USA, collection of signatures in Congress for the release of Assange

The resolution was co-sponsored by the 8 representatives including Anna Paulina Luna, Ilhan Omar. “Whereas normal journalistic activities, including the obtaining and publishing of information, are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” as stated in the resolution, the signatories demand that the multiple and serious charges leveled against Assange, concerning the publication of classified US military documents, be permanently revoked. Assange is facing 17 charges and, if he is extradited and tried in the US, he could be sentenced to 175 years in a maximum security prison. The resolution - which reaches Congress after numerous efforts made this year by representatives of the US and Australian parliaments - recalls how, on the portal created by the Australian journalist, Wikileaks, in 2010, "a cache of hundreds of thousands of pieces of information, including Guantánamo Bay detainee assessment reports, State Department cables, rules of engagement files, and other U.S. military reports” and that “disclosure of this information promoted transparency public through exposure of the hiring of child prostitutes by Department of Defense contractors, friendly fire incidents, human rights abuses, killings of civilians, and the use of psychological warfare by the United States.” The accusations against Assange were made by the Trump administration in relation to the publication on WikiLeaks, dated November 2010, of the cablegrams of the US army analyst Chelsea Manning, which shed light on war crimes of various kinds perpetrated by the US government in Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan (including a 17-minute video that became known as Collateral Murder).

The documents published by Assange also contained information regarding the relations of American diplomats with world leaders, not free from even rather sharp personal opinions, and comments on possible nuclear and terrorist threats. Since 2019, Assange has been imprisoned in London's Belmarsh prison. At first instance, in January 2021, the English Court had denied the extradition of the journalist requested by the United States, but less than a year later the Court of Appeal overturned the decision. On 21 April 2022, Westminster Magistrates' Court in London issued the formal extradition order to the US for Assange and, two months later, Home Secretary Priti Patel put her final stamp on the decision. Last year, many of the journalists and editors of American and European newspapers who collaborated with Assange in publishing extracts from the documents – The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País – wrote a letter open to ask the United States to drop the charges against the Australian activist. Three months ago, a delegation of Australian lawmakers met with US officials demanding Assange's freedom. Then, in November, a dozen US lawmakers signed a letter sent to President Biden calling for an end to the prosecution of the journalist.