Julian Assange has won his appeal against his extradition to the United States. The High Court in London overturned the sentence at first instance, allowing the journalist to avoid being handed over to the American authorities. US prosecutors are seeking to try Assange, 52, on 18 charges relating to the publication by WikiLeaks (a platform launched in Australia in 2006 by Assange) of vast quantities of classified US military and diplomatic documents. All under the protection of the anti-espionage law. The Americans argue that the leaks endangered the lives of their agents and that there is no excuse for his criminality. Assange’s supporters instead consider him a hero, persecuted, despite him being a journalist, just for having revealed alleged war crimes by the United States.
Brief history of Wikileaks
Wikileaks is a site born in 2006. Assange registers it in Australia. A journalistic project. An international, non-profit organisation, capable of receiving sensitive reports and documents anonymously, thanks to an encryption system. An unprecedented platform, emulated by many in many parts of the world, which in some way will change the history of online journalism. Confidential US military documents are published on the site. They come from secret sources, although some of them will become public over time, such as former US soldier Chelsea Manning.
2010. The publication of videos and confidential documents
2010 is the golden year of Wikileaks. The site publishes tens of thousands of confidential documents, including some that have become very famous: the War Logs, confidential information on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and Cablegate, 251,287 American diplomatic cables from all over the world, sent from around 250 embassies and consulates (around 3,000 of these concerned Italy). New revelations about the platform will arrive in the following years. The Guantanamo files, where the interrogation practices by the US military were described. The Hillary Clinton Email Leaks, in 2016, in the midst of the presidential campaign, where confidential emails from the Democratic candidate were published. Finally, the Stratford Emails, where Wikileaks revealed the espionage practices of the private intelligence company Stratford.
The accusations against Assange. Rape in Sweden, espionage in the USA
But with the explosion of the Wikileaks case, legal problems for Assange also began. In 2010 he was accused of espionage and conspiracy by the United States for the publication of confidential army and intelligence material. In the same year he was accused of sexual assault in Sweden, charges he has always denied. Two Swedish women accuse him. The first claims to have been molested and raped in a semi-conscious state. The second of having been held against her will and having undergone sexual intercourse without consent. In the same year, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant. The journalist’s supporters have always believed that there were political motivations behind those accusations, artfully constructed to discredit him in the eyes of public opinion. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London two years later.
Imprisonment in London. The state of health considered by many to be precarious
In 2019, the Swedish prosecutor’s office closed the case due to lack of evidence. But Assange’s troubles do not end. In the same year, Ecuador revoked his asylum and Assange was arrested by the British police. He was committed to Belmarsh Prison, His Majesty’s Prison, on 11 April. Here the activist remains awaiting the hearing that he will decide for his extradition to the United States. A complex extradition process, with postponements and appeals. Assange faces 175 years in prison in the United States, where he risks being convicted of espionage.
The High Court in London decided for his extradition in March 2022. Assange has appealed to the European Court, for violation of fundamental human rights. The last journalists who entered the Belmarsh jail to find Assange described him as tired and aged, worn out by the long years without freedom. Several human rights organizations and activists have criticized Assange’s treatment and expressed concerns about his rights.
The legacy of Wikileaks, a case of journalism
Whatever decision the High Court makes, Wikileaks and Assange will remain one of the most important and controversial pages of journalism in the age of the internet. The ability to create tools capable of revealing information, influencing international politics, highlighting the responsibilities of governments, are the legacy of Wikileask. Just as the Assange affair has raised doubts and ethical questions on the role of journalists, journalism, freedom of the press and the right to information. Questions on which the debate is still open.