© AP Photo/Frank Augstein/TASS
As The New York Times (NYT) reported yesterday, the world's leading outlets have called on the US administration to dismiss charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The document signed by the NYT, The Guardian, The Times, Le Monde, El País, and Der Spiegel read that the prosecution of Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act "sets a dangerous precedent” that threatened to undermine the First Amendment and the freedom of the press."
"Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information, when necessary, in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists," the letter said. According to the outlets, "if that work is criminalized, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker." In turn, WikiLeaks has repeatedly stressed that Assange’s prosecution "has always been a political matter," with the decision to extradite him to the United States being "a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy."
Russia also provided a harsh response to the British authorities’ ruling about the whistleblower. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova referred to the move as "the apotheosis of humanism and the apogee of the freedom of speech". She reminded the audience that Assange faces 175 years in prison in the US for his mere journalistic work.
According to Zakharova, the extradition decision is utter disgrace and proof that the West's words about human rights are lies and deception. "Although a disgrace, this is a telling story of what we have always talked about – all the words about freedom and commitment to human rights – it's lies and deception, some kind of a smoke screen. And inside there is an absolutely tough if not cruel mechanism within an inch of misanthropy," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
Just a reminder: in May this year, the Westminster Magistrate's Court in London issued an extradition order to the United States for Julian Assange following a relevant decision by the Supreme Court. And in June, then Home Secretary Priti Patel put a formal end to this shameful process, confirming that Assange would be extradited, after all. Supporters of the Australian see this as a danger to his life. So far – since April 2019 – he has been held in London's Belmarsh high-security prison. Prior to that, he spent almost seven years at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, but Washington insisted that the British authorities extradite him. Then Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno said WikiLeaks founder was deprived of asylum because he violated the rules established for him, having interfered in different countries’ internal affairs, used prohibited devices, clashed with embassy staff and failed to maintain personal hygiene. Perhaps, the most ridiculous explanations ever.
By the way, those who visited Assange at the London embassy of Ecuador filed a lawsuit in the United States against the CIA and its former chief Mike Pompeo, claiming that exposure to illegal searches at the diplomatic mission. Deprived of their electronic equipment when visiting the Wikileaks founder were journalists, lawyers and doctors, the report says, and Pompeo (the defendant) authorized to copy devices without telling the visitors. This runs counter to the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the statement said.
"While the named plaintiffs initiate this action, the practices complained of violate the rights of well over 100 American citizens who visited Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England," the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York says. The suit, we note, was lodged back in August this year, but still awaits reaction.
Julian Assange became widely known in 2006 for the activities of his WikiLeaks website revealing various kinds of documents. Thus, in 2010, it published a secret video proving that at least 18 civilians were killed following an American helicopter attack in Baghdad in 2007. Also, the site is known to have launched a campaign to expose 250 thousand American diplomatic documents.
For the totality of charges brought by the US authorities on 17 espionage and disclosure episodes, Assange, 51, faces 175 years in prison. In the United States, the WikiLeaks founder is believed to have committed crimes as part of the largest leakage case in America’s entire history, and has to suffer severe punishment. Some experts believe he may even face death penalty. Anyway, human beings do not live that long, and Assange will definitely never emerge from American jail alive.
However, both Assange's WikiLeaks colleagues and many journalists worldwide disagree with the American authorities’ harsh verdict. The aforementioned joint open letter to the White House from a number of mainstream Western media is a clear proof here. To them, Julian Assange has become a free speech symbol and martyr. But today there is something wrong with this freedom in America and other Western countries. The US presidential election of 2020, when the Democrats actually brought to heel all the American media, may also indicate an assault against human rights and freedom of speech in the United States.
In conclusion let’s emphasize that the entire "Assange case" is being advanced stealthily, as the international community is totally overwhelmed by Russophobia imposed by the Western media. This makes you able to do almost anything, even extradite Julian Assange to the USA, despite all the demands by human rights activists or public protests. After all, the end always justifies the means when it comes to the Western community. You can act like champions of human rights and freedom of speech as long as you like, but the crime against Julian Assange is preordained to become an indelible stain on the bulk of Western democracy…
