Ron Paul discussed the news that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is “gravely ill” on Thursday’s episode of the Liberty Report, noting that if he dies in that prison the US and UK will not look very different from North Korea.

Paul is encouraging people to speak out for Julian Assange amid news that his health has deteriorated to the point where he is now in the hospital wing at Belmarsh Prison.

On Wednesday, WikiLeaks confirmed that Assange is so gravely ill that he could not even have a normal conversation with his lawyer.

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Speaking about his concerns over Assange’s treatment, Paul asked if the US and UK are trying to kill Assange. He brought up the case of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who was imprisoned by North Korea and not released until he was in a vegetative state — dying shortly after his release.

“The Korean government abused him and they killed him,” Paul said. “Then they brought him back here when he was terminal.”

Paul said that if Assange dies in that prison, we will not look much different than North Korea.



Assange is currently imprisoned at Belmarsh Prison in the United Kingdom and facing eighteen charges under the Espionage Act in the United States for his publication of the Iraq and Afghan War Logs. If extradited and convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.`

Prior to his arrest, Assange spent nearly seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, unable to receive proper medical treatment, despite the lack of sunshine and fresh air taking a toll on his system. Doctors who visited him there wrote an article for the Guardian pleading for him to be allowed to go to the hospital for treatment, headlining their account “We examined Julian Assange, and he badly needs care — but he can’t get it.”

The doctors wrote, “experience tells us that the prolonged uncertainty of indefinite detention inflicts profound psychological and physical trauma above and beyond the expected stressors of incarceration. These can include severe anxiety, pathological levels of stress, dissociation, depression, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain, among others.”