López Obrador interceded for Julian Assange with Biden in the CLAN: Wikileaks

Tania Molina Ramirez

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, p. 3

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, and Joseph Farrell, ambassador of that organization, met with Andrés Manuel López Obrador a few days before the Summit of North American Leaders (CLAN). The President reiterated his solidarity with Julian Assange, imprisoned in the Belmarsh maximum security prison in London, and promised to speak about the case with Joe Biden, in the private meeting of both leaders. Which he did, Hrafnsson said, in an interview with the day.

The meeting with López Obrador took place at the end of a tour of Latin America, during which the Wikileaks delegation met with the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia and Argentina. They pledged to support the fight for the freedom of Julian Assange and to call on the Biden administration to drop the charges against the AustralianHrafnsson said.

In the past, the Mexican president has been very vehement in his support, and was, in many ways, the spearhead, the only voice among world leaders, showing their support for Julian, when others were silent., Hrafnsson continued. For this reason, during the meeting, Wikileaks expressed its gratitude to him. It was a very good visit, lasting two hours, on a busy day (the week leading up to the summit). I was able to go into detail, about Julian’s case, and the President was very attentive, understanding.

Pressure on the US

Hrafnsson appreciated that It was a good conclusion to our tour of Latin America. We now have a commitment from all the major countries south of the US border to put moderate pressure on the Biden administration, calling on it to do the right thing and practice what it says on free speech, and remove the charges against Julian.

Assange has been incarcerated in the maximum-security Belmarsh prison for almost four years, fighting his extradition to the United States, where he would face 18 charges, 17 of which are based on the Espionage Act, which has so far not been used against a journalist. They’re equating journalism with espionageHrafnsson said. If he is found guilty on all counts, he could face a sentence of 175 years.

It is time to say enough is enough, he needs to be released, he did not commit any crime, only the crime of doing journalism, and if that is a crime today, we should all be concernedexpressed the current editor-in-chief of Wikileaks. I am hopeful that the message is permeating, and that other world leaders will also speak up, that they will listen to the strong voices coming from Latin America, from López Obrador in Mexico.

They are currently awaiting the UK High Court’s decision on whether to allow Julian to appeal the extradition request. But the decision takes an unusually long time to arrive.

Political case, not judicial

In Hrafnsson’s view, it is clear that Assange’s case is political and not judicial. They are even avoiding the fact that the extradition request violates the extradition treaty between the United States and Great Britain. This treaty prohibits extradition for political reasons, and Julian is charged with the political offense in its purest form: espionage. So We cannot depend on the judicial process, we have to treat this for what it is: a political persecution that requires the intervention and interest of political leaders..

Hence his approval that more leaders follow the example of López Obrador: Gustavo Petro in Colombia, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner (as vice president) in Argentina and Luis Arce in Bolivia; they all agreed and told us: this is unacceptable, for us, as leaders of countries, because it will affect us, the journalists will be affected, if this example is carried out (sentencing Assange in the United States); represents much more than the life of an individual, it is a threat to the principle of freedom of expression throughout the world.