Rights advocates welcome Assange release but say US case sets worrying precedent
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange say he is a hero who was victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing and alleged war crimes.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – Free speech organisations welcomed the news of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s release from jail
Assange is due to plead guilty on June 26 to one charge of violating US espionage law, in a deal that will allow him to return home to Australia, ending a 14-year legal odyssey that could have landed him in jail for many decades.
The US authorities in 2019 charged Assange on 18 criminal counts of conspiring with former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain classified information and unlawfully publishing the names of classified sources.
Several rights groups, leading media organisations and the leaders of countries like Mexico, Brazil and Australia had urged that the charges against Assange be dropped.
Among those who welcomed his release were advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPG) and free speech organisation Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
“Julian Assange faced a prosecution that had grave implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide,” CPJ chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement.
Assange’s supporters say he is a hero who was victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing and alleged war crimes, including in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Washington says the release of documents he helped publish has put lives in danger.
“While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’ pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistle-blowers. This should never have been the case,” Ms Ginsberg said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Mr Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute.
“A plea deal would avert the worst-case scenario for press freedom, but this deal contemplates that Assange will have served five years in prison for activities that journalists engage in every day,” Mr Jaffer said in an e-mailed statement.
“It will cast a long shadow over the most important kinds of journalism, not just in this country (US) but also around the world,” Mr Jaffer said. REUTERS
