invezz.com
A coalition of 24 groups, including Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union, has asked the new head of the Justice Department to reconsider the case against Wikileak’s publisher Julian Assange.
The group showed concern about the present extradition proceeding against Assange and wants the judges to drop the case against him.
In a letter to acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson, the groups expressed their “profound concern” about the ongoing criminal and extradition proceedings and their consequences on press freedom.
The advocacy group also stated that the rights and privileges of the press are at stake, following the trial of Weakilink’s founder.
The letter was jointly signed by the coalition, which includes Freedom of Press Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, ad ACLU, asking the present Biden administration to stop pursuing extradition proceedings laid out by his predecessor Donald Trump.
The group further stated that the Trump administration acted severally against the freedom of the press, and Biden’s administration shouldn’t take the same steps.
The journalistic community in solidarity with Assange
Assange’s Wikileaks has been responsible for the exposure of thousands of private documents, including government files. As a result, several payment platforms stopped offering payment services to the website. The site onboarded Bitcoin in 2011, making it one of the earlier sites that onboarded the cryptocurrency. That’s why some Bitcoin (BTC) brokers and others that invest in cryptocurrencyare against his prosecution.
As of press time, the White House has not responded to the appeal. However, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice released a short statement concerning the issue.
“We are continuing our efforts to seek the extradition of Julian Assange,” the spokesperson stated.
Assange has been accused by the U.S. government of breaking into a Pentagon computer and breaching the Espionage Act.
Earlier in January, a London court denied an extradition request from the U.S. to bring Assange to the U.S. to face a total of 18 charges.
The journalistic community has been defending the actions of Wikileaks, pointing out that the exposure of the government documents has benefited the public rather than harm them.