Thursday, October 28, 2021

Jeremy Corbyn says Julian Assange is a ‘truth-teller’ and should be released

Jeremy Corbyn has said Julian Assange should be ‘hailed’ as a truth-teller and released from prison, ahead of the second day of a High Court hearing.

The former Labour leader said the WikiLeaks founder has ‘committed no crime’ and ‘may well, because of his mental health condition, take his own life’ if extradited to the United States.

He also called for Assange’s release from the high security Belmarsh prison in southeast London ‘so he can continue his life’ with his partner and children.

His comments came on the second day of legal arguments in the US government’s High Court challenge over a judge’s decision not to extradite the 50-year-old Assange.

The Wikileaks founder did not join the hearing on Thursday via videolink from Belmarsh, where he is being held.

A small crowd of people again gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London in a show of support for Assange ahead of the hearing.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London on May 1, 2019, before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. - A British judge on Wednesday sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. Assange took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden and was only arrested last month after Ecuador withdrew his asylum status. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Assange is wanted in the US on allegations of a conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves after a brief appearance outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on October 28, 2021 on the second day of an appeal hearing by the US government against the UK's refusal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. - The United States urged two senior British judges to clear the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and reject a lower court's ruling that he is a suicide risk. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
A judge has already ruled that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real risk of suicide (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Former leader of Britain's Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn speaks during a protest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
The US government is challenging that decision in the High Court (Picture: Reuters)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 28: Jeremy Corbyn MP addresses supporters of Julian Assange protesting outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the second day of the hearing on the United States government's appeal to the District Court??s decision to block the extradition of Julian Assange in London, United Kingdom on October 28, 2021. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was indicted on 17 charges under the US Espionage Act of 1917 for soliciting, gathering and publishing secret US military documents, and faces a sentence of 175 years in prison if extradited and found guilty. (Photo by Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Jeremy Corbyn said the WikiLeaks founder has ‘committed no crime’ (Picture: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The two-day High Court proceedings before the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Lord Justice Holroyde is due to end on Thursday with a decision expected at a later date.

Assange is wanted in the US on allegations of a conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

After a multi-week extradition hearing, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled in January that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real risk of suicide.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8291209 https://ift.tt/3jIkmh6
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)