Media groups urges US government to drop charges on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

The Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange has been in Belmarsh Prison in south London over the release of the leaks provided by the US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

On Monday, media groups wrote a letter to the Biden administration, urging the US to drop the charges against Assange. Claiming that “publishing is not a crime”, media outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El Pais, wrote the letter to the US government. 

According to The Guardian, 12 years ago the media outlets who wrote the letter, collaborated to release excerpts from 250,000 documents obtained by Assange in the “Cablegate” leak. The excerpts were leaked to Wiki Leaks by then-American soldier Chelsea Manning. The documents exposed the inner workings of US diplomacy around the world.

Media outlets publicly opposed the plans to charge Assange

The editors and publishers of the media outlets publicly opposed the plans to charge Assange over the case, fearing that it will become a precedent in future cases. The Wiki Leaks founder has been held in Belmarsh prison in South London since his arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2019. Assange has already spent seven years in prison living inside the embassy premises to avoid arrest. The arrest happens in the light of Assange’s failure to surrender to the UK courts.

In August, The Guardian reported that the lawyers of the WikiLeaks founder have filed an appeal against his extradition to the US. Assange was indicted on 17 espionage charges in the US. In June, the then UK home secretary Priti Patil approved Assange’s extradition to US, the lawyers then went on to appeal against the decision. The letter reminded the US administration that in 2010 under Barak Obama’s leadership US government indicated that it would not persecute Assange for the leaks, expressing worries that the case will set precedent, the Media outlets urged the Biden administration to drop the case.