United Kingdom’s Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has asserted that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States, where he will face prosecution for the crime of doing journalism.
Assange was arrested by the UK government inside of the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday, where he had political asylum for nearly seven years. The US claims that he had attempted to aid Chelsea Manning in cracking a password to obtain files she already had access to, but under a different account.
Corbyn tweeted that the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominated publisher should not be extradited “for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government.pic.twitter.com/CxTUrOfkHt
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 11, 2019
Tweet also contained a video in which Labour MP and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott says:
“And we should recall what WikiLeaks actually disclosed: Who can forget the Pentagon video footage of a missile attack in 2007 in Iraq, which killed 18 civilians and two Reuters journalists? It is the monumental amount of leaks such as this that lifted the veil on U.S.-led military operation in a variety of theaters, none of which have produced a favorable outcome [for] the people of those countries. Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect U.S. national security. He is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by U.S. administrations and their military forces.”
Abbott also tweeted the video, adding, “in this country we have protections for whistle-blowers, those who take personal risk to disclose wrongdoing in the public intrest. Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security. He is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations.”
In this country we have protections for whistle-blowers, those who take personal risk to disclose wrongdoing in the public intrest. Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security. He is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations pic.twitter.com/pFXds56ASD
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) April 11, 2019
Speaking to BBC Radio 4‘s “Today” show, Abbott said “this is all about WikiLeaks and all of that embarrassing information about the activities of the American military and security services that was made public.”
Last December the New York Times revealed Ecuador’s president tried to sell Assange to the US for debt relief. Ecuador received $4.2 billion in a US backed IMF bailout on February 4. The US seeks Assange’s extradition over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publications on war and diplomacy. His alleged source, Chelsea Manning, was re-jailed last month to coerce her into a secret interrogation against him.
