'Assange Spent Six Years Without Seeing His Children, Being Home' – Associate

Sputnik: When did you last speak with Julian Assange and how is he marking this date?

Randy Credico: Well the last time we spoke was basically not in person and not by phone but through communications by text message. That’s been like three and a half months, ever since the Ecuador President Lenin Moreno cut off all communications with the outside world. So I would say early March was the last time.

Prior to that, I saw him November 13, 2017 in the embassy, a few times that week, and he was pretty optimistic, he looked very well then and we talked about a range of subjects. We had some expensive food from Harrods that I had brought over, so I don’t know how he is celebrating.

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I mean look, he is in this compound now for six years and I was reading this book recently about some of those who were incarcerated under Alexander II: Peter Kropotkin, who was at the Peter and Paul Fortress. Assange is that character. He is resilient, he is brilliant and he is able to occupy himself the same way a lot of these dissidents did in the 19th century in Saint Petersburg in that Peter and Paul fortress.

But still, six years without sunlight is a long period of time. Six years without seeing his children, not being at home it is pretty onerous situation he is living under.

Sputnik: What does he do for exercise and now that he doesn’t even have internet access, how is he shopping just for food? What’s the arrangement?

Randy Credico: The arrangement is that people bring him; he has got an assistant that brings him, and works with him as a lawyer, who brings in the food. I just had a friend of mine who is a lawyer and he said that he actually looked better than he did the last time when this person saw him. But everybody brings food in.

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What he does for exercise is just a lot of sit ups, a lot of pushups. He probably does a lot of reading right now, but for someone that likes to be active, likes to be involved, and likes to publish. He is a journalist and to suppress his ability, to practice his vocation is what’s really psychologically, you may think, is undermining him psychologically, but like I said, he is a very resilient person.

It’s just that the waiting game, getting up and not knowing if the CIA is going to go in there and grab him or whatever. I mean there are a lot of people outside, there’s surveillance outside.

You have people in paramilitary garb that show up in the neighborhood. If it were me, I would have been insane by now, but like I said, he is one of those very special individuals.

The views and opinions expressed by Randy Credico are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.