Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange battling lung condition

AYESHA SIDDIQUI

KARACHI: Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing site Wikileaks, has allegedly contracted a lung condition which could get worse according to certain media sources.

Ambassador Ana Alban told reporters, “He has a chronic lung condition that could worsen at any time” before the annual gathering of Ecuador’s diplomatic corps with President Rafael Correa in Quito. Alban also added that Ecuador was taking care of Assange’s medical expenses and assuring regular medical check-ups.

The foreign minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patino also discussed Assange’s ailing health with his British counterpart William Hague back in October. The South American country’s representative claimed Assange was losing weight and suffering from eye sight problems.

When Julian Assange was interviewed by an American News channel, he refused to discuss his health issues and cited the subject as “not important.” However, in another leading interview published in September, he accepted that his health was slowly deteriorating.

Assange came to surface when countless classified American documents were leaked to the public via his whistle-blowing website Wikileaks in 2010. He also faces charges of rape and sexual assault for which he does not want to be extradited to Sweden as he fears he will be moved to the U.S where he could face a long prison term or even a death sentence.

"Assange lives a difficult life in the Embassy,” claimed sources adding that he mostly orders his food uses a treadmill to burn off calories and uses a Vitamin D lamp to battle the lack of sunlight.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012