The government of Australia has just sent a delegation of members of Parliament to Washington, D.C., to ask that the U.S. government free an Australian man facing extradition to the U.S. from the UK for having engaged in journalism.

The President of Colombia has just gone on a U.S. media outlet to point out that the U.S. Constitution proclaimed freedom of the press, which the U.S. government is severely damaging by seeking to prosecute the same Australian man, WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

The lack of effective freedom of the press in the U.S. makes it difficult for U.S. residents to understand these complaints. After all, we've heard repeatedly and consistently that the United States is the greatest place in the world and that Julian Assange is an evil traitor.

But what if a U.S. resident could be prosecuted for treason against some distant country because he or she had exposed its crimes? That's the precedent being set.

Dangerous precedents are set all the time.

While putting nukes into Belarus and pursuing regime change in Ukraine, the Russian government has cited U.S. precedents. There is a danger in providing such excuses to anyone who wants them.

Julian Assange has already been punished for the crime of journalism.

Why punish us all by criminalizing a critical public service?

Click here to tell Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges.

The U.S. ambassador to Australia has suggested a plea bargain might be possible. Australian officials have joined British Parliamentarians, major media outlets, and advocates for the freedom of the press around the world in urging that the charges be dropped.

The effort to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange for journalism is a threat to future journalism that challenges power and violence, but a defense of the media practice of propagandizing for war.

Click here to tell Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges.

As a publisher, Assange revealed the "Collateral Murder" video and the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs that helped document U.S. war crimes.

Claims that Assange assisted a source in criminally (if morally) obtaining documents lack evidence and appear to be a smokescreen for the prosecution of basic journalistic practices. The same goes for claims that Assange’s journalism harmed people or risked harming people. Exposing war is the very opposite of harming people.

An “espionage” trial would deny Assange the right to put forward any case in his own defense that addressed his motivations. A fair trial would also be impossible in a country whose top politicians have convicted Assange in the media for years. For example, then-Vice President Joe Biden called Assange a “hi-tech terrorist.”

Click here to tell Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges.

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Background:
>> Democracy Now: "Colombian President Gustavo Petro: Charges Against Julian Assange Are 'Mockery of Freedom of Press'"
>> Talk World Radio: "Greg Barns on Efforts to Free Julian Assange"
>> Congressional Letter to the Attorney General
>> PEN: "PEN America Urges Attorney General to Drop Charges Against Assange"
>> Progressive Hub: "U.S. Once Planned To Kill Assange But Gives 'Assurances' It Won't Again"
>> Common Dreams: "CIA Whistleblower Reflects on Persecution of Julian Assange"
>> New York Times: "Major News Outlets Urge U.S. to Drop Its Charges Against Assange"

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