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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 1:20-cr-003 /20 Page 2 of 2
The Honorable Alison J. Nathan
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New York, NY 10007
4th November 2020
Your Honor,
lam
| have no idea what value, if
any, you will place on my words -- but I write anyway in the hope that she can be granted bail.
We are all living through extraordinary times - across the world people have had their liberties curtailed due
to the spread of Covid-19. Here (I we are about to enter into another month long lockdown and must
stay at home.
This loss of all our liberties, | think, has had the impact of making us all reflect on what liberties it is we most
value - the ability to see our families and friends; the ability to hug them; the ability to feed ourselves and do
exercise.
| appreciate that Ghislaine is one of many in the MDC right now - however it does strike me as deeply
troubling that a person - though innocent until proven guilty - can be treated in a way that on any measure is
inhumane and degrading. | can think of no justification whatever for her not having been fed properly, or not
having access to glasses so she can read, or indeed the majority of the letters | have written to her being
sent back. For any trial to be fair, she must have the opportunity to defend herself and to do that she needs
a functioning mind - solitary confinement since July and potentially until next July surely puts that at risk.
| understand you are balancing any perceived risk against the odds of her fleeing - she is of no danger to the
public.
It cannot be beyond the realms of possibility and practicality to define terms that guarantee her presence -
not least because | firmly believe she intends to defend herself. She should be allowed to sleep. She should
be allowed to eat. She should be allowed to have the support of friends and family as she prepares her
defence.
Her treatment to date feels punitive and unjust. She had ample opportunity to leave the US legally prior to
her arrest and did not do so. It is less likely not more likely that she would do so now.
Since she is no danger and the only fear is flight, | urge you to look at her history of not fleeing and use the
practical and technological tools at your disposal to assuage any fears of flight.
Yours sincerely
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