Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's health improving in prison: Spokesman

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer being held in solitary confinement and his health is improving, his colleague and spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told reporters on Tuesday.

Assange is in prison in London, fighting an extradition request from the United States, where he faces 18 counts including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.

Hrafnsson was speaking at a news conference in support of Assange ahead of a court hearing on the extradition request that starts next week.

His supporters had expressed concern about how he was being treated in prison and about the impact on his health.