An investigation has been launched after a Brazilian man, who was reportedly a friend of Julian Assange and was being held on the same wing as the WikiLeaks founder in Belmarsh prison in south-east London, died on Monday.
The prisons and probation ombudsman confirmed that an investigation was under way into the death of a man named as Manoel Santos. Stella Moris, Assange’s partner, spoke out about Santos’s death on Twitter.
She said the two men at the high-security jail in Woolwich were friends. In a social media post, Moris said Santos had lived in the UK for 20 years and had been served with a deportation notice by the Home Office.
She added: “Julian wants to express his condolences to Manoel’s friends and family. He tells me Manoel was an excellent tenor. He helped Julian read letters in Portuguese. He was a friend.”
Santos was understood to be working on a bail application at the time of his death and was hoping that he would be released from Belmarsh. He was facing deportation to Brazil after serving a sentence for a crime understood to be linked to an attempt to take his own life.
A spokesperson for the immigration detention organisation Bail for Immigration Detainees, who was working with Santos before his death, said: “We were heartbroken to hear that our client Mr Santos died on Monday. We are told that he may have taken his own life, although this has not been confirmed. We had recently received his written instructions that we should apply for bail for him and his application was due to be prepared. Like many of our clients, Mr Santos was detained under immigration powers in prison, a cruel and unnecessary practice that we have long opposed.
“Many of our clients held in prisons have pre-existing mental health conditions which make such treatment particularly problematic. We will continue to oppose in every possible way the UK’s automatic deportation regime and the use of prisons for immigration detention.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Santos’ friends and family at this difficult time. It would be inappropriate to comment further whilst investigations are ongoing.”
The PPO said its investigation into the death would be published after the conclusion of an inquest into the case.
• In the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
