Members of the European Parliament urged the U.K. to release WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from prison as the hearing challenging his U.S. extradition begins.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s possible final hearing challenging his extradition to the U.S. to face charges for publishing classified U.S. military documents kicked off Tuesday morning at the British High Court in London.
Members of the European Parliament are the latest to call on the U.K. to halt Assange’s extradition and release him from custody. Assange’s possible final appeal before two judges to block his extradition will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, although a full appeal hearing could come in the future if he wins in court this week. If he is extradited to the U.S. after exhausting all his legal appeals, Assange would face trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and could be sentenced to up to 175 years in an American maximum-security prison.
Supporters in London, Washington, D.C., and cities around the world will hold rallies on Tuesday calling for Assange’s freedom.
In a letter Monday, 46 members of the European Parliament called on U.K. Home Secretary James Cleverly to «ensure the protection and safety of Julian Assange, to release him from the prison, and to prevent his extradition,» emphasizing that the freedom of the press and the public’s right to be informed is at stake.
«Julian Assange has been part of the institution of a free press essential to any democracy by being at the forefront of investigative journalism,» the letter reads. «With his work through WikiLeaks he has brought to light some of the most significant acts of government corruption, including war crimes and human rights abuses.»
Assange, 52, is facing 17 charges for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the Espionage Act, and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
The charges were brought by the Trump administration’s Justice Department over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of cables leaked by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning detailing war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp. The materials also exposed instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition.
WikiLeaks’ «Collateral Murder» video showing the U.S. military gunning down civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also published 14 years ago.
The members wrote that the Australian publisher is «currently the target of a precedent-setting legal attack where a democratic government can criminalize a publication of truthful information» and that the charges against him «raise serious concerns about undeniable and far-reaching implications for press freedom and the practice of investigative journalism.»
«If the U.S. is successful in having Assange extradited, it will have redefined investigative journalism,» the members explained.
