Julian Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid being extradited and imprisoned for life by the United States. Assange is the founder of Wikileaks, a multinational media organization that releases documents showing the abuse of power of ruling classes all over the world. The world of democracy, truth, free press and freedom of speech will be betrayed if Assange is convicted.
Assange is accused of various crimes that relate to the military documents his organization released. In May 2019, he was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison in the U.K. In the United States, he is being indicted on computer intrusion charges and is subject to the violation of espionage law for releasing classified and sensitive information about the military.
Described as “[a] six-year archive of classified military documents [that] offers an unvarnished and grim picture of the Afghan war” by the New York Times, these leaked documents portray nothing but the truth. They show the killing of innocent civilians and children by the U.S. military. If Assange is imprisoned, it would be a shameful act of the government imposing its hegemony over the people and trying to conceal such a heinous and immoral crime.
The extradition of Assange is propagating strong signals of societal domination and politics by the people at the top. We are being dragged away from good ethics and justice for the sake of a few people acquiring world control by any grotesque means possible.
This anti-extradition protest has caused many to advocate for the freedom of press around the world. Roger Waters, Pink Floyd frontman and political activist, was infuriated by the U.K.’s imprisonment of Assange. He and a group of people marched in London over the immoral acts of the governments around the world. Claiming that Assange is a hero who lifted the veil on the abuse of power from the government, Waters said, “How do we put ourselves in the position of a Julian Assange in solitary confinement or with that kid in Syria or Palestine or Rohingya, being blown to bits by these people in this building (the government) here?”
Journalism is not a criminal activity. Officials claiming that he is not a journalist are creating unwarranted boundaries in free press that would not allow such leaks in the future. This is not the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last. This pursuit of extradition against Assange shows the decay of morality amongst the powerful people in our world. The country that we pledge allegiance to should show us reciprocity by telling the truth at all times.
Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States would not only cost him his life, but also doom free press as a balance to the criminal authorities of the state.
