IBAHRI condemned the ‘reported mistreatment’ and urged the UK government to take action to protect him. According to his lawyers, Assange was handcuffed 11 times, stripped naked twice and searched. His case files were confiscated after the first day of the hearing, and his request to sit with his lawyers during the trial, rather than in a dock surrounded by bulletproof glass, was denied.
The hearing, which began on 24 February, will decide whether Assange is extradited to the US, where he is wanted on 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the 1917 Espionage Act. He faces allegations of collaborating with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak classified documents, including exposing alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The hearing was adjourned after four days, with proceedings set to resume on 18 May 2020.
IBAHRI co-chair Anne Ramberg said: ‘The IBAHRI concurs with the widespread concern over the ill-treatment of Mr Assange.
‘He must be afforded equality in access to effective legal representation. With this extradition trial we are witnessing the serious undermining of due process and the rule of law.
‘It is troubling that Mr Assange has complained that he is unable to hear properly what is being said at his trial, and that because he is locked in a glass cage is prevented from communicating freely with his lawyers during the proceedings commensurate with the prosecution.’
