London: Julian Assange has developed serious heart and lung conditions after two years’ confinement at the Ecuadorian embassy, it has been claimed.
Supporters want the fugitive WikiLeaks founder to leave the London building for hospital treatment, but complain he will be arrested if he tries to do so. And yesterday Assange said that he would soon leave the embassy.
His supporters say that, after being unable to go outside and living in an air-conditioned atmosphere, the Australian anti-secrecy campaigner is suffering from arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, a chronic cough and high blood pressure.
Lack of sunshine has left him with a Vitamin D deficiency that could lead to asthma, diabetes, weak bones and other conditions, WikiLeaks sources claim. The 43-year-old, has lived at the embassy in Knightsbridge since Ecuador gave him asylum in 2012.
The Ecuadorians have asked for permission to take Assange to hospital in a diplomatic car but have had no reply.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman refused to confirm if Assange would face arrest. “We wouldn’t discuss matters like this,” he said. But a WikiLeaks source told the Mail on Sunday. “He would come round handcuffed to his hospital bed.”
The ex-computer hacker claims the British authorities have confiscated his passport so he could not get far even if he did escape the embassy, adding: “It’s not like I can go into the Australian Consulate to get a replacement”.
“I would want an understanding — formal or informal — that I would be given time to leave the UK before the US puts in an extradition bid. And then I’d go to my children, like any father.”
