(London, U.K.) Expert testimony has further shed light on the harsh and degrading treatment Julian Assange can expect if extradited to the United States.
Prosecutors on behalf of the U.S. government had criticised earlier witnesses for relying upon second-hand reports on the pre- and post-trial “regimes” Assange will be held under if sent to America — namely from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In response, Assange’s defence team produced four further witnesses at the fourth and final week of extradition hearings taking place at London’s Old Bailey — American attorneys Yancey Ellis and Lindsay Lewis, prison sentencing advocate Joel Sickler and former BOP prison warden Maureen Baird.
Ellis, a partner at the law firm Carmichael Ellis and Brock PLLC, was first to take the virtual stand via video-link on Monday (September 28).
Having represented a number of clients as both a lawyer and a public defender, he told the Old Bailey he was “very familiar” with the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia — also referred to as the Alexandria Detention Center (ADC) — where both prosecution and defence agree Assange will be held in the pre-trial detention period if extradited.
Given that Assange is wanted on 17 charges of the Espionage Act and in relation to matters of U.S. national security, Ellis said the WikiLeaks publisher will likely be held at the “X-Block” — a special wing of the jail dedicated to inmates who are held in what is known as “administrative segregation”.
The technique is used to isolate prisoners from the remainder of the rest of the prison population — alongside another measure referred to as SAMs, special administrative measures — so that America’s state secrets are not spread beyond the inmate in question.
Many authorities have labelled the measures as no different to prolonged solitary confinement — especially as they are more stringent than “restricted housing” — leading them to question its moral and legal basis.
If placed under such measures, Lewis said Assange would be confined to a 50-square-foot cell for 22 to 23 hours a day. He would have no access to natural air or sunlight for the duration of his incarceration, nor would he be able to communicate with anyone outside his legal representation or a monthly 30-minute visit from a pre-approved family member.
His testimony directly contradicts declarations provided to the court by U.S. Assistant Attorney Gordon Kromberg who claimed the ADC does not use solitary confinement and who asserted, contrary to all available evidence, that Assange would be able to communicate with prison-mates through the doors and windows of adjacent cells.
When asked at re-examination if this was truly the case, Ellis said: “The short answer is not really,” adding that the doors of the cell were made of thick steel and the windows of transparent and thick plexiglass, with no slots or holes.
He said: “I have tried to speak to my clients through these doors and it is very difficult, even when standing several inches away. I find it implausible that inmates could really communicate in this way, unless they constantly screamed at loud volumes.”
The statements were re-affirmed by Sickler, a litigator who has worked in prison advocacy for nearly 40 years, going on to be the head of Justice Advocacy Group LLC.
He said that SAMs would not only be imposed prior to any trial, but post-sentencing as well if Assange is convicted — the outcome would likely mean decades without any meaningful human interaction.
If this were to be to the case, prosecution and defence again agreed this would most likely be served at the “super-max” ADX Florence prison facility in a remote region of Colorado — given it was purpose-built to house high-profile SAMs inmates.
Its former prison warden Robert Booth previously described it as “a clean version of hell” and “a fate worse than death.”
Sickler said his clients frequently begged him not to be sent there, adding that severe mental health deterioration is frequently experienced due to the prolonged isolation.
Kromberg, in his declarations, further claimed that Assange would have access to a number of group activities and therapy — an assertion that was denied by all four defence witnesses, given the highly restrictive nature of SAMs restrictions.
Baird, who held a number of warden positions with the BOP, including at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center where she oversaw a number of SAMs prisoners, described Kromberg’s assertions as “baffling”.
“The main premise of assigning SAMs is to restrict a person’s communication and the only way to accomplish this is through isolation,” she wrote in her witness statement.
“For example Mr. Kromberg lists a variety of programs available to inmates assigned to the ADX. I don’t doubt all of these programs exist, but I believe they are available only to a select group of inmates housed at that facility.
“Even if the warden, unit team, lieutenant or captain wanted to allow SAMs inmates to participate in certain group programs, they do not have the legal authority to sanction such an action.”
Baird further rubbished the notion that Kromberg presented that suggested SAMs inmates had the ability to “step-down” their restrictions, stating that in all her experience of reviewing such applications they would always be rejected.
The same was said by Lindsay, a New York-based attorney who represents the notorious cleric Mostafa Kamel Mostafa — also known as Abu Hamza — and she even went further to state that Kromberg had misled the court, as was the case when the U.K. extradited her client in 2012 after an eight-year legal battle.
The U.S. government had made representations to British courts and the European Court of Human Rights that Abu Hamza — a double arm amputee who is blind in one eye and suffers from diabetes and a skin condition — would not be sent to the ADX Florence if extradited and that he would undergo a full medical examination on arrival. Both promises were promptly not lived up to following deportation.
Lindsay told the court he has been held under SAMs since his arrival in 2012 and has been held at the ADX Florence since 2015 where he remains.
The European Court of Human Rights had mulled the decision to bar his extradition on the grounds that signatories to the convention such as the U.K. were forbidden under article 3 that prohibits torture and “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” but the courts proceeded once assurances from the U.S. government had been received.
In Assange’s case, no assurances have even been made and in fact it is admitted that he will “likely” be sent to the ADX in Colorado — a further flouting of international law if permitted.
The case continues.