WikiLeaks founding journalist arrested in England and wanted by US authorities for leaking classified information; the president says he views the possibility of the journalist’s extradition with ‘concern’
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) used its social networks to demonstrate against the extradition and arrest of the founding journalist of Wikileaks Julian Assange. “The arrest of him goes against the defense of democracy and freedom of the press,” wrote the president. “It is important that we all mobilize in their defense.” The journalist is accused of having leaked classified information from the United States and, according to the definition of the president, “has done an important job in exposing the illegitimate actions of one state against another”.
It is not the first time that Lula defends the journalist. Already during the 2022 electoral campaign you had asked for “global pressure” for the release of the founder of WikiLeaks. “We who are talking about democracy should ask ourselves: What crime has Assange committed?” she told supporters in a speech in Maceió. In November, after being elected, Lula met with WikiLeaks representatives and again defended the journalist’s release, calling his detention “unjust”.
In May this year, during the coronation of King Charles III, Lula once again criticized the arrest of Assange. “It is a shame that a journalist who has exposed the cheating of one state against another is imprisoned, sentenced to die in prison,” he said at a news conference in London.
I view with concern the imminent possibility of the extradition of journalist Julian Assange. Assange has done important work in exposing the illegitimate actions of one state against another. His arrest goes against the defense of democracy and freedom of the press. It is important that everyone…
— Lula (@LulaOficial) June 10, 2023
Assange is the target of 18 indictments in the US for disclosing classified documents, mainly in military matters. Among the documents leaked through WikiLeaks are allegations of war crimes and espionage carried out by the US government in other countries, including Brazil. According to the documents revealed by the site, the United States would have intercepted the then president Dilma Rousseff and 29 other government telephones, including ministers, diplomats and advisers.
Currently, the journalist has been held in the maximum security prison of Belmarsh, England, since 2019, after spending seven years in exile at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Last week, a London High Court judge rejected Assange’s extradition request, saying he had no legal grounds for doing so. He continues to appeal in court and, if he returns to the United States, he faces a sentence of up to 175 years.
International relations
Assange’s defense marks yet another point of divergence between Lula and the US government. The Brazilian representative, who met US President Joe Biden in February, has already shown discrepancies with the interests of the foreign nation, such as when he questioned the hegemony of the dollar in international trade. Since taking office, for example, Lula has strengthened ties with China, criticized the US stance on the war in Ukraine, and spoken out against US sanctions against Venezuela.
Source: Terra
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