The Black Panther who spent four decades in solitary confinement.

 

Albert Woodfox, spent 43 years in solitary confinement in a U.S. prison after being wrongly convicted of the murder of a Louisiana prison guard in 1972. He was a member of the 'Angola Three' who were all wrongly convicted of the murder of the prison guard, Brent Millar.

Before the murder, Woodfox, and his fellow Angola Three member Hermann Wallace, had set up a chapter of the Black Panther party inside the prison. They used it to campaign against the segregation of prisoners and the unpaid cotton picking that black prisoners were forced to do in chain gangs in the outlying fields.

Woodfox, who died aged 75, is thought to have spent more time in solitary confinement than any other individual in U.S. history. He survived 43 years living in a cell that measured 6ft x 9ft and was only released in 2016.

Although atrocities and inhumane treatment of this kind are being meted out to some prisoner's in the U.S. prison system, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has approved the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to America to face charges relating to the disclosure of classified information. Assange has been charged with 17 counts of espionage and if convicted, faces up to 170 years in a U S. prison. Assange who is an investigative journalist, has already spent over three years in Belmarsh Prison without being convicted of anything.