On the eve of the US appeal against the dismissal of its application to extradite Julian Assange, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have reiterated their demand that the charges be dropped and Assange released.
NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “The longer this case has dragged on the more issues of concern have been raised. Seeking to prosecute Julian Assange for cultivating a source and encouraging that source to reveal further wrongdoing is an attack on the very process of journalism. The longer this attempted prosecution is pursued, the greater will be the damage to investigative reporting.”
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “The allegations that swirl around this case beggar belief. The US did not dispute in court accounts of CIA bugging of client/lawyer meetings. Since then credible accounts of plans to assassinate or kidnap Assange have emerged. Devices have been illegally cloned; there are even suggestions of covert attempts to take the DNA samples from babies. Due judicial process is impossible against such a backdrop – the appeal should be thrown out.”Läs artikel