Dozens of people took to the streets this Wednesday in London to protest in front of the High Court of the British capital in favor of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, shortly before the start of a judicial hearing on his extradition to USA.
The group, which has gathered in the area, has come with megaphones and banners early in the morning to request the release of the activist and programmer. “It is very important to be here today, it is not only important for journalists but for everyone globally ”, has said Sadia Kokni, a protester.
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“It is about the atrocities that he has exposed, he is a seeker of justice and truth who stands up for everyone”, he stated before clarifying that they are there “to ensure that justice is served ”.
However, sources close to the matter have revealed to the DPA news agency that Assange has not gone to court for medical reasons, although he has followed the view electronically from the prison of Belmarsh, in which he is imprisoned. Pictures show Assange partially off camera, wearing a white shirt, tie and a black mask.
The United States has repeatedly requested the extradition of Assange, 50, accused of conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified and national security information following the leak of thousands of documents. related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This same Wednesday, the director of WikiLeaks, Kristinn Hrafnsson, has emphasized the importance of “giving a resounding no to the extradition” of Assange to the United States and has warned that Washington’s statements about the conditions of his detention “are worthless.”
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“Today only one decision is possible, a ‘no’ to extradition,” said Hrafnsson, as reported by the Sputnik news agency. “They assure that they will be able to make our position change”, He added before clarifying that he does not trust the authorities of the country North American.
Assange is now facing another legal battle to avoid his extradition to the United States, where he is charged with a dozen charges. The The Superior Court of London is thus analyzing the appeal presented by the United States against the decision of another court that rejected his extradition on health grounds.
The founder of WikiLeaks was arrested in April 2019 in the Embassy from Ecuador in London, where he had been a refugee since 2012 to avoid being initially extradited to Sweden, where an investigation for alleged sexual crimes was pending. On The United States faces 17 counts of espionage and an additional count of hacking.
The case is unprecedented in USA under the original rule, the Espionage Act of 1917. Many scholars believe that the law, which has never been used to prosecute a journalist until now, raises troubling constitutional issues because it infringes on First Amendment rights to receive and publish information.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR HIS RELEASE
In a statement, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, has called on the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom to “redrop the charges and set Assange free. “
His words came after a series of information was released revealing that the United States intelligence services had considered the possibility of kidnapping or killing the activist when he was residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
“The guarantees of the United States Government that Julian Assange will not be admitted to a maximum security penitentiary or subjected to abusive special administrative measures were discredited by admitting that they reserve the right to revoke them”, Has qualified.
Now, the reports that the CIA considered the possibility of kidnapping or killing Assange they have cast even more doubts about the reliability of the US promises and have exposed the political motivation behind this case, ”he said.
For Callamard, it is “grotesque” that almost twenty years later “no person responsible for the alleged war crimes committed by the United States during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been held accountable or prosecuted, and yet an editor who removed the In light of these crimes, he faces a possible life sentence ”.
The five reasons put forward by the United States for requesting Assange’s extradition are scheduled to be examined during the hearing. “The relentless persecution of Julian Assange by the US government makes it clear that this prosecution is a punitive measure,” said Callamard.
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