Member of the European Parliament Ana Miranda as well as German Bundestag lawmakers Sevim Dagdelen and Heike Haensel issued a joint statement on Monday, opposing the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and calling on UK and EU authorities to prevent Assange's extradition to the United States
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2019) Member of the European Parliament Ana Miranda as well as German Bundestag lawmakers Sevim Dagdelen and Heike Haensel issued a joint statement on Monday, opposing the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and calling on UK and EU authorities to prevent Assange's extradition to the United States.
On April 11, Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on US extradition order after Quito revoked his political asylum. The WikiLeaks founder now faces the threat of extradition to the United States on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and could get up to five years in jail.
"We strongly oppose the criminalization of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. ... We call on the British government not to extradite Julian Assange to the USA. The European Union must take action to do everything to protect a politically persecuted publisher and journalist," the lawmakers' statement says.
They condemned the behavior of the Ecuadorian government last week, calling it a flagrant violation of international law.
According to the parliamentarians, the situation around Assange sets a dangerous precedent that threatens journalism, freedom of speech and the media worldwide.
The three lawmakers also protested standing in front of HMP Belmarsh prison in London, where Assange is reportedly kept. However, Scotland Yard does not confirm the location of Assange.
Since 2012, Assange had been residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced a probe over allegations of sexual offenses. While the Swedish police dropped the investigation in 2017, Assange was still wary of being extradited to the United States.
Assange gained fame after WikiLeaks published a large number of classified documents, including some that exposed abuses of power and war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
