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A30 WORLD NEWS
Diasabra 26 september 2020

Assange 'binge-watched' suicide of ex-Bosnian Croat general

(AP) — Julian Assange documents a decade ago. The able to manage that risk.”
relayed how he “binge- charges carry a maximum
watched” the suicide of sentence of 175 years in pris- Assange, he added, is a “very
the former Bosnian Croat on. Lawyers acting on behalf resilient and very resource-
general in a U.N. court- of the U.S. government have ful man,” who is at “the very
room three years ago, a sought to show that Assange's mildest end” of the autism
doctor who visited the mental state is not as bad as spectrum. Blackwood noted
WikiLeaks founder on claimed by witnesses acting that Assange has been “highly
several occasions while for the defense and that he functioning to a very high
he was in the Ecuadorian wouldn't be subjected to im- level in running a very suc-
Embassy in London told proper conditions if sent to cessful organization."
an extradition hearing the pre-trial facilities at Alex- He did say that Assange's
Thursday. andria Detention Center in mental health benefits from
Virginia. being able to have access to
Dr. Sondra Crosby, associate family and friends and re-
professor of medicine at the It was at that facility that cently to the Samaritans
Boston University School of Chelsea Manning, the for- helpline in the U.K. aimed
Medicine, said she noted a Seconds after an appeals very well try to kill himself if mer intelligence analyst who at providing support to any-
visible deterioration in both judge confirmed his 20-year he is sent to the United States leaking a trove of documents one in emotional distress or
his mental and physical state sentence for war crimes dur- to face espionage charges, and to WikiLeaks, tried to take thinking about suicide.
over her four visits from Oct. ing the 1992-95 Bosnian war, have pointed to his deterio- her own life earlier this year. “I think there is some risk of
2017 to the embassy where Praljak proclaimed his inno- rating mental state during his Though President Barack suicide attempt linked to ex-
Assange was living. He had cence and then drank from a seven-year stay at the Ecua- Obama commuted the re- tradition, but not substantial
been granted asylum by Ec- small bottle containing potas- dorian Embassy and since his mainder of her 35-year sen- risk,” he told the court. “His
uador five years earlier over sium cyanide. He collapsed ejection from there in April tence in 2017, Manning has suicide risk may increase in a
fears of extradition to the in court and died in a Dutch 2019 to a British prison. been in jail since May 2019 much more deleterious en-
U.S. related to his WikiLeaks hospital about two hours lat- for refusing to testify before vironment without access to
work. er. Crosby also said that in a a grand jury investigating things that he values.”
Crosby told London’s Old The dramatic scene of the visit to Belmarsh Prison in WikiLeaks.
Bailey criminal court that 72-year-old former com- London in October 2019, As- Psychologist Nigel Black- As well as arguing that ex-
on a visit in February 2018, mander of Bosnian Croat sange “appeared to be severe- wood, who assessed Assange tradition would pose a threat
Assange had first described military forces lifting his ly depressed” and that he had at Belmarsh, rebutted de- to Assange's life, his defense
thoughts of suicide and how trembling right hand to his talked about having thoughts fense experts on the extent of team say that he is a journalist
he was thinking about it mouth and drinking the liq- of suicide “hundreds of times Assange’s condition, saying and entitled to First Amend-
“very deliberately" and that uid was streamed live on a day.” “He seemed to be in his suicide risk was “manage- ment protections for the
he had “binge-watched” the the court’s website. She said very dire straits,” she said. able." publication of leaked docu-
suicide a few months earlier Assange described how he U.S. prosecutors have in- “I think there is some risk ments that exposed U.S. mil-
of Slobodan Praljak at the In- “freeze-framed" and “ana- dicted the 49-year-old on 17 of suicide but that risk has itary wrongdoing in Iraq and
ternational Criminal Tribu- lyzed” Praljak's face while he espionage charges and one to be carefully managed at Afghanistan.
nal for the Former Yugoslavia took his own life. Assange's charge of computer misuse Belmarsh," he said. "The risk The extradition hearing is
in The Hague. lawyers have argued this over WikiLeaks’ publication factors are modifiable and he due to last until early Octo-
week that their client could of secret American military engages with treatment avail- ber.

Virus surges in France, Marseille fights against closures

toughest virus measures in but the rate of infection per wide are now occupied by
the nation. 100,000 people is lower than COVID-19 patients. France
Marseille or Guadeloupe. has reported 31,511 virus-re-
On a visit to the southern lated deaths, among the high-
city, French Health Minister The Paris police chief is- est tolls in Europe.
Olivier Veran defended the sued on Friday a set of anti-
government's decisions. coronavirus marching orders Rallied by a union of hos-
for the French capital that pitality businesses, crowds
“I am fully aware that some will force bars and bistros to protested Friday in front
of the measures being de- shut down by 10 p.m. start- of a Marseille courthouse,
bated ... raise concerns, ques- ing Monday — excluding and some business owners
tions, even anger,” he ac- large restaurants — and start- threatened to defy the clo-
knowledged during a news ing this weekend will forbid sure order.
conference at the Timone gatherings of more than 10 The president of the
public hospital. “These mea- people in public spaces, from Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur
sures are necessary. They are streets to parks. Even street region that includes Mar-
(AP) — Angry restaurant day to challenge a French temporary, but they are not music or music that can be seille, Renaud Muselier, said
and bar owners demon- government order to close arbitrary.” heard on the streets is forbid- he would file an urgent legal
strated in Marseille on Fri- all public venues as of Sat- The government argues that den. Gyms also are to close complaint Friday protesting
urday to battle resurgent hospitals in this Mediter- except those used for school actions "restricting the ex-
virus infections. ranean city are under strain activities. ercise of the freedom to do
and the closures are the only business ... in a dispropor-
The protesters, and local offi- way to stem the spread while The orders signed by police tionate way,” according to lo-
cials in France’s second-big- avoiding new lockdowns. chief Didier Lallement are cal media reports.
gest city, are also threatening The French Caribbean is- for an initial 15-day period
legal action, to try to block land of Guadeloupe is under that can be renewed. Police The protest reflects a long-
the order via the courts. They similar orders. The central will start patrolling to ensure standing rivalry between
argue that Marseille’s virus government has ordered less the restrictions are observed. Marseille and Paris that most
case rise has been stabilizing, severe measures in a dozen On Thursday, France report- often manifests itself during
and that the central govern- other cities, including Paris, ed more than 16,000 new in- soccer matches, but also runs
ment in Paris is unfairly sin- where infections and hos- fections, and more than 10% under the surface on other is-
gling out Marseille for the pitalizations are growing, of intensive care beds nation- sues as well.