MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2019) The father of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Sunday that his son was subjected to every kind of torment while awaiting extradition to the United States in London's Belmarsh prison.

WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said earlier in September that the conditions in which Assange is kept were worse than for accused terrorists.

"I last visited Julian in August - he was a bit shaky, and is suffering from anxiety. He has lost a lot of weight. It is very distressing, and the intensity of his treatment has increased over the past year. He is being subjected to every sort of torment," Shipton was said as quoted by The Independent newspaper.

Assange was arrested in London in April and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jumping his bail back in 2012 when he took refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK capital to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault charges, and possible subsequent extradition to the United States.

After Assange's arrest, Washington filed a request asking London to extradite him. Hearings on Assange's extradition case are now scheduled for February 25, 2020.

Washington initially charged Assange with conspiring to carry out a computer offense. However, the US Justice Department subsequently extended the charges so the whistleblower may now face up to 175 years in prison.