For years, the USA has been demanding the extradition of Wikileaks founder Assange, whom they accuse of espionage and betrayal of secrets. But now, according to President Biden, an Australian request to end the prosecution is being examined.
In the Julian Assange case, according to US President Joe Biden, the USA wants to examine an Australian request to stop prosecuting the imprisoned Wikileaks founder. “We’re thinking about it,” Biden said in response to a question in the White House. He did not provide any further information. Assange’s lawyer nevertheless viewed the US President’s statements as very encouraging.
The USA accuses the Australian of having stolen and published secret material from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and many other secret documents with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. They are therefore calling on Great Britain, where Assange has been in prison since 2019, to extradite the 52-year-old. However, the London High Court recently banned this. Australia, on the other hand, has been appealing to the USA for years to drop the allegations against its citizen.
In order to avoid extradition to Sweden – and from there possibly to the USA – Assange fled from extended house arrest to the Ecuadorian embassy in London on June 19, 2012. Seven years later, on April 11, 2019, he was arrested there by the London police at the request of the Ecuadorian ambassador.
Supporters see Assange investigative journalists
His supporters see Assange as an investigative journalist who has exposed wrongdoing by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan and should be protected by the freedom of speech and press guaranteed by the US Constitution.
Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, had said her husband was being persecuted because he had exposed the true cost of human life and called for war. She also said her husband’s health continued to deteriorate in prison and that she feared his death behind bars. London’s High Court ruled in March that Assange cannot be extradited unless US authorities guarantee he will not face the death penalty.
Amnesty International warns of “catastrophic precedent”
The human rights organization Amnesty International again called for Assange’s release on the anniversary of his arrest. “Julian Assange dared to bring to light revelations about alleged US war crimes. It is unacceptable that years of his life were stolen from him,” said Secretary General Agnès Callamard.
If Assange is extradited to the USA, he will face serious ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement, Amnesty warned. The organization warned of a “catastrophic precedent” for global media freedom. Amnesty demanded that the USA drop all allegations against Assange.