Julian Assange has developed a potentially life-threatening heart defect and a chronic lung condition during his long confinement at the Ecuadorian embassy, it was claimed.
The WikiLeaks founder is unable to seek hospital treatment for his deteriorating health problems for fear of being arrested if he steps outside the embassy, his supporters have complained.
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After two years unable to go outside living within the air-conditioned interior of the embassy, Assange is suffering from arrhythmia, which is a form of irregular heartbeat, a chronic cough and high blood pressure, WikiLeaks sources revealed.
They also said the lack of Vitamin D, which is produced by exposure to sunshine, is damaging his health and could lead to a host of conditions including asthma, diabetes, weak bones and even heightened risk of dementia.
The Ecuadorian have asked the Foreign Office for permission to transport Assange to hospital in a diplomatic car but have received no response.
“He would come round handcuffed to his hospital bed,” a source told the Mail on Sunday.
The Metropolitan Police refused to be drawn on whether Assange would face immediate arrest if he went to hospital.
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The former computer hacker complained about the waste of money spent in policing him, which has now surpassed £7 million.
He said: “The broader geopolitics is that the world is going crazy. Maybe it’s time to think that WikiLeaks is not the main problem here for the West, maybe me and my publishing house are a lesser threat than say the Islamic State in Iraq or, closer to home, paedophiles in Westminster.
“Why are they burning £240,000 a month on me which could be better spent on hospital beds, meals for the needy or teachers’ salaries?”
“The Metropolitan Police Service has now spent in excess of £7 million on guarding the embassy, which is a ridiculous waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Assange claims the British authorities have confiscated his passport so he could not get far even if he did escape the embassy.
“It’s not like I can go into the Australian Consulate to get a replacement,” he said.
“I would want an understanding – formal or informal – that I would be given time to leave the UK before the US puts in an extradition bid. And then I’d go to my children, like any father.”
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He complained about the strain his incarceration has put upon his family.
“One of my children is trapped in a war zone.
“They live in a country in which the elected government has collapsed and violence has broken out. I cannot go there. As with any parent, my instinct is to protect but I can do nothing.
“One of the best things about human beings is that they are adaptable and show strength and configure themselves to cope with bad situations. I can do that, not least because I understand the politics of it all.
“What I don’t accept is the interference with my family. That is not forgivable. I have managed to protect some of my children, but unfortunately not all of them, from being used, swept up into this situation.
“I have not seen my mother for two years, nor my grandmother, who is 87. In the time I have been in the embassy, both my stepfather and my grandfather have died.
“I am a man in my early 40s and most people will understand that means playing a supportive role in an extended family, being the person others rely on instead of worrying about.
“I am being denied that, and by extension so are they.
“We miss each other but it’s incredibly difficult to have any kind of relationship with those you love because it puts them in danger of surveillance, of attack. I am extremely protective of them and have done everything possible to avoid their exposure because I cannot have them being used as leverage against me.”
