Baywatch star vows to fight for justice for Assange after prison visit
Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson spoke of her shock after visiting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a high security prison and declared: “I love him, I can’t imagine what he has been going through.”
The actress met Assange on several occasions when he was at the Ecuadorian embassy in London before he was dragged out last month and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for a bail violation.
He is fighting extradition to the United States where he is wanted for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.
On Tuesday, Ms Anderson was accompanied on the visit to Belmarsh prison in south east London by WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson.
Admitting it was “very difficult” to see Assange in jail, Ms Anderson said: “He does not deserve to be in a supermax prison.
“He has never committed a violent act. He is an innocent person.”
She said he has no access to information, is “really cut off from everybody” and has not been able to speak to his children.
“He is a good man, he is an incredible person. I love him, I can’t imagine what he has been going through.
“It was great to see him, but this is just misrule of law in operation.
“It is an absolute shock that he has not been able to get out of his cell,” the actress added.
Revealing she felt sick and nauseous, Ms Anderson, who was draped in a shawl with writing scrawled across it, appeared to wipe away tears at one point.
“It is going to be a long fight and he deserves our support. He needs our support, so whatever anyone can do – maybe write to him, encourage him.
“We just have to keep fighting, because it is unfair.
“He has sacrificed so much to bring the truth out and we deserve the truth.”
Asked about the lengthy prison sentence Assange could face if he is extradited to the US, Ms Anderson said: “We need to save his life. That’s how serious it is.”
After what he called their “first social visit”, Mr Hrafnsson said they were “both quite emotional”, adding that it was shocking to see his friend, a journalist and an intellectual, “sitting in a high-security prison”.
He said: “This is not justice. This is an abomination.
“Someone said that you could judge the civilisation of a society by visiting its prisons.
“Frankly, I have to say from my heart that this visit did not reflect well on the society here.
“This must end, this will be a fight.”
United Nations human rights experts have voiced concern about the “disproportionate” sentence given to the WikiLeaks founder as well as his detention in a high-security prison.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a statement on Friday it was “deeply concerned” about the “disproportionate” sentence imposed on Assange, who spent nearly seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy after seeking refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning over sex assault allegations.
