US claims Julian Assange psychiatrist report was misleading
The US government believes the decision to not extradite Julian Assange should be overturned on the grounds that a psychiatrist report into his mental state was misleading.
The US’ attempts to extradite the activist and publisher were blocked by the British courts earlier this year on the grounds that he was a suicide risk.
Assange appeared in court via video link from HMP Belmarsh today as a part of the US government’s appeal against the ruling.
The US’ representative in court Clair Dobbin, QC, said there needed to be scrutiny of Assange’s mental illness claims due to the “extraordinary lengths” he has taken to avoid being extradited.
The US wants to put Assange on trial for publishing hundreds of thousands of leaked files in 2010 and 2011 about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as a large number of diplomatic cables.
He previously spent 7 years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which he entered just days after losing an appeal against his extradition to Sweden to face rape charges.
Sweden has since dropped the charges.
Dobbin said the psychiatric report into Assange, compiled by King’s College London’s Michael Kopelman, was not reliable.
She said Kopelman was “willing to mislead…rather than comply with his duties” and supply unbiased evidence to the court.
Kopelman said Assange was at a high risk of suicide if sent to America and that he was suffering from a mixture of “persecutory” hallucinations and suicidal thoughts.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser said at the time that Kopel’s testimony was “impartial and dispassionate”
However, Dobbin said the report into Assange’s mental state could not be trusted as it failed to mention that the Australian fathered two children while living in the Ecuadorian embassy.
“If there was ever a case that called for a dispassionate, reliable, but above all impartial expert opinion, it was this one,” she said.
The US has said Assange would not be held in “special administrative measures” or in a high-security prison if he were found guilty.
The government has also said he would serve any sentence in Australia.