Swedish authorities 'manipulated evidence'
'While still in the police station, (SW) wrote a text message to a friend saying that she didn’t want to incriminate Assange. . . but the police were apparently interested in "getting their hands on him". '
'(A) statement was edited without the involvement of the woman in question and it wasn’t signed by her. It is a manipulated piece of evidence out of which the Swedish authorities then constructed a story of rape. ' - Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Arrest from Ecuadorian embassy was illegal and tied to a $4.2 billion dollar loan
‘It was the first time in history a government had allowed a foreign law enforcement agency to enter its sovereign territory to arrest one of its citizens.’ - The Gray Zone
In March 2019 Ecuador's new president Lenin Moreno secured a $4.2 billion loan from IMF which required US approval. 'The arrest of Assange is part of Lenin Moreno’s agreement with the IMF. ' - Former Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ricardo Patiño
Show trial and mistreatment
Julian was 'woken up, every day, at 5 am and, naked and handcuffed, subjected to humiliating inspections and x-rays . . . before being put in a glass cage for the rest of the day. To communicate with his lawyers, Julian had to get on his knees to talk to them through a slit in the cage. ’ - Fidel Narváez, Ecuadorian diplomat
'I have sat in many courts and seldom known such a corruption of due process — this is due revenge. ' - John, Pilger, award-winning Journalist
'If the outside was a carnival, the inside of the court soon became a circus. ' - Stefan Simanowitz, Amnesty International
'Everything about these proceedings . . . seems to confirm . . . this is trial by intimidation. ' Elizabeth Farrelly, Sydney Morning Herald
Monitoring of trial by NGOs denied
'About 40 people, including representatives of non-governmental organisation (NGOs) and international political observers, were told they had been denied remote access to the court on the first day of the hearing. ' - Computer Weekly
'Amnesty International have monitored trials from Guantanamo Bay to Bahrain, Ecuador to Turkey. For our observer to be denied access profoundly undermines open justice' - Stefan Simanowitz, Amnesty International
Denied access to his lawyers and the ability to prepare his defense
'To have three hours with your lawyers when you're facing 175 years in prison (in the US) is not acceptable. ' Canberra Times
'After the court deadline, the prosecution filed over 100,000 pages of dense legal documents, yet he’s not allowed to access them all. . . When in court, he’s not allowed to sit next to his lawyer or privately communicate with them. . . Even war criminals accused of genocide on trial at the International Criminal Court can sit down and communicate privately with their lawyers. ' Julian Hill, Australian Minister
'He has not been granted a single meeting (with his lawyers) since the lockdown in March . . . He only received a computer after a year in prison . . . (and) they have glued down the keys of the keyboard so he can’t write. ' Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture