Peter Lazenby
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THE “fundamental tenets” of media freedom in Britain and the United States will be on trial when Wikileaks founder and investigative journalist Julian Assange appears in court next week.
Mr Assange, who exposed US war crimes in Iraq and thousands of other military secrets, faces extradition and a potential 175-year prison sentence if the hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday decides against him.
Hundreds of supporters are expected outside the High Court in London during the final trial.
Human rights experts from campaign group Amnesty International will be in court.
Amnesty’s criminal justice researcher Julia Hall said: “It’s not just Mr Assange in the dock.
“This is a test for British and US authorities on their commitment to the fundamental tenets of media freedom that underpin the rights to freedom of expression and the public’s right to information.
“The risk to publishers and investigative journalists around the world hangs in the balance.”
Ms Hall said that should Mr Assange be sent to the US and be prosecuted there, “global media freedoms will be on trial too.
“Mr Assange will suffer personally from these politically motivated charges and the worldwide media community will be on notice that they too are not safe,” she said.
“The public’s right to information about what their governments are doing in their name will be profoundly undermined.”
She called on the US to drop the charges under the Espionage Act against Mr Assange and “bring an end to his arbitrary detention in Britain.
“Dubious assurances that he will be treated well in a US prison ring hollow considering that Mr Assange potentially faces dozens of years of incarceration in a system well known for its abuses, including prolonged solitary confinement and poor health services for inmates,” Ms Hall said.
Mr Assange has been in Belmarsh prison in south-east London since he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in 2019 where he was given political asylum.
A new documentary film about the journalist called The Trust Fall: Julian Assange will be previewed on Sunday at 1pm at Rio Cinema in London.
It will include a panel discussion with Mr Assange’s wife Stella, writer and activist Tariq Ali, Wikileaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson and the film’s writer and director Kym Staton.
