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The Prosecution of Julian Assange Affects Us All original.antiwar.com/Nozomi_Hayase/… #FreeAssange
1. Julian Assange, who has become a political prisoner in the US government's war on the free press, was charged under the Espionage Act over publications exposing the US illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. #FreeAssange
2. The legal battle of this persecuted journalist is a matter of life or death. On US soil, where Assange would have no chance of receiving a fair trial, the Attorney General, William Barr, recently called to resume executions for federal crimes after a 16-year pause.#FreeAssange
3. The state of Virginia, where WikiLeaks grand jury sits, still has a death penalty. Moreover, regardless of what President Trump said about WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign, he clearly stated that Assange should be given the death penalty. #FreeAssange
4. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer assessed that if extradited, Assange would "be exposed to a real risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". #FreeAssange
5. Renowned journalist John Pilger, who visited Assange in prison last week, alarmed the public about his deteriorated health and noted how Assange is isolated and treated "worse than a murderer". #FreeAssange
6. The prosecution of Assange matters to us all. It goes beyond the life of one individual. It concerns the fundamental rights of ordinary people who are endowed with the power to determine the future of democracy. #FreeAssange
7. Julian Assange is a journalist. WikiLeaks is a publisher. The journalism that Assange engaged in demonstrated his fierce commitment to the free speech tradition that recognizes the significance of ordinary people as authors of their own lives. #FreeAssange #WikiLeaks
8. To honor this commitment, Assange kept publishing. Even when senior US officials incited his murder and former US Vice President Joe Biden called him a high-tech terrorist, he never wavered. #FreeAssange
9. From financial blockades to the harassment and threats against anyone associated with him, Assange fought to keep WikiLeaks alive. For this tenacity, he is condemned, smeared, deprived of his liberty and placed in profound isolation. #FreeAssange #WikiLeaks
10. The impulse for justice that #Assange brought to us, together with his sources’ courage, calls all to ignite our moral indignation. It urges us to bear the burden of those truth-tellers who have sacrificed so much of their lives in order to defend the public’s right to know.
