As has been the follow-up on the arrest of Julian Assange here on the blog (you can check the articles in this link y this). This Wednesday, Julian Assange appeared before a London court for his expulsion from justice after obtaining asylum in 2012 at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Southwark court just sentenced him to 50 weeks in prison for breaking the terms of your bail.
11 months in prison is 1 month less than the maximum sentence that the WikiLeaks founder put at risk by the British justice against him. The detention period from April 11 will be taken into account and Assange can apply for his provisional release after half his sentence has passed.
With what to all the calculations made, it only needs to stay for just 22 weeks, or almost 6 months.
"The sentence of Julian Assange, for having requested and received asylum, is twice as heavy as that provided by the guidelines in the matter," says WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange, who is being held in Belmarsh Prison in London, argued that he should not be incarcerated for this crime because in reality "he was imprisoned in the embassy".
On Wednesday 1 May, at Southwark Crown Court in London, Judge Deborah Taylor rejected this argument.
“It is difficult to think of a more serious example of this crime. By hiding in the embassy, he deliberately stayed out of their reach while in the UK, 'the judge informs Julian Assange in the media.
Before his conviction, the court read a letter of apology from Julian Assange in which he stated that he was facing difficult circumstances.
“I did what I thought at the time to be the best or maybe the only thing I could have done. I regret the current turn of events, “report the English-language media citing Julian Assange in the audience.
This argument was reiterated by his lawyer during the exchanges in the British court. According to his advice, Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy because he knew that the US authorities were looking for him.
He needed a refuge where he could not be “kidnapped and returned to the United States. His lawyer also explained that Assange feared extradition to the United States, as relations between the country and Sweden could involve extradition processes.
In a document, Assange's team explains in detail the reasons why he decided to take refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the conditions of your stay.
“He spent almost seven years in isolation, without access to adequate medical care, space and natural light, in which his physical and psychological health deteriorated considerably. From the time this case was reported for inclusion, it has not been possible to provide up-to-date medical evidence. We are attaching information from the court's decision on prior medical evidence from Dr. Michael Korzinski describing the psychological consequences and Dr. Tim Ladbrooke describing the physical consequences. We hope the court will accept from your attorneys that, upon your admission to HMP Belmarsh.
“In June 2012, when the extradition order to Sweden became final, making it unavoidable was now unavoidable. At the material time, Sweden had a well-documented history of direct refoulement to states where they were at risk of ill-treatment, including torture and death. '
According to WikiLeaks, Assange's defense provided extensive evidence at the sentencing hearing on today's sentencing, but the judge did not consider it.
The hearing that began marks the beginning of a new chain of legal problems for Julian Assange.
As today (Thursday, May 2), he will face court again for exchanges in an extradition request to the United States.
WikiLeaks has stated what could be the outcome of the upcoming trial and expresses its fears that the mass appears to be said.
"We are very concerned whether he will benefit from a fair extradition trial in the UK"