As press freedom groups call for the release of Mr. Assange and other journalists around the world facing lawsuits, a group of Australian lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden on World Press Freedom Day calling for the creation of WikiLeaks. demanded that the charges against Julian Assange be dropped.
In a letter on Friday, MP Andrew Wilkie, an independent MP and co-chair of the ‘Bring Julian Assange Home’ parliamentary friendship group. Josh Wilson, Labor; Liberal Party candidate Bridget Archer and Green Party senator David Shoebridge are fighting extradition to the United States against Biden, who is facing espionage charges for releasing classified US military documents 14 years ago. They called for the prosecution of Assange to be halted.
A hearing will be held in front of Britain’s High Court in London on May 20 on whether Australian publisher Assange can be extradited to the United States to stand trial, or he can challenge the extradition and make a full appeal. to judge. If the court rules in favor of extradition, Assange’s only option is to European Court of Human Rights.
“On World Press Freedom Day, we, as a group of Australian MPs from across the political spectrum, write to call for the freedom of Julian Assange,” the MPs wrote. “We hope that Mr. Assange, who has endured extreme imprisonment for more than five years in Britain’s Belmarsh Prison without being convicted of serious charges, will be released, able to return home and be reunited with his wife. I am writing this letter to my children and my family.
Assange extradition case moves forward after US assures UK court there will be no death penalty
A group of Australian lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden on World Press Freedom Day, calling for charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be dropped. (Getty Images)
Assange, 52 years old, face 17 charges under the Espionage Act One count alleging receiving, possessing, and communicating confidential information to the public and conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. If extradited, Assange would stand trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted.
The charges were brought by the Trump administration’s Justice Department over WikiLeaks’ 2010 release of leaked cables by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, and the Biden administration is continuing to prosecute. There is. The information detailed alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay detention center, as well as cases of torture and seizure by the CIA.
The letter came after Mr Biden said last month that he was considering a request from Australia to drop the charges against Mr Assange.
“We are encouraged by President Biden’s recent admission that the United States is considering Australia’s request to halt the prosecution of Julian Assange,” the letter said. “We respectfully urge the United States to halt the lengthy, costly and punitive extradition process that would prevent Mr. Assange from returning to his family in Australia.”
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Assange has been held in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since April 11, 2019, when he was expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy for breaching his bail conditions. He had applied for asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden on charges of raping two women. Sweden has not provided any guarantees to protect him from extradition to the United States. The investigation into the sexual assault charges was ultimately closed.
A British District Court judge rejected a 2021 request for Assange to be extradited to the United States on the grounds that he would likely commit suicide if detained in harsh prison conditions in the United States. The High Court overturned that decision after obtaining assurances from the United States about his treatment.
Mr. Assange’s lawyers continue to fight against extradition and are currently seeking a full appeal after a May 20 hearing, which follows last month when the United States told Britain that Mr. The move comes after the judge gave assurances that he would not be charged with any new charges that could lead to the death penalty. . They also said Mr Assange would be allowed to make First Amendment claims in US courts, something Mr Assange’s lawyers and his family said was an empty promise. was.
In March, a British court asked the United States to provide guarantees, rejecting most of Mr. Assange’s appeals – of the nine he had filed, including allegations of political prosecution and concerns about political prosecution. Six cases were rejected. Alleged CIA conspiracy Under the Trump administration, Assange was kidnapped or murdered while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “his continued imprisonment serves no purpose”, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of the Liberal Party said the case had “continued for far too long”. “It’s too much,” he said. . ”
In February, the House of Commons passed a motion calling for Assange’s release, stressing “the importance of the UK and US bringing this matter to a close so that Assange can return to his family in Australia.”
British court suspends Julian Assange’s extradition until US guarantees no death penalty
Julian Assange’s wife Stella Assange speaks next to a poster of her husband at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on February 21, 2024. (AP)
A bipartisan delegation of Australian lawmakers visited Washington DC in September and met with US officials, members of Congress and civil rights groups to secure Assange’s freedom.
“Although we believe in principle that the prosecution of Julian Assange was wrong, in any case, given the duration and harsh circumstances, neither justice nor sympathy is reasonable for further persecution of Mr Assange. “We say there is no purpose. He is already in custody,” the letter concludes.
The Obama administration decided in 2013 not to prosecute Assange over WikiLeaks’ 2010 release of confidential cables because it would have required the prosecution of journalists at major news organizations who had published the same material.
President Obama too Manning’s 35-year prison sentence commuted Manning, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in January 2017 for violating the Espionage Act and other charges, was released later that year after being imprisoned since 2010.
Until Assange, no publisher had been charged under the Espionage Act, but many press freedom groups argue that his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent aimed at criminalizing journalism. .
“President Biden has repeatedly said that journalism is not a crime, but at the same time his administration is “We continue to prosecute journalists under the Espionage Act for acts that journalists do on a daily basis.” The Press Foundation told FOX News Digital. “To truly celebrate World Press Freedom Day, the Biden administration should immediately drop the espionage charges against Assange.”
He continued, “If the Justice Department were to try to prosecute New York Times or Wall Street Journal reporters under the Espionage Act for talking to sources, obtaining classified information, and publishing that information, If so, we would reasonably consider it to be a serious threat to the primary state.” Amendment. The Espionage Act that prosecutes Assange just opens the door to similar prosecutions of journalists by current or future administrations, threatening press freedom. ”
Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders, told Fox News Digital that Assange’s prosecution “could set a very dangerous precedent for press freedom in the United States.”
“This is the first time that the Espionage Act, an outdated law that is in great need of reform, will be used to punish not just the leakers of factual information, but those who publish it,” he said. Ta. “In this case, the leaker, Chelsea Manning, has already served her sentence, but if the Justice Department is successful in prosecuting Assange, it would open the door to prosecuting all journalists and media outlets, including Fox News, for publication. does not contain confidential government information, even if the publication is in the public interest. ”
World Press Freedom Day is being celebrated by many other journalists around the world, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held on spying charges in Russia for allegedly stealing classified military documents. Facing a lawsuit for reasons.
“We continue to call on the Kremlin to release Evan Gershkovich, and indeed all unjustly imprisoned journalists around the world,” Weimers said. “We also ask the State Department to designate journalist Ars Kurmasheva, a U.S. citizen, as ‘unlawfully detained.’
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Julian Assange faces 17 charges under the Espionage Act for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public, as well as one charge alleging conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. . (AP)
When governments arrest or imprison journalists for reporting news, Vogus said, “everyone’s freedom and ability to be informed is threatened.”
“Arresting journalists who cover news, whether it’s Russia or Austin, Texas, is an authoritarian bullying tactic,” she said. “Forcing reporters to disclose confidential sources makes it less likely that whistleblowers will come forward.In addition to risking their livelihoods, sources often have knowledge of corruption, crime, and wrongdoing. It jeopardizes journalists’ freedom to tell their stories.”
Reporters Without Borders has downgraded the United States to 55th place in its 2024 World Press Freedom Ranking.
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“The United States should be a pioneer in press freedom around the world. Instead, we have recently seen American journalists arrested and prosecuted just for doing their jobs across the country. “We’ve seen distrust grow due to irresponsible statements from some political officials,” said Emily Wilkins, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute. said in a statement. “The decline in the United States’ ranking on the World Press Freedom Index shows that we are heading in the wrong direction.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, the National Press Club, and many other press freedom organizations are pushing for a bipartisan press law that would prevent the federal government from forcing journalists to disclose sources or confidential documents. We are asking Congress to pass it.
