Julian Assange has been a lot. Journalist, publicist, activist, hacker and programmer. The US believes that “spy” should also be added to this list, and wants Assange extradited to the US, where a 175-year prison sentence could await him. Alan Rusbridger was editor of The Guardian when the newspaper published the documents that were leaked by Wikileaks, the website Assange created in 2006. – In the 2000s, we have to get used to journalists who don’t have a press card in their hat, Rusbridger tells news. Alan Rusbridger is currently editor of the Prospect newspaper. Photo: Gry Blekastad Almås / news He believes that there is a significant difference between spying on the state and publishing state secrets. – This is foolish, and a dangerous precedent for other journalists. Rusbridger points out that Assange is an Australian citizen, lives in Great Britain, but that he is being asked to travel to the United States for having broken American law: – Can you imagine that the United States would let an American journalist serve time in an Indian prison, for example ? It just wouldn’t happen, says Rusbridger. Australia demands his release Inside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Julian Assange’s lawyers fought on Tuesday for what they believe to be global freedom of expression, for press freedom, and for the 52-year-old’s life. American prosecutors have demanded that Julian Assange be extradited from Great Britain to the United States, which the British government has initially approved. Assange’s legal team, on the other hand, believes that the American spy indictment is a political accusation, and does not provide grounds for extradition. The protagonist himself therefore wanted the British Supreme Court to consider the case. It is this appeal that the court hearing decides on. Both the Australian parliament and the country’s prime minister have demanded his release. The UN’s special envoy for torture cases has demanded his release. But the British and American authorities have so far not been swayed. Assange himself is not present in court. He was granted permission to come but was not well, according to his lawyers. Demonstrators present call for the release of Julian Assange. Photo: Alberto Pezzali / AP US representatives are expected to present their case on Wednesday. The supporters Journalist and human rights organizations have appeared outside the court. They believe that Assange is a journalist and publicist, and not a spy. Documentary maker Erling Borgen is one of them, in place for the freedom of expression organization Norsk PEN. Borgen tells news that he sees the trial as an attempt to intimidate critical journalists and to stop disclosures: – This is about investigative journalism around defense policy and foreign policy, says Borgen. Documentary maker Erling Borgen believes the Norwegian government must do more to release Julian Assange. Photo: Gry Blekastad Almås / news – Could it have something to do with the fact that he has consciously or unconsciously helped run Russia’s errands? – I don’t see the matter that way, says Borgen. – He has spent seven years locked up in Ecuador’s embassy, and five years in England’s response to Guantánamo. It is not acceptable to treat people in such a way. Assange is accused of collaborating with Russian intelligence, as Wikileaks has never leaked anything from Russia. The accusation The Australian editor founded the website Wikileaks, which publishes leaked documents. In 2010, he published classified US documents that revealed the torture and killing of civilians. Among other things, over 250,000 diplomatic messages were exposed, in addition to information about the US’s war in Iraq, where two Reuters journalists and several civilians are said to have been killed by US soldiers. Spokesperson for the US Department of Defense, Major Shawn Turner, claims the killings were an “accident”. According to Turner, the soldiers must have thought that the camera the journalists were carrying was a weapon. Information about alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan also received a lot of attention. Facts about the process surrounding Julian Assange In 2010, Wikileaks published large amounts of classified material, including about the US’s warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, partly in collaboration with newspapers such as the British Guardian and the American New York Times. In November 2010, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was wanted by the Swedish authorities, suspected of rape and sexual assault against two Swedish women. He was arrested in the UK in December of the same year, but released on bail and duty to report. In June 2012, the British Supreme Court confirmed that he could be extradited to Sweden. Assange feared that Sweden would extradite him to the United States and sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. On 11 April 2019, Ecuador withdrew its protection of Assange, and British police entered the embassy and arrested him. On the same day, the United States published an indictment for complicity in data breaches. On 1 May 2019, Assange was sentenced in a British court to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. On 23 May 2019, the US Department of Justice published a comprehensive indictment on 18 counts in which Assange is accused, among other things, of violating the US Espionage Act. On 19 November 2019, Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape case against Assange, who had always denied the accusations. On January 4, 2021, a lower court in the United Kingdom refused to extradite Julian Assange to the United States. The court feared that American sentencing conditions could lead to Assange committing suicide. The United States appealed the case. On December 10, 2021, the United States prevailed in a higher court, which approved extradition. The British judges had received assurances from the United States that they will take the suicide risk into account. June 17, 2022: The British government approved the extradition of Julian Assange. 20 and 21 February 2024: After previously unsuccessful attempts to get the British Supreme Court to hear the appeal of the extradition decision, Assange makes a final attempt. The British High Court will decide whether there are now grounds for the British Supreme Court to look into the case. From 2012 to 2019, Assange received protection at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. But after a change of government in Ecuador, he was quickly arrested by British police. In 2019, he was sent to the notorious Belmarsh high-risk prison. He has been there for almost five years, awaiting a final decision in British law. After seven years in asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, Julian Assange was arrested by British police and imprisoned. Photo: Hannah Mckay / ReutersAfter seven years in asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, Julian Assange was arrested by British police and imprisoned . Photo: Hannah McKay / Reuters
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Demands that Britain release Assange – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
