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(London) Forty human rights and press freedom organizations called for “immediate” release on Friday of Julian Assange, detained in the United Kingdom and claimed by the United States who want to try him for espionage.
Posted on July 3 2020 at 10 h 35
France Media Agency
The founder of WikiLeaks, who had 49 years Friday, is prosecuted in the United States for having broadcast from 2010 more than 700 00 0 classified documents on American military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a letter to the Minister of Justice Robert Buckland, the signatories call on the British government to release Julian Assange “immediately” and to “block” his extradition to the United States, where it risks up to 175 years in prison.
Signatories include Reporters Without Borders, PEN international or the International Federation of Journalists.
They consider in particular that the “persecutions” to which Julian Assange is subjected “contribute to a deterioration of press freedom in the United Kingdom” and tarnish the country's image on the international scene.
The British judicial examination of his request for surrender to the American authorities is due to resume on September 7.
The United States accuses the Australian of having endangered sources of American services. For their part, his lawyers denounce a political procedure based on “lies”.
The founder of WikiLeaks is currently imprisoned in the London high security prison of Belmarsh. He was arrested in April 2019 after spending seven years in prison at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where he had taken refuge after violating the conditions of his bail, fearing extradition to the United States.
