Lula calls for Julian Assange’s release in London

After attending the coronation of King Carlos III. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has denounced the lack of concerted efforts to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who spent four years in Britain’s Belmarsh prison.

“It is a disgrace that a journalist who has denounced fraud by one state against another is being arrested and sentenced to death in prison and we are doing nothing to free him. It’s crazy,” Lula told reporters. “We are talking about freedom of expression; The man is in jail for reporting misconduct. And the press does nothing to defend this journalist. I can not understand”.

Lula made the comments in response to a question about Assange, who is an Australian citizen. He said he forgot to raise the matter with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunat but will write to him when he returns to Brazil.

Assange has been fighting extradition to the United States, and Lula made the comments at a time when he has shown little reluctance to air his disagreements with Washington on geopolitical issues, particularly his opposition to arming Ukraine to fight Russia, and through Charge the US and Europe to encourage the fight. His stance and repeated claims have drawn heavy criticism from the White House and Europe.

For its part, Australia has increased diplomatic pressure on the US government to end the persecution of Assange.

On Friday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.: “Enough is enough. Your current detention is useless.” In November, Albanese stated that his “position is self-evident and I have made it clear to the United States government that now is the time to close the matter”.

Assange has fought for years in British courts to avoid being sent to the United States, where he faces 17 charges of espionage and one count of misusing a computer, which can be traced back to the release of a large number of classified documents on WikiLeaks in 2010 are.

US prosecutors say he helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and secret military files later released by WikiLeaks, risking lives in the process.

For his supporters, Assange is a journalist who practices secrecy and exposes misconduct by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I think there should be a movement in the world press in his defense. Not in relation to him personally, but to defend the right to denunciation,” Lula told the press. “This man has not reported anything vulgar. He denounced that a state spyed on others and that this became a crime against the journalist. The press, which defends press freedom, is doing nothing to liberate this citizen. It is sad but true”.

Last year, Assange’s father, John Shipton, tried to persuade Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to raise the issue of his son’s persecution with the top US diplomat and got Albanese to raise the issue with President Joe Biden with Queen Elizabeth II .to address funeral.

(Adopted from Independent)