UN rights experts expressed concern on Friday over the detention terms of the famous whistleblower. According to the experts, Assange is being kept in Belmarsh Prison "as if he were convicted for a serious criminal offence".
"The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is deeply concerned about this course of action including the disproportionate sentence imposed on Mr. Assange. The Working Group is of the view that violating bail is a minor violation that, in the United Kingdom, carries a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison, even though the bond related to the bail has been lost in favour of the British Government, and that Mr. Assange was still detained after violating the bail which, in any case should not stand after the Opinion was issued," the group's statement said.
On 2 May, a London court sentenced Assange to 50 weeks in prison for breaching the conditions of his bail by going into hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012. Assange appeared in court for a second time later that day for a hearing on Washington's request to send him to the US.
However, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent, Washington failed to provide complete information regarding the publisher's extradition, therefore, the UK court ordered it to present documents by 12 June.
READ MORE: Ecuador's Court Remands Swedish National Linked to Assange in Custody
Assange was arrested by UK authorities on 11 April at the request of the US government, with the latter demanding his extradition. The whistleblower now faces extradition to the United States on charges of conspiring to break into a government computer to leak classified information. According to media reports, he is likely to face additional charges if extradited to the United States.
