WikiLeaks team to discuss Assange with Colombian President, others

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Nov 2022 23:33
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A WikiLeaks delegation will be meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Bogota, sources confirmed, to discuss Julian Assange's extradition.

"Freedom for Julian Assange: a global struggle," stand in Mexico City, Wednesday, September 14, 2022 (AP)

In an effort to gain support for founder Julian Assange, a WikiLeaks delegation is meeting with the president of Colombia and six other heads of state.

Assange is accused of breaking the US Espionage Act by publishing US military and diplomatic records pertaining to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in 2010, as per US claims, whereas in reality, he exposed US war crimes in both countries, which enraged Washington.

He is currently fighting extradition from London to the US.

According to sources who spoke with The Mail on Sunday, a WikiLeaks delegation will speak with Colombian President Gustavo Petro tomorrow morning in Bogotá about press freedom and the "political nature" of Assange's prosecution.

Following their meeting with Petro, the activists—which include WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson and Assange's Chief of Staff Joseph Farrell—are scheduled to meet with six other regional heads of state.

They hope that by gaining support for Assange and appealing to the Hispanic and Latino community in the US, their tour of South America will have an impact on the White House.

In connection with exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, Assange is sought by US authorities on 18 counts.

WikiLeaks started publishing documents from a US Army intelligence analyst in April 2010, including files from Guantánamo Bay and war logs from Afghanistan. Washington claims that he endangered lives, whereas, in fact, they claimed them.

His backers confirm that because he exposed US wrongdoing in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he has been victimized.

Since his asylum was revoked in 2019, he has been residing in London's Belmarsh prison. Ever since, the US has been pushing to extradite Assange. His legal team has lodged an appeal at the High Court against London's decision to extradite him.

Human rights organizations, activists, and media outlets from all over the world have backed the WikiLeaks founder in his investigations.

Assange lawyers: CIA violated US Consitution

Assange's attorneys announced earlier this year that they were suing the CIA and former Director, Mike Pompeo, for allegedly recording conversations and stealing data from computers and phones.

Attorneys who joined the lawsuit along with two journalists accuse the CIA of violating their rights under the US Constitution when they had private conversations with Assange, an Australian.

They claimed that the CIA spied on the founder of WikiLeaks, his attorneys, journalists, and other people he met with with the help of a security company hired by the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where Assange was residing at the time.

Last month, supporters of the WikiLeaks founder protested in front of the Houses of Parliament to demand that the US stop trying to extradite him to face criminal charges.