Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm has been imprisoned in Denmark for over five months, and his living conditions have included solitary confinement, limited access to books and magazines, and other hardships. Though it’s unclear whether he has any friends behind bars, there apparently are plenty of people out there that are concerned for Svartholm’s wellbeing.
A petition containing 106,000 signatures was delivered to the Danish government, and asks that Svartholm’s living conditions be improved, TorrentFreak reports. The petition has been handed to Karen Hækkerup, who is Denmark’s Minister of Justice.
Svartholm ended up in a Danish prison last year after he was extradited to the country from Sweden, where he faces allegations of hacking into computers owned by CSC, an IT firm. However, a lot of attention has been drawn to the case due to the living conditions that Svartholm has had to endure while in prison.
The petition was created by the “Free Anakata Campaign,” and Kristina, Gottfrid’s mother, said that it has forced the Danish government to relax their policies with respect to his treatment, when speaking with TorrentFreak. Gottfrid has since been permitted access to books, as well as contact with fellow inmates, though it’s unclear what specific restrictions surrounding those privileges remain in place.
Julian Assange of WikiLeaks also weighed in on the matter around the time when Svartholm was first imprisoned, condemning Denmark’s treatment of him, and offering his support to the Pirate Bay founder.
“It is time someone says it like it is: Gottfrid Svartholm Warg is a political prisoner and Sweden has fallen off the map of decent nations in its treatment of him,” said Assange. “Gottfrid has always been ideologically driven to inform the world; he worked tirelessly to help WikiLeaks expose the slaughter of civilians in Iraq by a US helicopter gunship and was responsible for an important part of our infrastructure.”
In the interim, the Danish government’s investigation into Svartholm is ongoing, with his trial expected to begin this September.
