Don't extradite Assange!
London, June 30 (RHC)-- The director of the campaign against the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, John Reese, said in London that Washington's case is falling apart after a prosecution witness admitted lying in court.
"This is an important witness who now says he lied through his teeth. So the case is collapsing day by day, and if they were honest, they should withdraw the appeal," the activist told Prensa Latina news agency.
In an interview published by the Icelandic newspaper Stundin, hacker Sigurdur 'Siggi' Thordarson stated that he made false claims in exchange for immunity from prosecution in the extradition trial against the WikiLeaks founder held late last year in London.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Thordarson as a prominent member of WikiLeaks who was asked to tap the phones of Icelandic MPs, but in his recantation, the 'hacker' said the Australian journalist never asked him to do so, and also denied that he was a prominent member of his organization.
The United States wants to extradite Julian Assange, imprisoned in London's Belmarsh Prison since he was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019, to try him on 17 counts of espionage and one of conspiracy to commit hacking.
If handed over to U.S. justice, the Australian citizen could be sentenced to 175 years in prison. The charges are based on the publication on WikiLeaks of thousands of secret files that exposed war crimes committed by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The digital portal also brought to light compromising assessments made by U.S. State Department diplomats on foreign governments and political leaders, among other documents.
Last January 4, British judge Vanessa Baraitser dismissed his extradition due to his health conditions and the risk of his life being threatened if he is sent to the United States, but determined that he must wait in jail for the outcome of the appeal filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Reese considered, however, that after the explosive statements of the key witness of the U.S. Department of Justice, the London court should endorse the judge's decision, declare that there are no grounds for appeal and release Assange, who will celebrate his 50th birthday on Saturday.
