Imprisoned for five years
Hope for Julian Assange? Biden is considering discontinuing the proceedings
Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison in the USA
© Matt Dunham /AP / DPA
It has been locked up for twelve years: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is considered something like public enemy No. 1 in the USA. From there, of all places, there are now signals for an end to law enforcement.
The Australian Parliament, with the support of the head of government, passed a motion in February calling for an end to the prosecution of 52-year-old Assange so that the man imprisoned in Great Britain can return to his family in Australia.
Julian Assange locked up for twelve years
The legal tug-of-war surrounding Assange and his extradition to the USA has preoccupied the world for years. The US wants to prosecute the Australian for publishing secret documents and violating anti-espionage laws. At the end of March, a London court gave US lawyers three weeks to provide guarantees about how Assange would be treated in the event of extradition.
“This is a case that should never have been started,” Wikileaks editor-in-chief Hrafnsson said at a rally in London. “The solution to this case, where we are dealing with a political persecution, is a political solution and a political push.”
Assange has been imprisoned for twelve years – he found asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years and spent another five years in London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison.
He is accused in the USA of having published around 700,000 confidential documents about US military and diplomatic activities starting in 2010. They contained explosive information about wars, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the killing of civilians and the mistreatment of prisoners. If found guilty, Assange could face up to 175 years in prison in the USA.