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Julian Assange News

VIDEO: Gabriel Shipton on MSNBC, says Biden should pardon Assange to protect press freedom

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Espionage Act Journalism Julian Assange News

“Journalists must be activists for the truth” — Julian Assange testifies before the Council of Europe

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Espionage Act Journalism Julian Assange News

Assange to address Council of Europe human rights hearing

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Julian Assange News

A global movement freed Assange

Thank you, supporters around the world, for your contributions to Julian’s release

By Nathan Fuller, Assange Defense director

Stephen Rohde has written an excellent article on Julian Assange’s release, and the threat remaining to press freedom, “Until Julian Assange Is Pardoned, Press Freedom Remains at Risk.” Rohde asked me to comment on how we got here, and while he quoted from it briefly, I wanted to share my full response:

The movement to free Julian Assange has been a truly global effort. Activists on nearly every continent, in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities have each played a meaningful part in securing Julian’s release. I’m so happy for Julian, finally getting the freedom he’s deserved for so long, and I am so proud and honored to have been a part of that effort, and to have met so many amazing people along the way. 

While a plea deal was signed at the culmination of this saga, what happened outside of the courtroom has been just as important as inside. Knowing that process can be punishment, that justice delayed is denied, and that this case has always been political as well as legal, we have always tried to influence both our fellow citizens and our elected officials just as much as any judge. 

We carried out just about every action we could think of as we tried to spread the word and communicate the importance of this case. We rallied in the streets, hosted panel discussions, called our representatives, wrote op-eds, shared blog posts, produced videos, created artworks — if there’s a method to communicate, you can bet an Assange activist used it to shout loud and clear, ‘Free Assange!’

This effort required incredible teamwork and voices in every corner of civil society speaking up. Groups of lawyers, professors, artists, politicians, doctors, journalists, and free press and human rights organizations have all coauthored letters to the United States and United Kingdom governments, calling for Julian’s freedom. 

The Courage Foundation had already been underway for half a decade when Assange was arrested in April 2019, having worked to defend and support Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Lauri Love, and others, and we’d already been covering the abuses and persecution Julian faced while in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before that. I started meeting regularly with likeminded activists in the United States, and I want to shout out specifically the people I met with on a regular basis for those first couple years: our group included Vinnie DeStefano, who became our national organizer, Margaret Kunstler, Marty Goodman, Jim Lafferty, Stephen Rohde, Ann Batiza, Paula Iasella, Susan McLucas, Deborah Hrbek, Patricia Dahl, Dick and Sharon Kyle, Michael Smith, Chuck Zlatkin, Bernadette Evangelist, Jeff Mackler, Mike Madden, Frank Lawrence, Eric Harvey, Suzanne Murphy, Kendra Christian, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Joe Lombardo, and over the years several more came in and out, and we decided a new committee was needed here in the U.S. (Courage had been an international organization). 

Soon Ben Cohen stepped in to help us build up a real campaign team. I’ve always been proud of our reach, particularly with limited funds and so many volunteers, and the fact that we quickly created branches in cities all across the country, starting with NYC, LA, Denver, Milwaukee, Boston, Washington DC, and Chicago. By tabling for Assange at Roger Waters’ U.S. tour, as well as at screenings of Ithaka with Julian’s brother and father, we were able to expand even further, building out our network with supporters in just about every major city in the United States. 

We’ve organized and carried out dozens of campaigns within the larger goal of freeing Assange. We’ve cohosted a webinar series with Stella Assange, we’ve lobbied congress with letters and emails and phone calls and postcards, we’ve created pamphlets and flyers and posters and collages and montages. Activist groups in New York City and London were in the streets every week for years, sounding the alarm, never giving up.

Assange Defense has been a part of or uplifted many of these efforts, but we are far from the only ones — there are so many groups and activists who have been dedicated to this fight, including Free Assange in the UK (formerly Don’t Extradite Assange), the Australian Assange Campaign, support groups across Europe and Latin America, individuals across the United States undertaking solo efforts to get the word out. It’s amazing how wide-reaching this movement is and how many people have gotten involved. 

Exactly how many supporters we have around the world feels impossible to measure, but we’ve seen petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures, livestreams with a quarter million total views, and have been able to sell out movie theaters and fill lecture halls at various events. At Courage, even before his arrest we launched a photo campaign in support of Julian called We Are Millions, and it really does feel like it took the global village to free him. I’m really proud to have been one leader among many others within that movement, and to see our indefatigable, passionate work finally pay off.

 

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Julian Assange News

Julian’s freedom: reactions around the world

June 27, 2024 — Julian Assange has reached a plea deal for time served and has been released from Belmarsh Prison on June 24, 2024, after 1901 days unjustly detained (and a dozen years persecuted) for his journalism. He flew to Bangkok and then to Saipan Island, a U.S. overseas territory, where a hearing to formalize the plea deal took place, finally landing in Canberra, in the evening of June 26.

Julian’s freedom was welcomed and celebrated around the world.

Free press groups that fought for Julian’s freedom over the years, welcomed the good news, while also noting that the fight for press freedom is far from over, as US prosecution has already set a dangerous precedent.

https://twitter.com/RSF_inter/status/1805478449697399283
https://twitter.com/pressfreedom/status/1805416336043954226
https://twitter.com/amnesty/status/1805592147057385597
https://twitter.com/IFJGlobal/status/1805538394950250886
https://twitter.com/article19org/status/1805656178795454547
https://twitter.com/RightsDissent/status/1805676181515038945
https://twitter.com/withMEAA/status/1806189248535724281
https://twitter.com/FreedomofPress/status/1806045468163514469

Politicians, journalists, activists, public figures, long time supporters, celebrated Julian’s freedom, while emphasizing the work of millions of unknown activists who dedicated their lives to freeing him—and us all.

https://twitter.com/LulaOficial/status/1805578737196421466
https://twitter.com/RepRashida/status/1805718417401692637
https://twitter.com/petrogustavo/status/1805406735777382683
https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1805501275762520381
https://twitter.com/MichaelEllsberg/status/1805511908659019905
https://twitter.com/SMaurizi/status/1805422902827008060
https://twitter.com/CraigMurrayOrg/status/1805774041359188195
https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1805507146504609997
https://twitter.com/kennardmatt/status/1805520331802554432
https://twitter.com/avilarenata/status/1805783655601557632

 

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Julian Assange News

Julian’s release

From London to Bangkok to Saipan to Canberra, Julian Assange arrives home a free man.

June 26, 2024 — Upon his release from Belmarsh prison on June 24th, following a plea deal agreement with the US government, Julian Assange boarded a plane to Bangkok and then to Saipan Island, a US overseas territory, where a hearing to formalize the plea deal took place.

https://twitter.com/thomasreporting/status/1805756874102555017

“It appears this case ends with me here in Saipan”, said judge Manglona before who Julian’s plea deal was presented. “With this pronouncement it appears you will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man. I hope there will be some peace restored.”

https://twitter.com/Stella_Assange/status/1805799041558888555

At a press conference after the hearing concluded, Julian Assange’s US attorney Barry Pollack further explained the terms of the plea deal.

Mr Assange was not going to agree to any dispositions in the case that required him to accept allegations that are simply not true. Mr Assange did not plead guilty to, and would not plead guilty to 17 counts of the Espionage Act, computer hacking… there was a very narrow agreed upon set of facts here, and Mr Assange acknowledged that, of course, he accepted documents from Chealsea Manning, and published many of those documents because it was in the world’s interests that those documents be published. Unfortunately, that violates the terms of the Espionage Act. That’s what we acknowledged today.Barry Pollack

https://twitter.com/Stella_Assange/status/1805803939654516740

Pollack stressed that the chilling precedent is set by the US prosecution itself:

“What sets a chilling precedent is the prosecution, the fact that the US elected to charge Mr Assange with violating the Espionage Act. The court today determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange’s publications, we know they were newsworthy, we know that they were quoted by every major media outlet on the planet, and we know that they revealed important information. That is called journalism. US prosecuted that. They exposed Mr Assange 175 years in prison. That is what has chilling effect.”Barry PollackBarry Pollack

Julian touched down safely in Canberra, Australia, around 8pm local time, and was welcomed by his family, his wife Stella, and father John Shipton, and scores of supporters.

https://twitter.com/FreeAssangeNews/status/1805905965788594201

At a press conference upon the arrival Julian and his lawyers, his Australian solicitor Jennifer Robinson, conveyed how important was the support Julian had from Australian PM and the government.

https://twitter.com/suigenerisjen/status/1805974834590941281

In a moving speech upon Julian’s arrival, Stella Assange thanked Australian PM Albanese, government officials, opposition politicians and the Australian people, as well as millions of people around the world who tirelessly worked to secure his freedom. She asked for understanding, space and privacy as Julian recuperates. She also recognized that the breakthrough in negotiations came at a time when there had been a breakthrough in the legal case, that is when the UK High Court had allowed permission to appeal in which Julian would be able to raise the First Amendment argument.

“It is in this context that things finally started to move. I think it revealed how uncomfortable the United States government is, in fact, of having these arguments aired… the fact that this case is an attack on journalism, it’s an attack on the public’s right to know and it should never have been brought.Stella Assange

https://twitter.com/FreeAssangeNews/status/1805936767540793492

Julian Assange’s UK lawyer Gareth Pierce, in a rare statement for the press, said that the Assange case “has exposed major fault lines —not just within the US/UK extradition treaty itself, but in respect of human rights protections in both countries previously thought to be absolute. The responsibility for addressing their manifestation in one extraordinary experience demands a continued commitment even though the legal case, happily, has now ended.”

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Espionage Act Featured Julian Assange News

Julian Assange is free!!

June 25, 2024 — Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.

https://twitter.com/Stella_Assange/status/1805393089819033890

In their statement, Wikileaks expressed gratitude to all the supporters who tirelessly campaigned for Julian’s release, putting the pressure on political leaders to finally secure his freedom.

This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised. We will provide more information as soon as possible.
(…)
As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.

Wikileaks pioneered scientific journalism, published groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, and held the powerful to account. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know.

https://youtu.be/ueZuru-Hzy0
Statement from Stella Assange and Kristinn Hrafnsson

 

In her statement, Stella stressed the immense importance of supporters who stood up for Julian but also for truth and justice.

“Throughout the years of Julian’s imprisonment and persecution, an incredible movement has been formed. People from all walks of life from around the world who support not just Julian… but what Julian stands for: truth and justice.”

After almost 15 years in detention, of whichthe last 5 were spent in 2×3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day, Julian will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their two children.

Julian’s freedom is our freedom.

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Julian Assange News

Assange-Pak NFT raises over $40 million ahead of auction today

The much-anticipated auction of NFT collection ‘Censored’, a collaboration between political prisoner Julian Assange and renowned artist Pak will launch today, the same day set by the UK Supreme Court for Julian Assange to file his application to appeal against US extradition.

The collection consists of two parts: an auction of a single artwork ‘Clock’ (1 of 1) and a separate pay-what-you-like Open Edition.

The proceeds from the auctioned single artwork Clock will raise funds for Julian Assange’s legal battle.

The auction site is censored.art.

Both the auction for Clock and the sale of the Open Edition start today at 14:00 London, 09:00 New York, 17:00 Moscow, 19:30 New Delhi, 22:00 Hong Kong, 01:00 (8th February) Sydney.

The auction for Clock and the sale of the Open Edition will run for 48 hours.

The Open Edition artwork generates a customized NFT based on the message entered by each collector.

Proceeds from the Open Edition will go to organizations chosen by Julian Assange and Pak that fight censorship, champion press freedom, or defend fundamental rights.

One of the bidders on Clock, AssangeDAO, has raised more than $40 million worth of ethereum (ETH) and counting to deploy at the auction.

The Collaboration: ‘Censored’

Censored‘ is a digital art collection exploring the concept of freedom, and is a collaboration between Julian Assange and record-breaking NFT artist Pak. It was unveiled over the weekend.

‘Censored’ is a two-part collection.

The first part of the collaboration is a one of a kind generative interactive blockchain artwork titled Clock. AssangeDAO, one of the bidders, has raised over $40 million and counting to deploy at the auction.

Censored consists of two generative interactive blockchain artworks.

https://twitter.com/muratpak/status/1489874393383718915

Pak tweeted: “Clock (1/1) [Auction] A muted timer. It currently counts Julian Assange’s days in prison.”

Clock changes daily as it displays the number of days that Julian Assange has been imprisoned. All proceeds from Clock will go to support Julian Assange’s defense.

Pak has described the artwork as “dynamic and generative”. “Dynamic” means that the digital art piece changes over time. “Generative” means that the artwork is generated directly from the artist’s instructions on the blockchain. ‘Clock’ is expected to attract major collectors and NFT-world cooperative funds known as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs).

The second part of the collection is an interactive Open Edition, which will also run for 48 hours. All proceeds from the Open Edition will go to organizations chosen by Julian Assange and Pak to fight censorship, champion press freedom, or defend fundamental rights.

The Open Edition artworks are generated by anyone who wants to participate and can be acquired “at any price you desire, even free.” Pak’s record-breaking collection ‘Merge’ set the record for open editions with 30,000 collectors and grossing US $91.8 million.

Both Clock and the Open Edition artworks are interlinked and transform in response to Julian Assange’s imprisonment or liberation.

The collaboration between Julian Assange and Pak was kept under wraps for months. On January 5th, Pak’s Twitter account @muratpak tweeted “nine hundred ninety nine”, signifying the number of days that Julian Assange had spent in prison. The following day, @muratpak tweeted “define freedom”, followed by “freedom as a medium” and linked to a WikiLeaks tweet.

Battle of the DAOs

The auction for the single edition is expected to bring about a major bidding war between DAOs.

One of the DAOs planning to bid on the NFT has already broken records. AssangeDAO (@AssangeDAO) launched at 22:32 GMT on 3 February. By Sunday night, it had surpassed the previous most successful NFT-buying DAO, ConstitutionDAO, which was formed to buy a rare copy of the US Constitution. To date, AssangeDAO has raised over $40 million and counting from over 7000 contributors. Contributions range from many small transactions of under US $10 to US $2 million at current Ethereum exchange rates. The median contribution is approximately US $600 (0.2 ETH). The DAO is still open for contributions and each contributor gets a share of the NFTs purchased by the DAO.

AssangeDAO’s mission statement is to “raise funds to help with his legal fees and campaigns to increase public awareness on the systemic failure of our justice systems” and “to inspire a powerful solidarity network and fight for the freedom of Julian Assange”.

US whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted: “The Assange NFT is doing real numbers. Very much looks like a protest vote against the White House’s abuse of the Espionage Act.”

AssangeDAO was loosely modeled on FreeRossDAO, which raised over US $12 million to bid on the Ross Ulbricht NFT collection. More details about AssangeDAO can be found at the following links:

What are DAOs?

DAOs, or Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, are organizations whose “articles of incorporation” run on the blockchain. They have proven to be extraordinarily effective fundraising vehicles, especially in short time frames. A DAO is a collective of people who organize online to pool their resources, skills, and time to achieve the stated goals of the DAO. The structure and objectives are determined by its members. The management of a DAO is then automated on the blockchain, allowing people from around the world to come together for a common purpose without having to trust each other.

The Creators

Renowned digital artist Pak is one of the highest grossing artists alive, known for pushing conceptual and stylistic boundaries. Pak became a household name in the traditional art world after Sotheby’s auctioned his collection ‘The “Fungible’ in April 2021, selling for US $16.8 million. In December 2021, Pak again made headlines as his collection ‘The Merge’ set a new record for an artwork sold publicly by a living artist at US $91.8 million, surpassing Jeff Koons’s “Rabbit”.

Australian award-winning author and publisher Julian Assange is the world’s most famous living political prisoner and freedom of speech campaigner. The US government is seeking his extradition to put him on trial for publishing documents evidencing war crimes against civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as torture in Guantanamo Bay. Julian Assange faces a 175-year prison sentence if the US government gets its way. Press freedom organizations warn that the legal precedent will cripple free speech protections worldwide. WikiLeaks specializes in publishing censored documents of diplomatic, political, ethical, or historical significance. WikiLeaks is credited for sparking democratic revolutions, exposing corruption, war crimes, big pharma, the banks, and environmental disasters, and of bringing evidence of torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial killings onto the public record. Julian Assange, who has been nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, has been imprisoned in London’s notorious Belmarsh prison for over one thousand days.

How will it work?

Both the auction of Clock and the sale of the Open Edition will take place on censored.art.

NFTs are typically auctioned over a period of 24 to 48 hours. NFTs are traded using blockchain technology and are usually sold on the Ethereum network. The currency is ETH.

The code for the NFTs will be contained within the Ethereum blockchain itself. This means that the computer code that generates the artwork exists on the blockchain and can therefore not be manipulated, corrupted, removed, or censored. This ensures data permanence and avoids the problems associated with some so-called ‘JPEG’ NFTs that rely on links to external servers.

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Julian Assange News

‘Censored’: Record-breaking artist Pak joins forces with Assange to make NFT history

‘Censored’ is a digital art collection created by NFT artist Pak in collaboration with imprisoned WikiLeaks-founder Julian Assange.

The art collection titled ‘Censored’ will be unveiled shortly in time for the auction on February 7th. ‘Censored’ is shrouded in mystery and is set to make NFT history.

Pak has dropped some hints with tweets about censorship and freedom. On January 5th, Pak’s Twitter account @muratpak tweeted “nine hundred ninety nine”, signifying the number of days that Julian Assange had spent in prison. The following day, @muratpak tweeted “define freedom”, followed by “freedom as a medium” and linked to a WikiLeaks tweet.

Renowned digital artist Pak is one of the highest grossing artists alive, known for pushing conceptual and stylistic boundaries. Pak became a household name in the traditional art world after Sotheby’s auctioned his collection ‘The “Fungible’ in April 2021, selling for US $16.8 million. In December 2021, Pak again made headlines as his collection ‘The Merge’ set a new record for an artwork sold publicly by a living artist at US $91.8 million, surpassing Jeff Koons’s “Rabbit”.

Australian award-winning author and publisher Julian Assange is the world’s most famous living political prisoner and freedom of speech campaigner. The US government is seeking his extradition to put him on trial for publishing documents evidencing war crimes against civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as torture in Guantanamo Bay. Julian Assange faces a 175-year prison sentence if the US government gets its way. Press freedom organizations warn that the legal precedent will cripple free speech protections worldwide. WikiLeaks specializes in publishing censored documents of diplomatic, political, ethical, or historical significance. WikiLeaks is credited for sparking democratic revolutions, exposing corruption, war crimes, big pharma, the banks, and environmental disasters, and of bringing evidence of torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial killings onto the public record. Julian Assange, who has been nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, has been imprisoned in London’s notorious Belmarsh prison for over one thousand days.

‘Censored’ is a two-part NFT collection:

The first part is a one of a kind (“1/1 edition”) NFT, which Pak describes as “dynamic and generative”. “Dynamic” means that the digital art piece changes over time. “Generative” means that the artwork is generated from the artist’s instructions on the blockchain. The single edition NFT is expected to attract major collectors and NFT-world cooperative funds known as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs).

The second part of the collection is an “open edition,” which in addition to being “dynamic” will also be participative. The open edition is designed to be more accessible and therefore draw a broader pool of collectors. As a reference point, Pak’s record-breaking collection ‘Merge’ set the record for open editions with 30,000 collectors and grossing US $91.8 million.

The auction for the Single Edition commences on Monday February 7th, 2022 at 09:00 New York, 14:00 London, 17:00 Moscow, 19:30 New Delhi, 22:00 Hong Kong, 01:00 (on 8th) Sydney.

How will it work?

NFTs are typically auctioned over a period of 24 to 48 hours. NFTs are traded using blockchain technology and are usually sold on the Ethereum network. The currency is ETH.

The code for the NFTs will be contained within the Ethereum blockchain itself. This means that the computer code that generates the artwork exists on the blockchain and can therefore not be manipulated, corrupted, removed, or censored. This ensures data permanence and avoids the problems associated with some NFTs that rely on links to external servers.

The auction location will be announced via the Twitter accounts of the artist (@muratpak), Julian Assange’s brother (@gabrielshipton) and his partner (@stellamoris1).

Proceeds of the NFT will go to benefit Julian Assange’s defense fund as he fights against a US extradition request.

Battle of the DAOs

The auction for the single edition is expected to bring about a major bidding war between DAOs.

DAOs, or Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, have proven to be extraordinarily effective fundraising vehicles, especially in short time frames. A DAO is a collective of people who organize online to pool their resources, skills, and time to achieve the stated goals of the DAO. The structure and objectives are determined by its members. The management of a DAO is then automated on the blockchain, allowing people from around the world to come together for a common purpose without having to trust each other.

AssangeDAO launched today to bid on the single edition ‘Censored’ NFT. By 17:15 GMT on February 4th, the contributions to the AssangeDAO had surpassed over US $7 million (over 2,450 ETH). AssangeDAO’s mission statement aims “to inspire a powerful solidarity network and fight for the freedom of Julian Assange” and to “raise funds to help with his legal fees and campaigns to increase public awareness on the systemic failure of our justice systems”.

AssangeDAO was loosely modeled on FreeRossDAO, which raised over US $12 million to bid on the Ross Ulbricht NFT collection.

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Curtain Raiser Event:

Join the Twitter Spaces event with the NFT artist Pak (@muratpak), Julian Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton (@gabrielshipton), and Julian Assange’s partner Stella Moris (@stellamoris1) and others at 22:00 GMT on February 5th, which is:

  • 17:00 New York time on February 5th (Saturday)
  • 22:00 London time on February 5th (Saturday)
  • 06:00 Hong Kong time on February 6th (Sunday)
  • 09:00 Sydney time on February 6th (Sunday)
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Espionage Act Journalism Julian Assange News

Press freedom groups call on Biden DOJ to drop Assange charges

Press freedom groups call on Biden DOJ to drop Assange charges

Two dozen major human rights and press freedom organizations are calling on the new Department of Justice to drop the charges against Julian Assange. The cosigners have written to Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson in a letter warning that “the proceedings against Mr. Assange jeopardize journalism that is crucial to democracy.”

The letter was organized by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and signed by leading rights groups including Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, and PEN America.

The cosigners write,

“The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely—and that they must engage in in order to do the work the public needs them to do. Journalists at major news publications regularly speak with sources, ask for clarification or more documentation, and receive and publish documents the government considers secret. In our view, such a precedent in this case could effectively criminalize these common journalistic practices.”

The letter comes just days before the United States’ deadline to appeal the ruling in Julian Assange’s extradition hearing. On January 4, British Judge Vanessa Baraitser blocked Assange’s extradition last month on medical grounds, and the U.S. announced its intent to appeal that decision. It has until February 12 to file its appeal.

The New York Times’ Charlie Savage writes, “The litigation deadline may force the new administration to confront a decision: whether to press on with the Trump-era approach to Mr. Assange, or to instead drop the matter.”

Then-President Trump’s Department of Justice requested Assange’s extradition and indicted him on unprecedented charges for the 2010 publication of the Iraq and Afghan war logs, the State Department cables, and Guantanamo Bay Detainee Assessment Briefs. The indictment threatens Assange with 175 years in prison, and it would mark the end of the First Amendment’s protection of the right to publish.

But Trump’s outgoing prosecutor Zachary Terwilliger said he wasn’t sure if his successors in President Biden’s Department of Justice would keep up the prosecution. Biden’s nomination for Attorney General, Merrick Garland, is a longtime federal judge who has taken strong positions in favor of robust press freedom. Garland’s confirmation hearing has been delayed.

If the U.S. submits its appeal application in the UK this Friday, a High Court judge will review the submission, decide whether to grant the appeal, and then schedule oral arguments. The rights groups’ write,

“We urge you to drop the appeal of the decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court to reject the Trump administration’s extradition request. We also urge you to dismiss the underlying indictment.”

The Obama-Biden Justice Department looked into charging Assange back in 2013 for the same publications, but decided against doing so due to the dangers such a prosecution would pose to press freedom.