British, Australian Lawmakers Call on US to Drop Assange Prosecution

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Facts

• British and Australian lawmakers on Tuesday called on the US to drop its prosecution of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, marking the four-year anniversary of his imprisonment at Belmarsh prison.¹
• Assange has been held at the British maximum-security prison while facing 17 charges of espionage and an additional count of computer misuse — with a maximum sentence of 175 years imprisonment if he’s found guilty.²
• The charges relate to WikiLeaks' publication of classified military documents from the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to the publication of US diplomatic cables.³
• In Australia, Assange's home country, 48 MPs and senators, including 13 from the governing Labor Party, signed the letter calling on US Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges. They said the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom and it would be 'needlessly damaging for the US as a world leader on freedom of expression and the rule of law.'⁴
• In the UK, 35 parliamentarians called on Garland to drop the charges. Similarly, they said, Assange's continued prosecution would have a 'chilling impact' on journalism, setting a 'dangerous precedent' for other journalists and media organizations, as well as undermining the US reputation on 'freedom of expression and the rule of law.'¹
• Previously, dozens of human rights and press freedom organizations called on the US to drop the charges.⁵

Sources: ¹Independent, ²Guardian (a), ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Guardian (b) and ⁵Don't extradite assange.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Npr online news. Assange must be extradited to the US to face the consequences for the irreparable harm he has caused. For instance, civilians in Afghanistan or Iraq who collaborated with the US military had to go into hiding for fear of reprisal from the Taliban and al-Qaeda. US surveillance tools were also exposed, meaning they became redundant and had to be replaced, forcing taxpayers to foot additional spending.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Poynter. Assange’s prosecution has been rife with procedural violations and it criminalizes routine journalistic activity. The First Amendment becomes meaningless if Assange's prosecution continues, especially since he revealed scores of war crimes and abuses of power which the US government had a duty to investigate rather than a cover-up.