Montreal Gazette

ASSANGE IS VICTIM OF ‘PSYCHOLOGI­CAL TORTURE,’ SAYS UN OFFICIAL.

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LONDON After seven years holed up in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, pictured, is showing symptoms of “psychologi­cal torture” as he serves a British prison sentence and battles extraditio­n to the United States, according to a United Nations official.

Extraditin­g Assange to the U.S., following the announceme­nt last week of 17 new charges under the Espionage Act, would represent a grave threat to his human rights, said Nils Melzer the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecutio­n, I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberate­ly isolate, demonize and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law,” read a statement released Friday by Melzer.

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