GENEVA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A UN expert who visited WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange in a London prison recently said Friday he fears his human rights could be seriously violated if he is extradited to the United States.
Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, in a statement here "condemned the deliberate and concerted abuse inflicted for years" on Assange.
"My most urgent concern is that, in the United States, Mr. Assange would be exposed to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," said Melzer.
He was "particularly alarmed" at a recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice of 17 new charges against Assange under the Espionage Act, which currently carry up to 175 years in prison.
"This may well result in a life sentence without parole, or possibly even the death penalty if further charges were to be added in the future," said Melzer, who was also following up on earlier concerns for Assange's health.
Although Assange is not in solitary confinement, the Special Rapporteur said he is "gravely concerned" about the limited frequency and duration of lawyers' visits and his lack of access to case files.
Melzer said this makes it impossible for Assange to adequately prepare his defense in the complex legal proceedings against him.
"Since 2010, when Wikileaks started publishing evidence of war crimes and torture committed by US forces, we have seen a sustained and concerted effort by several States towards getting Mr. Assange extradited to the United States for prosecution," said the UN Special Rapporteur.
This effort has raised "serious concern over the criminalization of investigative journalism in violation of both the US Constitution and international human rights law".
Melzer said that for his May 9 prison visit, two medical experts specialized in examining potential victims of torture and other ill-treatment accompanied him.
Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail on May 1 for breaching his bail by entering the Ecuadorian embassy in London seven years ago.
He has denied sexual assault allegations against him and does not consent to extradition to the United States over charges related to leaking government secrets.
