Subject: Julian Assange: No Australian will have to go through this alone

Attention: Australian High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency the Honourable George Brandis QC

Cc: Senator the Hon Marise Payne (Minister for Foreign Affairs) Mr George Christensen MP (Chair Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group) Mr Andrew Wilkie MP (Chair Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group)

Your Excellency,

I, …… am writing as a concerned citizen of ……

Julian Assange's application for bail on humanitarian grounds was rejected Wednesday 25th March.

This is a life or death decision for a non violent person on remand. It defies the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' call to preventing Covid-19 rampaging through places of detention (2) and Amnesty International's call out (11)

In the same week: * Covid-19 has infected the UK prison system (10) * the Prison Governors Association (UK) is calling out British prisoners 'will die' from coronavirus (4) * NHS which is responsible for medical welfare in UK prisons is projecting being overrun 'with hospitals facing tsunami of patients'(5). Resource exhaustion means medical capacity in prisons is becoming an after thought.

The bail rejection is chilling. It flies against world trends of releasing non violent, on remand and near term prisons(6) and exhibits less mercy than a repressive regimes like Iran(7)

There is some hope as Judge Baraitser's conclusion “Mr Assange is not the only prisoner in Belmarsh who is vulnerable” (3) concedes that Mr Assange is now considered vulnerable to Covid-19 by the court. This agrees with the assessment of Doctors For Assange (representing of 200 doctors)

There is now much more hope as you have extended Mr Morrison's offer to ensure 'No Australian will have to go through this alone'

Mr Assange's family are in London and anxious to care for him in these exceptional times. I am confident that the flight risk is but a minor detail and that Mr Assange's legal team have tabled workable proposals.

I urge you to immediately apply the necessary diplomatic leverage at your disposal and make good on your promise. This is a matter of life and death, please waste no time.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, ……..

References:

1.'No Australian will have to go through this alone' https://twitter.com/AusHCUK/status/1243448531932704772

2.UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet Urgent action needed to prevent COVID-19 'rampaging through places of detention' https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25745&LangID=E

3. Judge Baraitser: Mr Assange is not the only prisoner in Belmarsh who is vulnerable https://twitter.com/MartySilkHack/status/1242807979767971843

4. British prisoners 'will die' from coronavirus https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/coronavirus-outbreak-prisoners-will-die-andrea-albutt-a4386451.html

5. London hospitals facing 'tsunami' of patients (Chris Hopson) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/london-hospitals-facing-tsunami-of-coronavirus-patients-overwhelmed

6. Ohio Judges Are Releasing People From Jails https://www.motherjones.com/coronavirus-updates/2020/03/ohio-judges-are-releasing-people-from-jails-to-fight-coronavirus-its-a-good-idea/

7. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released from Iran prison https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51937629

8. Doctors For Assange https://doctorsassange.org

9. Doctors For Assange: Covid-19 warning in Reply to Australian Government https://doctorsassange.org/doctors-for-assange-reply-to-australian-government-march-20

10. 27 inmates test positive for Covid-19 in 14 different prisons https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/03/27/27-inmates-test-positive-for-covid-19-in-14-different-prisons/

11. Amnesty International - Assange bail application highlights COVID-19 risk https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/uk-assange-bail-application-highlights-covid19-risk-to-many-vulnerable-detainees-and-prisoners/