LONDON (AFP) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has tested positive for COVID, his wife said yesterday, as she battles his extradition to the United States (US).
“Julian was feeling unwell last week but started feeling sick on Friday,” Stella Assange was quoted as saying by the Press Association news agency.
“He started coughing and had a fever. He was given some paracetamol. He tested positive for Covid on Saturday.”
Thousands of people formed a human chain around the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament in London on Saturday to demand Assange’s release from London’s Belmarsh prison.
The Australian national, now 51, has been held at the high-security jail since 2019, after serving time for skipping bail in a previous case.
As the pandemic took hold in early 2020, he unsuccessfully applied to be released on bail because of the risk of contracting COVID in prison. His lawyers said at the time he had a history of illness, including respiratory infections.