Wikileaks announced on Tuesday that the High Court of Justice in London has decided to hear what could be Julian Assange’s final appeal against his extradition to the United States with a two-day hearing on February 20-21, 2024.
This could be Assange’s last chance to avoid extradition.
The Wikileaks founder is an Australian citizen being charged by the US government for leaking classified government documents provided to him by US Army soldier Bradley Manning who later became Chelsea Manning, much of that information revealing gruesome details about the Iraq war.
But some US lawmakers in both parties believe the charges against him should be dropped.
On December 16, Republican Congressman Paul Gosar introduced a bipartisan resolution that begins, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that regular journalistic activities are protected under the First Amendment, and that the United States ought to drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange.”
The resolution lists each charge that the signees believe is protected by the First Amendment and also disputes other charges.
Eight members of the House now seek to drop all charges by the United States government against Assange, including Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Presley.
On the Republican side are Representatives Gosar, Thomas Massie, and Marjorie Taylor-Greene.
Sen. Rand Paul also joined the eight in demanding that the charges be dropped.
This is by no means the first time congressional members have called to end the persecution of Assange.
On November 14, a bipartisan group of members of Congress, led by McGovern and Massie, sent President Biden a letter insisting that charges be dropped. That letter was signed by many of these same names.
Assange is being charged under the Espionage Act, a World War 1-era relic, created to punish critics of US foreign policy. The majority of the charges against former President Donald Trump right now are also under the Espionage Act.
Sen. Paul has called for ditching the law, saying last year, “It is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment.”
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