Seventeen MPs in the U.K. have requested a virtual meeting with Julian Assange in a letter to the Ministry of Justice, to be held before the Jan. 4 date scheduled for the judge’s decision on extradition. Mostly Labour MPs (with one Tory and one Scottish Independence member), including Jeremy Corbyn, the request notes that Assange acted as a journalist by releasing secret material embarrassing to the U.S., including “exposing U.S. war atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
The letter also observed that, “This case has important implications for press and publishing freedoms in the U.K., for the U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty including its ban on extradition for political offenses and for wider human rights.” They take note that a United Nations torture expert recently met with Mr. Assange at Belmarsh Prison and concluded his human rights are being violated.
