The President explained that the Australian journalist had done “important work” in identifying “illegal acts”.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) published This Saturday (June 10, 2023) he published a text on his Twitter profile opposing the extradition of Australian journalist Julian Assange from the United Kingdom. He said the press secretary had “done important work in denouncing wrongful actions of one state” against another.
“His arrest goes against the defense of democracy and freedom of the press. It’s important that we mobilize everyone in his defense,” Lula said. The President said he viewed the extradition with “concern”.
The UK Supreme Court on Tuesday (6 June 2023) dismissed the journalist’s latest appeal, preventing the founder of the WikiLeaks website from appealing an extradition order to the United States. He faces 18 charges under the US Espionage Act.
In May, Lula had already positioned himself on the case. He said the prison was a “disgrace”. On June 17, 2022, the thenpresidential candidate declared that Assange’s crime was the “truth.”
Reproduction/Twitter 06/10/2023 Lula tweeted the publication following the UK Supreme Court decision
UNDERSTAND THE CASE
Julian Assange, 51, founded the WikiLeaks website in 2006. From 2010, the Australian began to publish confidential information about the United States. The US government estimates that there were 700,000 documents.
The material released on WikiLeaks and other outlets such as the Guardian and the New York Times contained data on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other diplomatic information and military operations. Information about the July 2007 airstrike on Baghdad (Iraq) was also made public. Some of the documents dealt with alleged abuses by the US armed forces.
Julian Assange was arrested in London in 2019 after having sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy for seven years. He tried to avoid arrest and extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of two counts of rape. The investigation was later dropped.
The leaks exposed human rights abuses and espionage by leaders in other countries.
O Power360 separated the main events surrounding the fall of the founder of WikiLeaks.
Here is the timeline:
- 2006: Assange founds WikiLeaks and begins publishing classified information and news leaks from anonymous sources;
- August 2010: a Swedish prosecutor issues an arrest warrant after two Swedish women accuse Assange of rape and sexual abuse on separate charges;
- November 2010: WikiLeaks begins publishing diplomatic cables sourced from an anonymous source, prompting the US Department of Justice to launch an investigation. The source later turned out to be Chelsea Manning. Sweden also issues an international arrest warrant for Assange;
- December 2010: Assange surrenders to British police. The courts rule that he must post bail;
- May 2012: UK Supreme Court rules in favor of Assange’s return to Sweden but his lawyers are asking for a stay;
- August 2012: Assange is granted asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which has raised concerns about human rights violations if extradited to Sweden. In June 2012 he entered the embassy for the first time;
- August 2015: Swedish prosecutors drop sexual abuse charges against Assange after running out of time to question him, but he remains at risk of rape charges;
- February 2016: the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concludes that Assange has been “arbitrarily detained” by Sweden and the UK since December 2010 and calls on both governments to end his “deprivation of liberty”;
- October 2016: The Ecuadorian government says it shut down Assange’s internet over the release of emails hacked by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election which later emerged as part of the Russian government’s meddling on behalf of thencandidate Donald Trump. Assange announces in December that his internet connection has been restored;
- April 2017: Mike Pompeo, former director of the CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency), describes WikiLeaks as a “hostile nongovernmental intelligence agency” that poses a threat to US national security;
- May 2017: Swedish prosecutors end their sevenyear investigation into Assange’s rape allegations;
- December 2017: Ecuador grants Assange citizenship in a failed attempt to grant him diplomatic immunity;
- February 2018: British judge Emma Arbuthnot says the country will not drop charges against Assange after he avoided bail in 2012 by seeking asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy;
- April 2019: A week before Assange’s arrest, the Ecuadorian President says that Assange “has repeatedly violated the agreement we reached with him and his lawyer.” The information comes from the Washington Post;
- April 11, 2019: Assange is arrested on a US extradition warrant after Ecuador withdrew its offer of asylum. He is found guilty of failing to pay bail set by the British judiciary;
- May 1, 2019: Assange has been sentenced to almost a year in prison in the UK;
- May 23, 2019: The US files charges against Assange under the Espionage Act. He was charged with 18 counts. The case raises questions about the First Amendment, which guarantees free speech in the United States.
- June 11, 2019: US requests Assange’s extradition. Request rejected in January 2021 due to risk of Assange committing suicide;
- October 28, 2021: The US is again trying to secure the extradition of Julian Assange. The US government has denied that Assange’s mental health is so fragile that he cannot withstand the US justice system;
- April 20, 2022: UK court issues Assange extradition order to US. The measure still requires the approval of Home Secretary Priti Patell;
- June 17, 2022: UK authorizes extradition of journalist to US;
- June 6, 2023: The UK Supreme Court dismisses a journalist’s recent appeal.