Public Comment

Former British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and famed linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky joined others earlier this year calling on President Biden to drop charges against Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks founder has been languishing for over four years in the harsh Belmarsh prison in London while appealing extradition to the United States.  

If he is extradited, tried and convicted, Assange faces up to 175 years in jail for violating the U.S. Espionage Act for publishing documents that exposed U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Belmarsh Tribunal at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in January was organized by the Progressive International and the Wau Holland Foundation. The conditions under which Assange is being held in Belmarsh prison are deeply troubling. Reports of his deteriorating health and the denial of proper medical treatment raise serious concerns about his well-being and the overall fairness of his detention. 

In light of this grave injustice, I call on the immediate release of Julian Assange.