Free Julian Assange

December 27, 2021

Open Letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Representative Ilhan Omar, Representative Betty McCullom, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Tina Smith,

We urge you to stop the extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange. The United States cannot claim to stand for a free press and freedom of speech while blatantly violating its own principles when journalists publish things it doesn’t want public.

Assange and WikiLeaks have made extremely valuable contributions to anti-war work in exposing US war crimes that otherwise would have remained secret to Americans and the world:

• 2007’s “Collateral Murder” video shows a US Apache helicopter mowing down 11 civilians – including two Reuters journalists – in Baghdad.
• 2010’s “Iraq War Logs,” the biggest leak in the history of the US military, provided 400,000 Army field reports to the general public, resulting in the Iraq Body Count project adding 15,000 civilian deaths to their count, bringing their total to over 150,000, roughly 80% civilians.
• Another large leak in 2010 was the “Afghan War Diary,” revealing how coalition forces had killed hundreds of civilians in previously unreported incidents.

Overall, if the United States government is breaking domestic and international laws by committing war crimes and engaging in torture, the American public has a right to know.

Furthermore, the United States has no valid case against Assange:

• Sigurdur ‘Siggi’ Thordarson, a key witness in Assange’s indictment, has admitted to fabricating key parts of his testimony. Including a claim that Assange asked him to hack into government computers
• UC Global, a CIA contractor, spied on Assange while he was in the Ecuadorian Embassy, even spying on meetings with doctors and lawyers. This type of conduct was grounds for dismissal of charges against Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers Case. 
• In September, Yahoo News revealed plans the CIA had drawn up to assassinate Assange in 2017

We have no reason to believe that the US justice system will provide humane treatment to Assange.  With over two million people behind bars, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Prisons here are overcrowded, violent, and inhumane. They do not provide education or rehabilitation. Incarcerated people are stabbed, beaten, raped, and killed in facilities run by corrupt officials who abuse their power with impunity.

Because of Assange and WikiLeaks, the public now knows of the crimes of the United States. Assange’s continued prosecution is a blatant attempt to divert attention and sweep this under the rug. Julian Assange has not committed a crime, he has rendered a public service to the United States and the world.

Prosecuting Assange creates an extremely dangerous precedent which could — and will — be used against publishers and journalists, scaring them away from doing hard-hitting work and undermining freedom of the press.

The Anti-War Committee condemns this trial and urges that the prosecution of Julian Assange be stopped immediately.

FFI:  https://www.freeassange.net/