Extradition

Julian Assangethe founder of WikiLeaks, is in danger. His extradition to the United States is one step away from being completed, after remaining in the hands of the British authorities since 2019, and after being found asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.

After two days of deliberations, on February 20 and 21, Assange’s future has been left in the hands of two judges of the United Kingdom High Court, those who will decide on extradition. If it becomes effective in this instance, the challenges in the courts of this country will have been exhausted.

The Judicial Branch of The United States has filed 18 criminal charges against Assange for the dissemination of classified material and diplomatic cables, in 2010 and 2011, through its WikiLeaks site. He thus faces a sentence of up to 175 years for espionage.

The founder of WikiLeaks is considered a dangerous person for the United States due to the thousands of secret documents, from the Pentagon and the State Departmentlaid bare.

Assange revealed the crimes committed by American soldiers in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the security apparatus does not forgive its lies and concealments being exposed. Thus, a relentless persecution began against Assange, which forced him to seek political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The government of the then president of Ecuador, Rafael Correain June 2012, challenged the North American government and granted protection to Assange, in its embassy in London. Did convinced that asylum was appropriate because he was politically persecuted by the United States. There were even indications that the capture of Assange put his life in danger, as was shown at the time by the terrorist accusations with which political leaders of the United States stigmatized him.

Sarah Palinformer Republican candidate for vice president of the United States, said in November 2010: “Assange is an anti-American operator with blood on his hands. Why was he not persecuted with the same urgency that we persecute the leaders of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban?”

Newt Gingrich, former presidential candidate in the Republican primaries, said in December 2010: “Julian Assange is involved in terrorism. He is to be treated as an enemy combatant. WikiLeaks should be permanently and decisively shut down.”

Unfortunately, after seven years of his stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the president who succeeded Correa, Lenin Morenoacceded to pressure from the United States and decided to hand over Julián Assange to the London police, thus violating the right to diplomatic asylum.

Assange has been in Belmarsh prison for four years, high security prison, south east London. And he faces an extradition request from the United States, arguing that the Wikileaks founder has violated provisions of that country’s espionage law.

However, the US authorities are wrong. Assange is not a spy since he does not provide information to a specific country, but to public opinionas any investigative journalist does.

Consequently, The persecution and imprisonment of Assange has become an attack on the independent press and is also a violation of the right to asylum. This has been highlighted in a recent editorial in the English newspaper The Guardian when he points out: “Sending Assange to stand trial in the United States would be an unacceptable act against the founder of WikiLeaks and against journalism.”

It is necessary to add that The founder of WikiLeaks has also suffered a serious attack on his human rights. Indeed, Assange has been locked up in prison for four years, with 23 hours a day of solitude and barely 45 minutes to exercise. And, before, in the small embassy of Ecuador, He had to remain cloistered for seven years. These confinements have meant a manifest physical and mental deterioration, which has been highlighted by the United Nations Working Group Against Arbitrary Detention and also for him Special Rapporteur against Torture.

The independent press and democrats around the world have the obligation to defend the freedom of Julián Assange and prevent him from being extradited to the United States, where his life is in danger..

2024-02-25 20:52:38
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