Ghislaine Maxwell's cell stinks of sewage and has no drinking water as she's denied bail fifth time
Former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is jailed for being an alleged associate of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been turned down for bail for the fifth time in a row. Her latest request was denied on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, by a three-judge panel at the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, New York. Maxwell has been held in custody at a Brooklyn jail since July 2020. The living conditions at the facility are reportedly deplorable, according to her lawyers.
According to Maxwell's appeals attorney David Oscar Markus, she has been "subjected to more grueling conditions than any other inmate" at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, her trial was originally scheduled to start next month, but it has been postponed to November 2021 after her lawyers requested more months to prepare. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, her defense team faced a setback from investigating the new sex trafficking charges against her.
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No drinking water and sewage stench
Though federal prosecutors have dismissed the allegations of Maxwell being mistreated in prison, her lawyers continue to argue about the horrible prison conditions she is being subjected to. Branding the Brooklyn facility a "complete disaster", Maxwell's attorney Markus claimed that she is being awakened every 15 minutes by the jail guards. They reportedly shine light into her cell to check on her, as a result affecting her sleep.
Her lawyers further stated that Maxwell's cell does not have any drinkable water, while the cell also permanently stinks of sewage. "We all know the truth - this is due to the Epstein effect. Because Epstein died on the jail's watch, it has decided to torture Ghislaine. That's wrong," her lawyer Markus said. Earlier in April this year, Maxwell accused jail guards of bullying and humiliating her by standing over her "knee-to-knee" as she used the restroom. The guards at MDC had accused her of keeping her cell dirty and not flushing the toilet, which she vehemently refuted, blaming the stench on decaying pipes.
Maxwell was arrested on charges of her close association with Epstein for over a decade. During that time, she allegedly helped him in the sex trafficking of minor girls who were also raped and assaulted by the financier. In March 2021, a Turkish woman accused Maxwell and Epstein of raping her in front of her 8-year-old son in 2008, while also forcing her to undergo vaginal surgery to make her 'a virgin' again.
Maxwell, however, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking leveled against her.
