Ghislaine Maxwell’s family criticizes AG Garland over ‘unnecessary trauma’ during trial
Ghislaine Maxwell’s family on Monday complained about how she’s being treated during her federal sex-trafficking trial, asking US Attorney General Merrick Garland to intervene “in the interest of justice and common humanity.”
Relatives of the British socialite — who is charged with helping late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls — asked that authorities stop using four-point restraints to shackle her hands, waist and feet when she’s shuttled from a holding cell to the courtroom in Lower Manhattan.
The shackles cause bruising, broken skin and other “unnecessary trauma,” the family claimed.
The alleged madam only received “minimal sustenance” during the first week of her trial, and didn’t get access to soap or hand sanitizer, the letter states.
Garland should intervene “in the interest of justice and common humanity to change the shocking daily regime which Ghislaine is subject to during her trial,” the family said.
Maxwell’s siblings also whined that she has only been allowed to chat with her attorneys within earshot of prosecutors, and requested that she be allowed to meet with her defense team for at least 30 minutes before and after each day’s proceedings.
“Ghislaine’s physical welfare and her right to have proper and timely access to her counsel during the trial have been entirely overlooked,” the family said in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.
“On behalf of their sister, her brothers and sisters urge Attorney Garland to intervene immediately today to grant the simple, fair and just remedies requested.’’
The family has repeatedly griped about Maxwell’s treatment behind bars over the last 17 months. They recently asked the United Nations for help in getting Maxwell, 59, released from jail pending trial, after four of her bail applications were denied.
In their petition to the UN, lawyers for the family highlighted conditions Maxwell had raised in her previous failed appeals, including her being deprived of sleep by guards at the jail.
The siblings are now going directly to Garland because he oversees the agencies involved in their sister’s custody and transportation, namely the US Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons.
Two of Maxwell’s three brothers and three sisters, Kevin and Isabel, were in court last week to support her.
The second week of what’s anticipated to be a six-week trial begins Monday.
