Assange locked down in his cell after Covid outbreak in prison

Julian Assange says he and other inmates at Belmarsh prison have been placed into lockdown in their cells after a Covid-19 outbreak in his block.

The WikiLeaks founder said a number of inmates at the London prison have received a letter from the governor notifying them there had been a number of positive Covid-19 cases.

He said all prisoners and staff will be tested for the virus over the next 48 hours but until then all exercise and showers have been stopped and prisoners have to eat in their cells.

Assange has been held at Belmarsh Prison in southeast London for the last year and a half and is awaiting the judgment from a US extradition hearing on January 4.

His partner Stella Moris, the mother of their two young children, said: "Keeping Julian in the UK's harshest prison, exposed to a deadly virus and away from his family is not only cruel, it offends British values and democracy itself.

"He is a political prisoner being held on behalf of a foreign nation, whose war crimes he exposed.

"I am extremely worried about Julian. Julian's doctors say that he is vulnerable to the effects of the virus."

A Prison Service spokesman said: "We've introduced further safety measures following a number of positive cases."

It is understood that one wing of the prison is affected.