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Norway must demand that the United Kingdom release Assange, and that the United States drop the case.
Debate
This is a debate post. Opinions in the text are at the writer’s expense.
Political prisoner Julian Assange has now been imprisoned for more than 1,000 days without trial and pending the British court’s final processing of the extradition request.
Organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International demand that Assange be released and that the process of extradition to the United States be stopped. Norsk Pen focuses on persecuted journalists, writers and artists all over the world. We demand the same.
We have set up a separate committee to follow Julian Assange’s situation.
No normal trial
Upon extradition to the United States, he risks 175 years in prison. This for having published documents and truths through Wikileaks about the US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Upon extradition to the United States, no normal trial awaits with the right to testify and testify.
The indictment on 18 counts will be heard under the “Espionage act”, a special court intended to convict spies after the First World War.
Many press organizations are protesting now. One reason is that it would set a dangerous precedent if an Australian citizen could be extradited from a third country for publishing facts about the true face of power.
Defeat for critical journalism
A court in London ruled in January 2021 that Assange could not be extradited. The reason was that there was a real danger of suicide in the conditions of imprisonment that awaited him.
This was considered by some to be a victory. But the verdict was in reality a defeat for critical journalism. It upheld the United States on all counts in order to prosecute journalists who uncover secret information, true information about American crimes.
The High Court in London overturned the ban on extradition. That was because it did not find the risk of suicide documented.
Miserable condition
At the same time, Assange’s health situation deteriorated during his imprisonment in Belmarsh High-Risk Prison. He is in a miserable condition medically and mentally and had a minor stroke last autumn.
Nils Melzer is the UN rapporteur for torture. He documents in his book “The Fall of Julian Assange” that Assange has been subjected to psychological torture.
The book is well documented and shows that Assange has been subjected to many years of well-organized violation of his human rights. Melzer writes that power will punish a messenger who reveals unpleasant truths.
Derogatory treatment
Norsk Pen’s observers at one of the London trials observed that Assange was treated in a degrading manner and denied normal communication with his defenders.
He was illegally monitored during the seven years he was placed in political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy. Several news outlets revealed last fall that the CIA was discussing plans to abduct him from the embassy and even kill him.
Can anyone really believe that the same authorities will give Assange a fair trial and good conditions of imprisonment?
Must work for release
Thorbjørn Jagland is a former Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary General of the Council of Europe. In Klassekampen, he has said that Norway, with its collective obligations in the European Convention on Human Rights, must work for the release of Assange.
Norsk Pen now believes that Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor Party) must immediately demand that the United Kingdom release Assange, and that the United States close the case.
The post is written by the Assange committee in Norsk Pen, by Rune Ottosen (leader), Erling Borgen, William Nygaard and Eva Stenbro.
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