Norsk PEN ber britiske og amerikanske myndigheter om å stoppe utleveringen av og løslate Julian Assange
I en felles uttalelse ber Norsk PEN, PEN International og andre PEN-sentre britiske og amerikanske myndigheter om stoppe utleveringen av Julian Assange og løslate han.
Stop the Extradition and Release Julian Assange
12 February 2024: A public hearing in the extradition trial of Wikileaks editor, publisher, and founder Julian Assange, initiated by the US authorities in 2019, will occur on 20-21 February 2024. The two-day hearing will convene before a panel of two judges reviewing a prior High Court decision made by a single judge in June 2023, which denied Assange permission to appeal. This will determine whether Assange will have further chances to present his case in UK courts or will have exhausted all appeals, leading to the commencement of the extradition process. An application before the European Court of Human Rights remains a possibility. If extradited, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison for exposing human rights abuses perpetrated by the US army during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
‘Using espionage laws to target journalists and publishers who disclose information in the public interest infringes fundamental rights of press freedom and freedom of expression, both safeguarded within the legal framework of the UK. Assange’s case is politically motivated and challenges the core of investigative journalism and democratic principles, necessitating the protection of these rights for the broader preservation of a free and responsible press. PEN International and PEN Centres around the world have repeatedly called on the US authorities to drop the charges against Assange and to withdraw their extradition request. With the prospect of his extradition alarmingly close, we call on the UK authorities to urgently refrain from extraditing him and to release him from prison immediately’, said Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.
Representatives from PEN International, English PEN, and PEN Norway will seek to attend the hearing on 20-21 February to monitor the proceedings and demonstrate solidarity with Assange and fellow publishers, writers and journalists who are increasingly being targeted by authorities around the world, for exposing uncomfortable truths.
PEN International and the undersigned PEN Centres urge the UK authorities to stop the extradition of Assange, as it would set a dangerous precedent for press freedom worldwide. Assange must be released from prison immediately and reunited with his family.
The US authorities must drop the charges against Assange and withdraw their extradition request. The fact that a government decides that a specific document is secret or confidential does not make it so, and on many occasions – such as evidence of human rights violations or corruption – the public’s right to know overrides the state’s desire to keep matters secret.
The US and UK authorities must uphold their publicly declared commitment to safeguard media freedom on a global scale, resisting the continuation of this politically motivated case that spans more than a decade.
Signatories
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PEN International
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English PEN
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PEN Melbourne
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PEN Norway
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Scottish PEN
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PEN Slovenia
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Swedish PEN
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PEN Sydney
