Australia Ramps Up Pressure on U.S. to Free Julian Assange Ahead of Critical Court Hearing

Imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to find out next week whether he has exhausted opportunities to avoid extradition to the United States, where he faces life in prison for publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. A two-day hearing before the British High Court of Justice is scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday and Wednesday. He has been held in London’s infamous Belmarsh Prison since 2019 awaiting his possible extradition. Jennifer Robinson, an Australian human rights attorney and legal adviser to Assange and WikiLeaks, discusses public and governmental support for Assange in Australia, where an “unprecedented” parliamentary resolution was passed Wednesday calling for Assange’s release. Robinson calls the charges against Assange a “dangerous precedent for free speech” and says, “It’s time that the United States respects our special relationship and listens to the calls of the Australian people and our Parliament and our government and drops this case.”