CIA whistleblower Christopher Snowden has warned that 'Julian Assange could be next' after John McAfee was found hanged in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday.
Snowden, who lives in Russian exile, tweeted: 'Europe should not extradite those accused of non-violent crimes to a court system so unfair - and prison system so cruel - that native-born defendants would rather die than become subject to it. Julian Assange could be next.
'Until the system is reformed, a moratorium should remain.'
Antivirus pioneer McAfee died at a prison outside Barcelona just hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the US for tax evasion and fraud.
The 75-year-old had pleaded with judges not to send him back to America, saying he would die in prison because 'the United States wants to use me as an example.'
McAfee believed the US government was out to get him - much like Snowden and WikiLeaks founder Assange who also face decades behind bars in the States.
Assange, 49, remains caged in Britain's toughest jail, HMP Belmarsh, despite winning his extradition battle in January. He has not been bailed ahead of an appeal hearing because he is considered a flight risk.
Julian Assange, 49, remains caged in Britain's toughest jail, HMP Belmarsh, despite winning his extradition battle in January. He has not been bailed ahead of an appeal hearing because he is considered a flight risk (pictured: Assange, left; and McAfee at a jailhouse in 2019, right)
CIA intelligence leaker Christopher Snowden warned that 'Julian Assange could be next' after John McAfee was found hanged in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday'
Assange is still wanted in the US on an 18-count indictment, facing allegations of plotting to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
The prosecution followed WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents in 2010 and 2011 relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables.
McAfee, who was a famous libertarian known for his anti-government stance on guns, drugs and liberty, believed that the US government was conspiring against him.
His tweets, often cryptic and ominous, suggested that he was the target of wealthy elites, including high-ranking officials in the CIA.
The tech entrepreneur was collared at Barcelona airport at the request of the US Justice Department on October 3, about to board a flight to Istanbul with a British passport.
During a court hearing last month, McAfee said that he would spend the rest of his life in jail if convicted in America. 'I am hoping that the Spanish court will see the injustice of this,' he said, adding 'the United States wants to use me as an example.'
His lawyer Javier Villalba said said McAfee's death had come as a surprise to his wife and other relatives, adding he would seek to get 'to the bottom' of his client's death.
'I had constant telephone contacts with him,' Villalba said. 'At no point had he shown any special worry or clue that could let us think this could have happened.'
'This has been like pouring
