I love him ... Pamela Anderson the caped crusader visits Assange in jail
PAMELA Anderson visited Julian Assange in prison yesterday, declaring: ‘I love him.’
The former Baywatch star wrapped herself in a bizarre ‘free speech’ cape for her trip to high- security Belmarsh prison in south London.
The home-made robe was covered in defiant slogans, written in marker pen. It had ‘rule of law’ in large capital letters along with ‘ solitary confinement’ and ‘ shackled and gagged’, as well as ‘Cromwell’, presumably a reference to the English Civil War leader.
Miss Anderson, 51, said it had been ‘shocking and difficult’ to visit the WikiLeaks founder in jail, and the experience left her feeling nauseous.
The model and actress struck up a relationship with Assange, 47, while he hid at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years.
Last month he was dragged out after Ecuador revoked his asylum status. He was later sentenced to 50 weeks behind bars for breaching his bail conditions.
He is fighting extradition to America, which wants him to face allegations of hacking a government computer.
Sweden is also considering re-opening an investigation into claims that he raped a woman. Speaking outside the prison yesterday, Miss Anderson said she was fighting for Assange’s freedom, adding: ‘We need to save his life.
‘It has been very difficult to see Julian here, and to make our way through the prison to get to him was quite shocking and difficult. He does not deserve to be in a supermax prison. He has never committed a violent act. He is an innocent person.
‘He is a good man, he is an incredible person. I love him. I can’t imagine what he has been going through.
‘It was great to see him, but this is just misrule of law in operation.’
Miss Anderson said it was an ‘absolute shock’ to hear claims that Assange had been confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, had no access to a library or computer and had not been able to call his children.
‘I’m sorry that’s all that I can say. I feel sick, I feel nauseous,’ she added.
It is understood that Assange has not applied for permission to make phone calls to family members.
Although Assange has been visited by his lawyers, Miss Anderson’s trip to the prison with WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson was the first social visit he has received behind bars.
Mr Hrafnsson said Assange was ‘bent but not broken’ and his ‘spirit is strong’. He claimed that the conditions Assange faced in jail were an ‘abomination’.
Miss Anderson, who is dating French footballer Adil Rami, 33, has previously told how she found Assange ‘sexy’ and liked to visit him at the embassy in London to give him ‘vegan treats’.
She has been coy about the nature of their relationship, but has said that although they shared a deep connection, it was not physical.