LONDON: The fiancee of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Monday he was looking thin and unwell as the US appeals against a UK ruling blocking his extradition.
Stella Moris, who has two children with Assange, told a news conference that she last saw Assange on Saturday in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison.
She said Assange was wearing a T-shirt exposing his arms for the first time in a long while and “I was quite taken aback how thin he was.”
“He was looking very unwell.”
The 50-year-old Australian was arrested in Britain in 2019 for jumping bail, after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to evade extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault, which were later dropped.
The US government is seeking his extradition to face trial for publishing military secrets.
A UK judge in January blocked the US extradition request on the grounds that Assange was a suicide risk.
The US is seeking to overturn the British judge’s ruling, arguing that other expert evidence indicated that Assange was not at risk of taking his own life.
Instead, it claimed the judge was “misled” by relying on evidence presented by Assange’s psychiatric expert Michael Kopelman.
“We hope that this will be the end of it,” Moris said of the two-day hearing starting Wednesday.
“The point was that Julian would not survive extradition, that was the conclusion of the judge.”
Moris said that being in prison was “an ongoing struggle” for Assange and “a person can only take so much.”
Rebecca Vincent, director of international programs at Reporters Without Borders, said that US President Joe Biden had missed an opportunity “to distance himself from his predecessors” on the case, urging the US to drop it.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said “it is unthinkable that the High Court will come to any conclusion other than to uphold” the original UK ruling.
Assange is wanted in Washington to face 18 charges relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If convicted in the United States, he faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in jail.
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Assange looks ‘very unwell’ ahead of US appeal hearings: Fiancee
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Assange looks ‘very unwell’ ahead of US appeal hearings: Fiancee
- Stella Moris said, Assange was wearing a T-shirt exposing his arms for the first time in a long while and ‘I was quite taken aback how thin he was’
- Assange is wanted in Washington to face 18 charges relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns
Modi ally proposes social media ban for India’s teens as global debate grows
- India is the world’s second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion Internet users
- South Asian nation is a key growth market for social media apps and does not set a minimum age for access
NEW DELHI: An ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a bill to ban social media for children, as the world’s biggest market for Meta and YouTube joins a global debate on the impact of social media on young people’s health and safety.
“Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the world’s largest producers of data for foreign platforms,” lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu said on Friday.
“Based on this data, these companies are creating advanced AI systems, effectively turning Indian users into unpaid data providers, while the strategic and economic benefits are reaped elsewhere,” he said.
Australia last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticized by major technology companies and free-speech advocates. France’s National Assembly this week backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media, while Britain, Denmark and Greece are studying the issue.
Facebook operator Meta, YouTube-parent Alphabet and X did not respond on Saturday to emails seeking comment on the Indian legislation. Meta has said it backs laws for parental oversight but that “governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites.”
India’s IT ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion Internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps and does not set a minimum age for access.
Devarayalu’s 15-page Social Media (Age Restrictions and Online Safety) Bill, which is not public but was seen by Reuters, says no one under 16 “shall be permitted to create, maintain, or hold” a social media account and those found to have one should have them disabled.
“We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users’ age be placed on the social media platforms,” Devarayalu said.
The government’s chief economic adviser attracted attention on Thursday by saying India should draft policies on age-based access limits to tackle “digital addiction.”
Devarayalu’s legislation is a private member’s bill — not proposed to parliament by a federal minister — but such bills often trigger debates in parliament and influence lawmaking.
He is from the Telugu Desam Party, which governs the southern state Andhra Pradesh and is vital to Modi’s coalition government.
“Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the world’s largest producers of data for foreign platforms,” lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu said on Friday.
“Based on this data, these companies are creating advanced AI systems, effectively turning Indian users into unpaid data providers, while the strategic and economic benefits are reaped elsewhere,” he said.
Australia last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticized by major technology companies and free-speech advocates. France’s National Assembly this week backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media, while Britain, Denmark and Greece are studying the issue.
Facebook operator Meta, YouTube-parent Alphabet and X did not respond on Saturday to emails seeking comment on the Indian legislation. Meta has said it backs laws for parental oversight but that “governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites.”
India’s IT ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion Internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps and does not set a minimum age for access.
Devarayalu’s 15-page Social Media (Age Restrictions and Online Safety) Bill, which is not public but was seen by Reuters, says no one under 16 “shall be permitted to create, maintain, or hold” a social media account and those found to have one should have them disabled.
“We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users’ age be placed on the social media platforms,” Devarayalu said.
The government’s chief economic adviser attracted attention on Thursday by saying India should draft policies on age-based access limits to tackle “digital addiction.”
Devarayalu’s legislation is a private member’s bill — not proposed to parliament by a federal minister — but such bills often trigger debates in parliament and influence lawmaking.
He is from the Telugu Desam Party, which governs the southern state Andhra Pradesh and is vital to Modi’s coalition government.
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