Bill Cosby: Convicted rapist says he’s a ‘political prisoner’ like Gandhi, Mandela and MLK

Convicted sex offender Bill Cosby, 81, who was found guilty in September 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, claims he is a “political prisoner” and similar to the likes of civil rights and peace activists Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

The disgraced comedian released a written statement through Andrew Wyatt, his crisis manager and spokesperson, on Wednesday.

The statement claimed that his “political beliefs, actions of trying to humanise all races, genders and religions landed me in this place surrounded by barb wire fencing, a room made of steel and iron.”

This is Cosby’s first official statement since he was imprisoned in October 2018.

“So, I now have a temporary residence that resembles the quarters of some of the greatest political prisoners—Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Randal Robinson and Dr Benjamin Chavis,” the statement read.

Cosby is currently serving his three-to-10 year sentence at SCI-Phoenix, a maximum-security prison in the Philadelphian suburbs. He was found guilty in April on three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand. The 45-year-old woman said that, in 2004, Cosby drugged and assaulted her at his Montgomery County home in Pennsylvania after she visited him seeking career advice.

Mr Wyatt said that Cosby is in good condition, citing that he is in “amazing spirits” and “not remorseful.”

The crisis manager said that the convicted sex offender still believes he is innocent.

“When I visit him, it’s nothing sad about it,” Mr Wyatt told NBC News. “He will never have remorse, and the reason why he has no remorse is because he did nothing wrong. He was not guilty.”

The crisis manager said that Cosby has not been transferred from the special housing unit of his prison to the general population, despite state prison spokesperson Amy Worden’s statement last week.

Instead, Cosby, who is now legally blind, is staying at a veteran’s facility where he is with other elderly prisoners. Due to his old age and his disability, Cosby has inmates assigned to help him throughout the day.

Although Cosby was considered “America’s Dad” at one point, neither his wife or daughters have visited him in the four months he has been imprisoned. His spokesman said Cosby does not expect them to visit him since the maximum-security prison is about 20 miles away from their family estate. Cosby reportedly said he wouldn’t want them “to be exploited by the media.”

“He does not want his family to be exploited that way by coming to visit him and it be made a circus out of by the media,” Mr Wyatt added. “So he has excluded them from coming to visit him for that reason and that reason alone.”

However, Cosby does talk to his wife, Camille, over the phone at least three times a day.

Not including his lawyers, Mr Wyatt is Cosby’s only visitor. The publicist visits the disgraced comedian every other week.

Despite his old age, Cosby has a rigorous schedule. He wakes up every morning at 3.30am to work-out: leg lifts, pushups, and situps are just some of the exercises he does in his cell before breakfast.

The spokesperson said that Cosby is developing show ideas from prison.

“He’s mentally strong,” Mr Wyatt added. “He’s just a strong man.”

Although Cosby was only criminally charged on one case involving Ms Costand, nearly 60 women have come forward and accused “America’s Dad” for sexual misconduct. Some of his alleged victims include former bartender Janice Baker-Kinney, former Playboy bunny Sarita Butterfield, and former supermodel Janice Dickinson. Here is a full list of his victims.