Roy Drew, Mullumbimby
Just to let Echo readers know that the agonizing, long drawn out and cruel persecution of Julian Assange continues.
The US Government has been given limited permission to appeal the ruling by the British court that prevented Julian from being extradited to the US.
It is now announced that there will be what is known as a pre-appeal hearing on Thursday 11 August, London time.
Following the refusal to allow him to be extradited to face a possible 175 years on espionage charges in the US maximum security prison system – much to the horror of his family, his legal team and supporters, the British court made the absurd decision to send him back into the UK maximum security prison, in which he had already been incarcerated for two years.
Six months later he remains in solitary confinement in HM High Security Prison Belmarsh (otherwise know as the UK Guantanamo).
The hearing on 11 August will be held to argue the scope of the US appeal and to add to the excruciating delay, the High Court will then schedule an appeal date.
Doctors For Assange warn that Julian may not survive the appeal process as he continues to languish with deteriorating health in prison.
We also applaud Scott Ludlum’s eloquent and up-to-date magazine article on Julian’s situation that is currently circulating.
We can only hope that, following the example of The Echo, other media outlets take a similar interest in their fellow journalist, publisher and Australian citizen, Julian Assange, as the need for resolution of his plight takes on added urgency.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
