Britain may refuse to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, as U.S. intelligence allegedly spied on him while he was at the Ecuadorian embassy. This was reported by the lawyer of the Australian journalist Aitor Martinez, reports RIA Novosti.

The lawyer notes that, according to the materials of a criminal case opened in Spain, the Spanish security company, who worked in the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2012 to 2018, collected information about Assange and passed it on to US intelligence. The company’s employees allegedly installed microphones in the fire extinguishers at the embassy, ​​copied the visitor’s identity cards, and cracked their electronic devices.

“The criminal investigation launched in Spain is very relevant because it shows that Mr. Assange and his lawyers at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London were regularly monitored by the US authorities,” Martinez confirmed.

He added that London may refuse to issue Assange to a country in which the minimum legal guarantees are not respected.

Assange himself on December 20 in a video conference will give a Spanish court testimony in the espionage case.

“December 20 of this year is an important date ... Within the framework of international cooperation, a Spanish judge of the National Chamber of Spain will go to the Westminster court to obtain testimonies from Mr. Assange in video conferencing status as a victim and victim of an alleged espionage plot,” the lawyer said .

He also said that a final decision on extradition should be made at a hearing scheduled for February 25, 2020.

Recall that in August 2010, the Swedish authorities charged Assange with crimes of a sexual nature. The journalist himself denied all the allegations. He claimed that the investigation was a planned campaign to discredit him because of WikiLeaks's publication of US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange moved to London, where he was arrested, and then released on bail. In 2011, a British court decided to extradite the journalist to Sweden, and after an unsuccessful attempt to appeal the verdict in 2012, Assange, who was under recognizance not to leave, took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London and asked the country's leadership for political asylum. On May 19, 2017, the Swedish prosecutor's office closed the investigation of the rape case.

The founder of WikiLeaks spent about seven years at the embassy, ​​living in a room with a home-made shower, a treadmill and a daylight lamp. However, in March 2018, the embassy turned off his Internet access and forbade him to receive visitors, citing the fact that he violated previous agreements.

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In April 2019, Ecuador deprived the journalist of asylum at his embassy, ​​after which he was detained by police. In May, a British court found him guilty of violating bail conditions and sentenced him to 11 months in prison.

At the same time, Sweden resumed the investigation of the Assange case, but already in November closed it allegedly because of a “weak evidence base”.

Meanwhile, in June the United States demanded the extradition of Assange, saying that he was charged with conspiracy to illegally access computer information, publish secret government data and espionage. If the American side achieves the extradition of a journalist, he faces up to 175 years in prison.

Assange is currently in the British prison of Belmarsh. Close attention was drawn to media reports of cases of ill-treatment of the founder of WikiLeaks during his time in prison. In particular, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Niels Meltzer, demanded that London investigate the evidence, but Britain rejected all the allegations.

“For four months I have not received any response at all. The UK later sent a very short letter, literally two paragraphs, in which it rejected all allegations of involvement in the ill-treatment of Julian Assange, ”Meltzer said.

The deteriorating health of the journalist also raises serious concerns for his father, 80-year-old John Shipton. He has repeatedly stated that he fears the possible extradition of his son to the United States, as he is convinced that he will not withstand the conditions of imprisonment and will die in prison. Shipton added that Assange, while serving his term, regularly experiences physical and psychological suffering, has lost a lot of weight.

“We have to admit the bitter truth: he can die in prison ... This is not a fatherly concern, but just a fact,” Shipton emphasized.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly paid attention to Assange’s condition. On December 12, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called what was happening with the journalist “real political reprisal.”

“The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is reporting serious deterioration. Currently, he is in a pre-trial detention center in a British prison ... The treatment of him qualifies as cruel, ”Zakharova emphasized.

She also noted that the journalist is deprived of medical care despite the fact that he is ill, does not receive adequate nutrition and is subjected to psychological torture.