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Julian Assange is likely the focus of unwanted attention from both prison officers and his fellow cellmates at HMP Belmarsh, according to a former inmate of the infamous prison.Such conditions will make it almost impossible for Assange's lawyers to mount any kind of defense against the bogus charges being laid against him. Couple that with The US stealing (there is no other word for it) his personal records and effects, and he has almost no hope.
The WikiLeaks founder was sentenced to 50 weeks incarceration at the high-security London facility following his dramatic arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy last month.
Former prisoner Pepsi Watson says that Assange's profile will mean he will be the source of immense curiosity amongst the prison's inmates.
"Julian Assange in HMP Belmarsh is extremely high profile, he will have a massive aura about him within HMP Belmarsh, people will just want to get a look at him through the gate or you know he'll be spoken about, news about him will spread like wildfire around the prison," he told RT.
Watson believes the whistleblower is likely being extremely closely monitored by prison officers, with his phone calls listened to and restricted and potentially even his cell fitted with listening devices.
"Due to his high profile nature, it's highly probable in my opinion that he will be monitored closer than normal, all his phone calls will be listened to, he will only get 10 minute phone calls, he will be lucky to get one phone call a day, that will be monitored everyday," he said."He'll have the privacy in his own cell, in his prison cell but in these Category A high-security prisons like Belmarsh, the prison officers here and the security departments have got the resources to bug Assange's cell if they feel that they need to do that," he added.Every single one of his incoming and outgoing letters will be very closely monitored and read by the security department here, he will be observed on visits, his visit lists and visitors who come to apply to visit him will be thoroughly checked out.
Assange awaits extradition to the US where he faces 17 charges, including violation of the Espionage Act, for his role in publishing US war logs, government cables and other documents.
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