Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is meditating about walking the Camino pilgrimage trail in Spain to take his mind away from the "vile" conditions he's been held in ahead of his upcoming extradition trial, his father says.
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The 48-year-old has been charged in the US with 17 counts of spying and one of conspiring to commit computer intrusion after Wikileaks published thousands of classified files, some revealing US war crimes committed in both countries, and diplomatic cables.
Assange's case is widely viewed as a litmus test for the protection of journalists' sources.
John Shipton described his son's treatment over the last nine months in HM Belmarsh prison, and before for that almost seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy, as "vile".
The Australian has been held in solitary confinement for at least eight months with little access to exercise, fresh air, a computer or even pens and paper.
Assange has reportedly been in poor mental health and is reportedly suffering an unnamed condition, which could be revealed in his extradition trial on Monday.
Mr Shipton said the Wikileaks founder is trying to clear his mind by thinking of a brighter future.
"A couple of years ago Julian and I worked out that when he would be released we would go and do the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James," he said.
He said that each day in his prison cell Assange has started visualising walking another stage of the famous pilgrimage trail across northern Spain.
"He meditates and he does the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James, so that's his daily routine: it's to walk one section of the Way of St James, the Camino, and meditate, and work on his case as best as he can," Mr Shipton added.
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer and a group of more than 100 prominent doctors claim the Australian has been subjected to "psychological torture".
Mr Shipton said the Swiss canton of Geneva has offered Assange a humanitarian visa to attend a centre that "specialises in treatment of people who have undergone years of psychological torture".
Mr Shipton also said his son has a "problem with his shoulder" and with his teeth, and has struggled putting on weight.
"Physically he's quite thin, he's lost about 15kg," he told reporters.
Australian Associated Press
