“Dangerous Precedent”
19 organizations are calling for Assange’s release
April 22, 2022, 8:05 p.m
The British judiciary has cleared the way for the extradition of Wikileaks founder Assange to the USA. In order to prevent this, press activists are appealing to the British Home Secretary. According to them, the public interest served by Assange would not be valid in a US trial.
Several press rights organizations have called on the British government not to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States. The 19 organizations, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and several PEN clubs, called on Home Secretary Priti Patel in an open letter to act “in the interest of press freedom” and release Assange immediately from prison.
In the US, Assange could not “adequately defend himself” in court because the public interest argument would not apply in an espionage trial, the letter said. “His prosecution would set a dangerous precedent” for other media outlets and journalists, the activists warned. In addition, the prison conditions in the US would “greatly increase the risk of Assange’s suicide”.
A British court formally approved the Australian’s extradition to the United States on Wednesday. According to the court’s decision, Assange’s lawyers have until May 18 to make a submission to Home Secretary Patel. She has the final decision on his extradition.
Assange faces up to 175 years in prison
In the US, Assange is accused of espionage and the publication of hundreds of thousands of secret documents on the Wikileaks disclosure platform about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The papers contained explosive information about US operations in these countries, including the killing of civilians and the mistreatment of prisoners.
Voices are currently being raised on social networks complaining of Western cynicism, on the one hand taking public action against Russian war crimes, but at the same time pushing ahead with the rigid prosecution of Assange, who had also made human rights violations public – but from the Western side.
If convicted in the US, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison. The 50-year-old and his supporters have repeatedly criticized the procedures as politically motivated.