THE National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has written to every trade union in Britain to call on them to campaign against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States.

Mr Assange is wanted in the US following the exposure of leaked documents in 2010 and 2011 relating to war crimes committed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He is currently imprisoned in Belmarsh high-security prison as his trial continues despite more than 60 doctors from around the world concluding that Mr Assange’s health has deteriorated to such an extent that he is in no fit state to stand trial.

In the letter dated November 6 and addressed to the general secretaries in Britain, NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet highlighted the danger to a free press that would be triggered if Mr Assange is extradited.

Writing of the US Espionage Act of 1917 under which Mr Assange could face a lifetime in jail, Ms Stanistreet wrote: “This is a repressive statute that has in the past been used to jail trade union activists and working-class leaders. 

“More particularly, the charges themselves seek to criminalise activity that for many NUJ members is their daily work: cultivating sources who are willing to share sensitive information that reveals incompetence, corruption and illegality.

“It is vital that we build a campaign to oppose Mr Assange’s extradition and prosecution that is located in the mainstream of progressive concerns, and only trades unions have the reach to achieve this.”

Ms Stanistreet has asked her peers to circulate a model motion, adopted by the NUJ’s national executive council, to the union’s executive, branches and workplace organisations.

The Don’t Extradite Assange campaign welcomed the letter and said in a statement: “The train drivers’ union Aslef has already adopted a national policy to support the Assange campaign and this letter from the NUJ is sure to see other unions join the campaign.”

The NUJ is offering to send its executive members to meetings organised by other trade unionists to explain why the union is appealing for support for Mr Assange. 

The union recently held an online rally to discuss the case with former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, NUJ executive member Tim Dawson, the union’s assistant general secretary Seamas Dooley and Mr Assange’s lawyer Jen Robinson.