(LifeSiteNews) –– Julian Assange is 52 years old today. He has been in the maximum security prison at Belmarsh, U.K., since 2019. This is the fifth birthday he has spent behind bars. Previously, he was holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, England, having sought refuge there in the summer of 2012.
With the publication of Wikileaks, Julian Assange brought you the news of the war crimes committed in your name, but without your knowledge.
He is facing extradition to the United States on 18 criminal counts after the publication of secret cables on Wikileaks in 2010 and 2011. “If this political prosecution is not wrong – nothing is wrong,” Peter Hitchens wrote.
Once again, I appeal to other commentators to join me in calling for Julian Assange’s extradition to be refused by the British government, and for Mr Assange to be freed from his severe an unjustied imprisonment. If this political prosecution is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) July 1, 2023
What did he reveal to the world?
As The Week reported in 2020, Julian Assange has reported many hidden issues that the powerful would prefer you never to have seen.
- France’s Nicolas Sarkozy pressed for the destruction of Libya in order to gain control of Libyan oil reserves, and to sabotage a “Gold dinar” plan for Africa – which would have replaced the Euro – and dollar-based debt with an African currency.
- U.S. and NATO war crimes
- U.S. political corruption
- Massive CIA secret surveillance
Why does he face extradition?
Assange is a journalist who faces an estimated 175 years in prison under the U.S. Espionage Act.
The reason is his disclosure of things the deep state would prefer you not to know. He has been repeatedly accused of “endangering lives” with his release of information – a charge that was found to be made without evidence by the BBC in 2010.
The late Daniel Ellsberg, who heroically revealed the Pentagon Papers, argued that it was silence that cost lives.
“The best justification they can find for secrecy is that lives are at stake. Actually, lives are at stake as a result of the silences and lies which a lot of these leaks reveal,” he said. “The same charges were made against the Pentagon Papers and turned out to be quite invalid.”
On July 2, investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald responded to the charge that Assange’s revelations endangered people. Speaking in an interview with Canada’s CBC news, he dismissed as routine the claims of harm-by-journalism made by the U.S. government.
CBC news speaks to Glenn Greenwald about attempts to extradite Julian Assange, which seeks to ‘criminalize the heart of investigative journalism’, as wife of Assange was granted a private audience with the Pope at the Vatican on Friday @CBCNews https://t.co/IQS7Midcnr pic.twitter.com/WxjhNqrubi
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 2, 2023
“I would challenge anybody who believes that to identify even a single person that has ever been put in harm’s way as a result of these publications,” Greenwald said.
This is what the US Government says in every instance where someone comes forward and blows the whistle on their conduct. They said that about the Pentagon Papers.
Greenwald won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Edward Snowden. Greenwald himself had the same charge of harm without evidence leveled at him as a result.
False accusations
Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012, where he stayed for seven years. He was charged with rape in Sweden, and maintained the charges were politically motivated.
Though the charges were dropped, he was arrested on leaving the sanctuary of the embassy. He was imprisoned for 50 days for the crime of skipping bail for these charges.
READ: UK approves Julian Assange’s extradition to the US over spying charges
He has now served a total of five years in a maximum security prison without being charged with a crime.
His wife and son at the Vatican
Assange’s wife, Stella, together with his son were granted a private audience with the Holy Father at the Vatican last Friday, June 30.
#FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/ZxjC09UH73
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 30, 2023
Discarded by the warmongering establishment and imprisoned without legitimate reason, his case is one that should be invoked whenever the rule of law or the freedoms of liberal democracy are championed.
Julian Assange turns 52 today. He should be celebrating his birthday at home with his family, not locked away in a maximum security dungeon. pic.twitter.com/AtEuUNDe7A
— sarah (@sahouraxo) July 3, 2023
A silent future?
The treatment of Julian Assange is obscene. His fate is inseparable from that of the future of journalism in the free world.
As CNN reported on June 9, Assange has been denied the right to appeal against the order to extradite him.
Reporters Without Borders, the international organization for journalists, pointed out that the decision of the judge has ramifications for the future of the freedom of information worldwide.
Its Director of Campaigns, Rebecca Vincent said:
It is absurd that a single judge can issue a three-page decision that could land Julian Assange in prison for the rest of his life and permanently impact the climate for journalism around the world.
The historical weight of what happens next cannot be overstated; it is time to put a stop to this relentless targeting of Assange and act instead to protect journalism and press freedom.
Our call on President Biden is now more urgent than ever: drop these charges, close the case against Assange, and allow for his release without further delay.
This is a call to add pressure upon the Biden administration to abandon this prosecution. With the decision of the U.K. court, the determination of Julian Assange’s future lies with Biden and his court. As Newsweek reported earlier in June, Biden has faced calls of hypocrisy as he campaigned as a champion of a free press.
READ: Even Communist China is calling out the authoritarianism of America’s global world order
His decision will cast a shadow – or a light – over the future practice of journalism everywhere. As the CNN report concluded, speaking of Assange’s final and failed appeal:
Meanwhile, the International and the European Federations of Journalists (IEFJ) said it was “appalled” by the decision. IEFJ President Dominique Pradalié called on the British and US governments to end the “grotesque persecution” of the embattled Australian. “If Assange goes to jail, no journalist on earth will be safe,” Pradalié said.
Please join the campaign to defend journalism worldwide. Please write to your governments and request his release.
“If this is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated on July 5, 2023. The original version uncorrected stated that Assange had spent 4,015 days in Belmarsh Prison. LifeSiteNews regrets the error.