Media houses demand that the United States refrain from prosecuting Assange

With the appeal “Journalism is not a crime,” newspapers around the world have sent an open letter to the US government demanding that Julian Assange no longer be prosecuted.

Demonstration for Julian Assange (London, January 5, 2019) (Image: Londisland / shutterstock.com)

Several internationally renowned media houses have appealed to the US government to stop prosecuting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The open letter, signed by Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El Pais, New York Times, and The Guardian and published on Monday, said the indictment sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to erode press freedom.

Assange is attempting to take action against his extradition to the US – currently with an appeal to the High Court in London. After years of legal wrangling, the British government approved the extradition. The US judiciary wants to put Assange on trial for allegations of espionage.

He is accused of having stolen and published secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. Supporters see Assange as a courageous journalist who brought war crimes to light and who should now be made an example of.

Exactly twelve years ago, the media that wrote the open letter published disclosure stories about the confidential news of the US State Department in cooperation with the Wikileaks platform.