The mother of Julian Assange has spoken of the 'unending, gut-wrenching pain' she is suffering over her son's possible extradition to the US.
Christine Assange also said the WikiLeaks founder is being 'cruelly psychologically tortured' by the authorities and set out her fears he will be jailed 'for the rest of his life'.
Mr Assange, 50, is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in 2010 and 2011.
His extradition moved a step closer when the US Government won a High Court bid to last week, overturning the decision of a judge who ruleD against his extradition on the basis of a real and 'oppressive' risk of suicide.
However, Mr Assange's lawyers intend to take his case to the Supreme Court - the UK's highest court.
In an open letter, his mother said: 'Fifty years ago in giving birth for the first time as a young mother, I thought there could be no greater pain. But it was soon forgotten when I held my beautiful baby boy in my arms. I named him Julian.
'I realise now that I was wrong. There is a greater pain. The unending, gut-wrenching pain of being the mother of a multi-award winning journalist who had the courage to publish the truth about high-level government crimes and corruption.
Christine Assange, mother of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, says he is being 'cruelly psychologically tortured' by the authorities
Julian Assange (pictured) is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information
'The pain of watching my son, who sought to publish important truths, being endlessly globally smeared.
'The pain of watching my son, who risked his life to expose injustice, being fitted up and denied a fair legal process, over and over again.'
Mr Assange is facing a renewed push for his extradition after the High Court overturned the previous ruling against such a move last week.
However, his mother fears he will be 'buried alive in extreme solitary confinement'.
She wrote: 'The constant nightmare of him being extradited to the US and being buried alive in extreme solitary confinement for the rest of his life. The constant fear the CIA will carry out its plans to assassinate him.
'The rush of sadness as I saw his frail, exhausted body slumping from a mini-stroke in the last hearing due to chronic stress.
'Many people are also traumatised by seeing a vengeful superpower using its unlimited resources to bully and destroy a single defenceless individual.
'I wish to thank all the caring, decent citizens globally protesting Julian’s brutal political persecution.
Wikileaks founder Mr Assange gestures as he speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London in May 2017
Supporters of Julian Assange gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the day of the ruling on Friday
'Please keep raising your voices to your politicians till it’s all they can hear. His life is in your hands.'
In January, district judge Vanessa Baraitser that Assange should not be sent to the US, in which she cited his risk of suicide.
However, the US government appealed the ruling, insisting it had given diplomatic assurances that Assange would not face those strictest measures either pre-trial or post-conviction. It also suggested that Assange's sentence will probably be between four and six years.
After a two-day hearing, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde, ruled in favour of the US on Friday.
They found the previous judge had based her decision on the risk of Assange being held in highly restrictive prison conditions if extradited.
However, the US authorities later gave assurances that Assange would not face those strictest measures either pre-trial or post-conviction unless he committed an act in the future that required them.
The case will now be sent to Priti Patel who will make the final decision on Assange's extradition, though he is expected to appeal today's ruling.
His father Richard has previously said that they would take the legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Mr Assange has spent the past two years at HMP Belmarsh in London after almost a decade hiding within the Ecuadorian embassy in the capital.
Australia's deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce supported Mrs Assange's letter, saying he should be kept in the UK to be tried or returned to his home nation.
Mr Assange’s fiancee has also previously accused UK authorities of playing the role of 'executioner' after he suffered a mini-stroke in prison.
Stella Moris, 38, said he was left with a drooping right eyelid, memory problems and signs of neurological damage after the stroke in October.
Campaigners believe the incident was triggered by the stress of the ongoing High Court battle over his extradition.
Ms Moris, the mother of his two children, has been warning that her partner's health has been getting worse.
She said: 'His incarceration is having a catastrophic effect on his health.
'The US government plotted to kill him and have found a way to do so - get the UK state to play the role of executioner.'
Referring to the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, she added: 'This is a slow-motion Khashoggi playing out in the heart of London.
'It is horrifying that Britain has let itself be instrumentalised by a foreign power to bring about travesty.'
South African-born lawyer Ms Morris fell in love with the controversial WikiLeaks founder five years ago while visiting him to work on a legal bid to halt the extraditions. The couple have been engaged since 2017.
Ms Morris and Julian had children Gabriel, three, and Max, one, while he was holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, keeping their relationship and family a secret from the outside world until last September.
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