Assange's Public Support Growing Ahead Of Extradition Ruling - UK Socialist Equality Party

Assange's Public Support Growing Ahead of Extradition Ruling - UK Socialist Equality Party

Public support for Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, is growing, as proven by a large number of sympathizers who have arrived at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London ahead of his extradition hearing today, UK Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden told Sputnik on Monday

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2019) Public support for Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, is growing, as proven by a large number of sympathizers who have arrived at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London ahead of his extradition hearing today, UK Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden told Sputnik on Monday.

"I think that the support for Julian Assange is growing. There was a whole period in which there was free reign to slander him. All the media were jumping in on it, and now we have a situation where the issues are being posed so starkly that if Assange is done on espionage charges for the basic journalistic practices that he carried out then this will have a chilling effect on free speech, and on freedom of the press," Marsden said before the start of the hearing.

According to him, even those who previously demonstrated hostility toward Assange have now formally opposed the campaign against him.

"And that means that the public that were denied that real genuine understanding of the issues at stake are becoming informed. Thanks largely to the people here who have been campaigning consistently for him for the past seven or eight years," the politician added.

Earlier on Monday, Assange arrived for his extradition hearing in London. The hearing is set to determine the agenda of the future hearings for the WikiLeaks founder's potential extradition to the United States.

Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence in London's Belmarsh prison over violating his bail conditions. In the United States, he is facing espionage charges over his work with WikiLeaks, which published a large number of leaked classified documents.