Julian Assange: New York Times, Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde and Der Spiegel call on US to drop charges

Four of the world’s largest newspapers asked their government USA to drop the charges against him Julian Assangeits founder WikiLeaksas he is accused of releasing classified documents that “burned” the respective American leaders

The editors of New York Times, Guardian, El País, Le Monde and Der Spiegel note that “Gathering and disseminating sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is an essential part of journalists’ daily work,” write the editors-in-chief and CEOs of the five media outlets. “If this work is criminalized, not only the quality of public dialogue but also our democracies will be significantly weakened,” they then add.

They themselves believe that “twelve years after the first publications”, “it is time for the US government to drop the charges against Julian Assange“, “publication is not a crime».

They recall that the five media editors “felt it necessary to publicly criticize his stance in 2011 when the full texts of diplomatic cables were published, and some of us are still troubled by the allegation that (Assange) helped gain electronic access to a secret database’. “But today we jointly express our great concern about the endless legal proceedings to which Julian Assange is being subjected,” they emphasize.

The authors of the text point out that the appeal, launched under the American presidency of Donald Trumpand it relies on anti-espionage legislation dating back to 1917 “it had never been used against journalists, media or broadcasters.” “Such an indictment creates a dangerous precedent” and “threatens freedom of information”, they underline.

Last month, US Attorney General Merrick Garland issued new, more protective guidelines for journalists, but stopped short of any final consequences for Julian Assange. These new guidelines authorize the prosecution of journalists suspected of acting as agents of foreign powers and support a case-by-case approach to cases involving individuals who are not necessarily journalists in the traditional sense of the term.