Washington, June 10 (RHC)-- Participants in the People's Summit called Friday for the freedom of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whom the U.S. government intends to try for exposing secret files and war crimes committed by the U.S. military.

Assange's father, John Shipton, and brother, Gabriel Shipton, were present at the third and last day of the event being held in the city of Los Angeles, California, as an alternative meeting to the Summit of the Americas of exclusions organized by the government of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Both referred to the value of the information disclosed in Wikileaks by the Australian journalist.  According to Gabriel, the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States have been complicit and his brother is in a maximum security prison for telling the world the truth.

Assange has been locked up in a British jail since Ecuador withdrew his political asylum in April 2019.  Last January, a trial judge opposed his extradition for fear that he would make an attempt on his life in the United States.

However, four months later, the High Court accepted the US prosecution's appeal and the case is now in the hands of Home Affairs Minister Priti Patel.

If tried and convicted by a U.S. court, the journalist could be sentenced to 175 years in prison from the 17 Espionage Act-related charges against him.

Assange's case is one of the most representative cases in terms of freedom of expression and thousands of people around the world are calling for his release.