Australian politician George Christensen commented on the prison conditions of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, who is currently awaiting an extradition hearing on behalf of the US in in London’s Belmarsh prison, speaking in an interview to RT on Tuesday.
“He is exhibiting signs of disorientation. He did tell us about being kept in severe isolation and ongoing isolation,” said the MP for Australia’s ruling party.
Commenting on Assange’s upcoming extradition hearing, Christensen said “it’s not a crime to undertake journalism and report the news.”
“I don’t think it’s fair at all to extradite an Australian citizen out of one foreign country into another foreign country, to face charges for what? For reporting on the facts.”
The Australian lawmaker also blamed the Western media of “professional snobbery” on reporting of Assange’s case.
“I don’t know why The Guardian has chosen to leave the biggest case probably in the history of an attack on press freedom out of an article that they’re doing on press freedom,” he stated.
“But I think it’s got something to do with professional snobbery. Also I think it’s got something to do with the fact that Julian Assange is being demonised by both the right-wing and the left-wing in the West,” concluded Christensen.
The WikiLeaks co-founder has remained behind bars in Belmarsh prison since May 2019, after he was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions to avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations.
Despite this sentence coming to an end on September 22, a British judge ordered Assange remain in prison while facing extradition to the US, due to his previous history of absconding.
His extradition hearing is due to begin on February 24 at London’s Woolwich Crown Court.
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