Julian Assange, the publisher and founder of WikiLeaks walked free today after 1800 days of injustice and 14 years of legal battle. It is truly a monumental triumph for investigative journalism, public right to information and human rights. His release is a testament of the advocacy of Rights groups, activists and press freedom activists around the world.
Assange’s persecution, and the injustice he faced for exposing Warcrimes is a stark reminder that you don’t challenge the powerful and expose the truth. However, his courage in exposing warcrimes, corruption, human rights abuses inspired a new generation of investigative Journalists and whistleblowers.
History and recent developments reveal a disturbing pattern of United States’ attempts to silence journalists. President Richard Nixon tried to indict New York Times and Neil Sheehan under charges which Assange was facing during his trial. Similarly, President Ford, Reagan and George W Bush also threatened to use the 1917 almost a century old Espionage Act against conventional journalists. The current prosecution and Assange’s extradition case, initiated by Donald Trump’s administration is also a dangerous precend against truthful information.
Supreme Court Pentagon Papers Ruling And Julian Assange Case
The Nixon administration attempted to stop the publication of classified documents about the Vietnam War, known as the Pentagon Papers, by the New York Times and Washington Post. The Supreme Court, in 1971 ruled in favor of the newspapers, stating that the government’s efforts to suppress the publication violated the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of the press.The court’s decision was a significant victory for press freedom and established an important precedent for future cases involving national security and the public’s right to know.
Legal Fairness In Julian Assange Case
The 1917, Espionage Act allegations against Julian Assange was a gross violation of legal principles as well as the Pentagon Papers judgement by United States’ Supreme Court. This century old, outdated law was misapplied to criminalize the publication of information and chilling investigative reporting. Journalists, in democratic countries are considered a pillar of democracy, by scrutinization of information. American authorities till date fail to provide evidence that shows WikiLeaks’ publications caused tangible harm to national security, or that life of intelligence officials and military personnel was put at risk. Obviously, it was the anti establishment, and anti war stance of Assange and WikiLeaks that invited trouble.
Julian Assange Exposed Warcrimes
Similarly, the “Collateral Murder” video, released in 2010, showed US forces killing innocent civilians, including Journalists in Iraq. Similar diaries were released related to Warcrimes, civilian casualties, and human rights violations during Afghan War.
The decision by US prosecutors to exclude WikiLeaks’ expose on war crimes in Iraq from the indictment against Julian Assange was a blatant attempt to conceal the truth from the public. By omitting the infamous “Collateral Murder” video, which showed US forces indiscriminately killing civilians and journalists in Iraq, the US government tried to avoid accountability for its own war crimes.
This move reeked of hypocrisy, as the US was prosecuting Assange for exposing the very same crimes that they were trying to hide. The exclusion of this evidence undermined the integrity of the legal process and perpetuated the culture of impunity that had long plagued US foreign policy. By silencing Assange, the US government effectively silenced the voices of the victims of their war crimes, and it was a disgraceful affront to justice and transparency.
There a general perception, that WikiLeaks was only limited to exposing Warcrimes, and sabotaging intelligence information. However, WikiLeaks and Assange were committed to public right to truthful information.WikiLeaks and Assange, in my opinion did the right thing to publish the intelligence reports, exposing the wrongdoings of governments around the world.
He didn’t exaggerated anything, what he reported wasn’t based on misinformation, rather he stated facts, and mostly the information was provided by whistleblowers within the system. So, we can say that Julian Assange actually provided an opportunity to the people within the system, to act as whistleblowers, acting as a channel of communication between them and the public.
Leaving optimism of an ideal world aside, no government is going to publicly aplogize for warcrimes or corruption. In order for the general public to know what’s happening behind the closed doors, there’s a need for someone like Assange to take a risk. And that’s probably the best definition of a journalist.
As the great American President and revolutionary leader, Thomas Jefferson said, “journalism is printing what others don’t want printed.”America who act as a champion of democracy, free speech, press freedom and public right to information, has become a threat to Journalism. The Biden’s administration’s failure to drop the case, leading towards a deal is a dangerous precend too, that undermines the very fabric of democracy.
Julian Assange’ s Assaination Plot
In 2019, Trump administration initiated the extradition case against Assange. United States at that time even started talking an assassinating Julian Assange. Even Mike Pompeo, allegedly suggested assaination of Assange in Belmarsh Prison. This was the behavior of the self proclaimed champion of Human Rights towards a Journalist, who was being tried for stating facts. Donald Trump has a phobia towards media, and Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s Wife, rightfully feared that he can be assassinated like Russian deep state allegedly assassinate’s political leaders.
Assange’s release is a victory of justice, but the battle continues. Journalists and Rights activists should hold the leaders accountable for warcrimes. We need to stand with journalists and whistleblowers who dare to challenge the powerful and expose the truth.People like Assange are the assets of civilized nations who stand against injustice, and dare to challenge the megalomaniacs in power, by stating facts. Reliable information helps the masses and intelligentsia to gold the decision makers responsible for their wrongdoings.
Quoting Julian Assange himself,
“Journalism should be more like science. As far as possible, facts should be verifiable. If journalists want long-term credibility for their profession, they have to go in that direction. Have more respect for readers.”
The author is a student of International Relations, can be reached out at [email protected].