On June 17, 2022, the United Kingdom approved Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States to face charges, primarily under the nation’s Espionage Act, for releasing US government records that revealed the US military committed war crimes against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the killing of two Reuters journalists. If found guilty, Assange faces a jail term of up to 175 years.
The IFJ is gravely concerned about the impact of Assange’s continued detention on media freedom and the rights of all journalists globally. The US pursuit of Assange against the public’s right to know poses a grave threat to the fundamental tenets of democracy, which are becoming increasingly fragile worldwide. Irrespective of personal views on Assange, his extradition will have a chilling effect, with all journalists and media workers at risk.
John Shipton came to Geneva for the premiere of “Ithaka”, a documentary that tells of his fight and that of Stella Assange to free the founder of WikiLeaks.
The RSCh journalist in Switzerland Eliécer Jiménez Julio spoke with the father of Julian Assange and collects the testimonies of various journalists from around the world regarding the serious situation that Assange is experiencing and the danger that his extradition represents for world journalism.
