The professor said the combination of Assange's depression and ASD (autism spectrum disorder) has caused an 'almost obsessional rumination' on the topic.

He said: 'He's made various plans and undergone various preparations, such as confessed to the Catholic priest, who granted him absolution, began to draft farewell letters to family members and close friends, he's drawn up a will. Various preparations are in place.'

James Lewis QC, for the US government, suggested Professor Kopelman had relied upon Assange's claims that he was put in solitary confinement after prison guards found a razor blade in a pile of underpants in his cell, as well as another incident in which two cords were confiscated.

He asked the witness whether he thought it was 'bizarre' the razor incident did not appear on any of Assange's prison notes.

Professor Kopelman replied: 'When I went through them again it did strike me as odd.'

He told the court Assange has a genetic predisposition to depression and has suffered a number of episodes, including whilst in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he stayed for almost seven years.

Professor Kopelman said Assange had been depressed 'certainly throughout the time I've been seeing him'.

He added: 'It's fluctuated a bit, his appetite has fluctuated, he's had persistent problems with sleep and his mood state is worst in the early hours of the morning and that's stayed consistent.'

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Last Edited by STAX on 09/22/2020 09:14 PM

I believe this is the episode of Frontline that's being discussed.




Last Edited by BBQ BOY™ on 09/23/2020 08:31 AM