Brazil, Lula speaks out against extraditing Assange to the US

"I view with concern the imminent extradition of journalist Julian Assange." Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said this morning that he was concerned about the future extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States and urged everyone to protect the journalist. "Assange has done an important job of exposing the illegal actions of one state against another. His detention goes against the defense of democracy and freedom of the press. It is important that we all mobilize in defense of him," he tweeted Lula.

In May, following the coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Lula called for the early release of the WikiLeaks founder. Since April 2019, Assange, an Australian citizen, has been held in London's Belmarsh High Security Prison while he faces trial in the United States under the Espionage Act. If found guilty, the WikiLeaks founder could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.

On June 13, he will appeal again to the High Court in London to challenge his extradition to the United States, which will be the last attempt in the British courts, as further hearings will only be possible at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), according to the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders. Assange has already appealed to the ECHR in December 2022. WikiLeaks was founded by Julian Assange on October 4, 2006, but rose to prominence in 2010 when he began publishing large-scale leaks of classified government information, including from the United States .