A group of 63 members of the Australian House of Representatives and Senate have signed a letter supporting Julian Assange not to extradite him to the United States, where he would be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.
The document states that the US government must “stop” the prosecution and detention of Australian citizens.
The letter was published by The Guardian as an Australian delegation made up of representatives from various political parties plans to travel to Washington next week to advocate for the interests of the WikiLeaks founder while Assange remains imprisoned in poor health and mental health, at Belmarsh maximum security prison, southeast of London.
The signatories support the delegation’s trip and denounce that the Assange case has been going on for “more than a decade” and consider it “a mistake” that the persecution of the Australian journalist continues and his freedom is denied, “given the duration and the circumstances”. the imprisonment he has already suffered.
“It serves no purpose, it is unfair, and we say clearly – as friends must always be honest with friends – that the continued prosecution of Mr Assange undermines the essential foundation of the appreciation and respect that Australians have for the justice system.” the United States,” the letter said.
Australian lawmakers warned: “There is no doubt that there will be a sharp and sustained outcry in Australia if Julian Assange is transferred from the UK to the US.”
The next trip by Australian politicians to Washington aims to bring about an end to the legal prosecution against Assange. Lawmakers plan to meet with members of the House and Senate, as well as the State and Justice Departments, to advocate against the activist’s extradition to the United States.
In June 2022, the United Kingdom approved the extradition of Assange to the United States, where he is accused of publishing hundreds of thousands of pages of secret military documents and confidential diplomatic cables that made known to the world the atrocities committed by the Pentagon against citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan under the cover of the so-called US war on terrorism and other illegalities such as electronic espionage against other governments.
The US Department of Justice has filed a total of 18 charges against Assange under the Espionage Act.
Now the complaint from lawmakers in Australia, Julian Assange’s homeland, falls in line with statements from dignitaries such as Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Pope Francis also hosted Assange’s lawyer and wife Stella Assange in June at an undisclosed meeting.
Numerous voices around the world have warned that further punishment of Assange would constitute a violation of journalism’s right to information and call into question the vaunted freedom of the press that the White House claims to defend.
Two months ago, MEAA Media Federal President Karen Percy wrote to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, urging them to pressure the United States to drop espionage charges against Assange.
The British government’s decision to grant the US Justice Department’s request to extradite Australian editor Julian Assange puts journalists around the world at risk, the Australian Journalists Union says.
The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance called on the Australian government to take urgent action to pressure the US and UK governments to drop all charges against Assange and allow him to be with his wife and children.
With information from Telesur and www.meaa.org