Julian Assange extradition decision a threat to freedom of the press

Reason’s J.D. Tucille writes, ”The US government's indictment poses a grave threat to press freedom both in the United States and abroad,' Amnesty International objected to the U.K. High Court decision. 'If upheld, it would undermine the key role of journalists and publishers in scrutinizing governments and exposing their misdeeds would leave journalists everywhere looking over their shoulders.'

Everybody should get journalistic freedom, not just people who publish what the government likes. https://t.co/u0N1mF0THU

— reason (@reason) December 13, 2021

'Today's ruling is an alarming setback for press freedom in the United States and around the world, and represents a notable escalation in the use of the Espionage Act in the 'War on Whistleblowers' that has expanded through the past several presidential administrations,' the Freedom of the Press Foundation commented…

'This is the first indictment of a journalist and editor or publisher, Julian Assange,' Daniel Ellsberg, who released the documents that came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, pointed out in 2019. 'I see on the indictment, which I've just read, that one of the charges is that he encouraged Chelsea Manning and Bradley Manning to give him documents, more documents, after she had already given him hundreds of thousands of files. Well, if that's a crime, then journalism is a crime, because just on countless occasions I have been harassed by journalists for documents, or for more documents than I had yet given them."

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