Pressure continues to mount on authorities in the United States to cease extradition proceedings against Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange on charges of espionage.
Mastheads The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais and Der Speigel recently authored a joint letter calling for US authorities to stop pursuing charges against Assange. The open letter was published on November 28 – the 12th anniversary of the first series of stories published by the five mastheads in cooperation with Wikileaks.
Those same publications all ultimately turned on Assange when he published further leaks without them, but they say they “come together now to express our grave concerns about the continued prosecution of Julian Assange for obtaining and publishing classified materials”.
“‘Cable gate’, a set of 251,000 confidential cables from the US State Department disclosed corruption, diplomatic scandals and spy affairs on an international scale,” the open letter states.
“In the words of The New York Times, the documents told ‘the unvarnished story of how the government makes its biggest decisions, the decisions that cost the country most heavily in lives and money’. Even now in 2022, journalists and historians continue to publish new revelations, using the unique trove of documents.”
The mastheads acknowledge that the “most severe consequences” for the publication of ‘Cable Gate’ was felt by Julian Assange personally.
“On April 11th, 2019, Assange was arrested in London on a US arrest warrant, and has now been held for three and a half years in a high security British prison usually used for terrorists and members of organized crime groups. He faces extradition to the US and a sentence of up to 175 years in an American maximum security prison.
“This group of editors and publishers, all of whom had worked with Assange, felt the need to publicly criticize his conduct in 2011 when unredacted copies of the cables were released, and some of us are concerned about the allegations in the indictment that he attempted to aid in computer intrusion of a classified database. But we come together now to express our grave concerns about the continued prosecution of Julian Assange for obtaining and publishing classified materials.
“The Obama-Biden Administration, in office during the Wikileaks publication in 2010, refrained from indicting Assange, explaining that they would have had to indict journalists from major news outlets too. Their position placed a premium on press freedom, despite its uncomfortable consequences.
“Under Donald Trump however, the position changed. The DOJ relied on an old law, the Espionage Act of 1917 (designed to prosecute potential spies during World War 1), which has never been used to prosecute a publisher or broadcaster.
“This indictment sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press.
“Holding governments accountable is part of the core mission of a free press in a democracy.
“Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists. If that work is criminalised, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.
“Twelve years after the publication of “Cable gate”, it is time for the U.S. government to end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets. Publishing is not a crime.”
The open letter by the outlets continues to reverberate around media outlets, with NBC legal expert Ari Melber taking up the issue this week.
Earlier this year, Adele Ferguson, a Gold Walkley Award winning journalist and chair of the Walkley Foundation, re-iterated longstanding calls for the persecution of Assange to end, saying “the decision to extradite Julian Assange to the US should be a clarion call to anyone who cares about journalism and democracy”.
“Assange has been languishing for years and it is high time he is brought home,” Ferguson said. “Press freedom and human rights are vital to our society and what is happening sets a very dangerous precedent at a time when press freedom in this country is being chipped away.
“This is the time for the government to stand up for press freedom.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also said last month he “personally” requested of US officials that the pursuit of Assange be brought to a close.
Donate To New Matilda
New Matilda is a small, independent media outlet. We survive through reader contributions, and never losing a lawsuit. If you got something from this article, giving something back helps us to continue speaking truth to power. Every little bit counts.
