Over one hundred leading political figures, including 13 former and present heads of state, numerous ministers, members of parliament, and diplomats, signed a statement Sept. 20 denouncing the illegality of the proceedings now in progress against Julian Assange in London, and appealed for his immediate release, Consortium News announced in today’s issue.
The call brought together political figures from 27 different countries across the political spectrum, who have joined 189 independent international lawyers, judges, legal academics, and lawyers’ associations by endorsing their open letter warning the U.K. government that the U.S. extradition request and extradition proceedings violate national and international law, breach fair trial rights, and other human rights, and threaten press freedom and democracy.
Besides the current and former Presidents, the call to free Assange is signed by former Prime Ministers and Australian MPs from the cross-party parliamentary group to free Assange. The unprecedented appeal to the U.K. government by the international political community follows concerns raised by Amnesty International, the Council of Europe, the American Civil Liberties Union, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and numerous other rights organizations, which cite the chilling effect Assange’s prosecution will have on press freedom. Amnesty International’s petition calling on the U.S. government to drop charges against Assange has more than 400,000 signatures.
The Trump Administration is seeking Assange’s extradition from the U.K. to prosecute him under the Espionage Act for his work as a journalist and publisher.
The current or former heads of state or government who signed the call include:
Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina (2019);
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Vice-President of Argentina (2019), President of Argentina (2007-2015), lawyer;
