WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Indictment: Another Reminder That US Is Against Press Freedom

Rasa - The United States government is preparing to pursue a criminal case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, escalating a long battle targeting his anti-secrecy group even as he remains stuck in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

News ID: 441638

Date: 21 November 2018 - 14:03

RNA - This could pressure Britain to extradite Assange, an Australian national. Wikileaks became known over the last decade for publishing documents that were not previously public. Lawyers for Assange and others have said his work with Wikileaks was critical to a free press and was protected speech.

Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over allegations of rape, which he has denied. Sweden dropped its investigation of Assange, but Britain has said that if he left the embassy he would be arrested for violating his bail terms.

In any event, reporting on the secret acts of government officials or powerful financial actors is at the core of investigative journalism. From the Pentagon Papers to the Panama Papers to the Snowden disclosures to publication of Trump’s tax returns to the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, some of the most important journalism over the last several decades has occurred because it is legal to publish secret documents even if the sources of those documents obtained them through illicit and illegal means.

However, the Trump administration officials are having none of it. They announce sanctions against governmental bodies or private companies for allegedly "having engaged in censorship or other activities that prohibit, limit, or penalize freedom of expression”. But when it comes to their own record, they behave differently.

According to Fars News Agency, they are now launching notoriously aggressive attacks on press freedoms and are in no mood to recognize this critical principle when it comes to WikiLeaks. They seek to criminally charge Assange and WikiLeaks for publishing classified information, although it goes against the press freedom guarantee of the First Amendment and poses a severe threat to press freedom.

The latest World Press Freedom Index says that for the second straight year, the United States has dropped two spots, and now ranks 45th on the latest World Press Freedom Index. The report is published annually by Reporters San Frontiers - also known as RSF, or Reporters Without Borders.

This comes amid mounting warnings about the dangers of Donald Trump's attacks on the news that criticise his racist domestic and foreign policies, particularly those pertaining to America’s open-ended wars in the Middle East and its decision to exit the nuclear deal it signed with Iran along with other permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Indeed, under the reign of Trump, America has become a dictatorship and a fascist regime that jails whistle-blowers and forces them into self-exile; builds walls to stop migrants and refugees from entering the United States; imposes Muslim travel ban on the pretext of fighting terror; and separates parents and grandparents from their children despite having lived together on US soil for decades.

As RSF explains: “The US's decline in press freedom is not simply bad news for journalists working inside the country; the downward trend has drastic consequences at the international level as well.” 'Fake news' is now a trademark excuse for media repression, in both democratic and authoritarian regimes, i.e., US NATO and Arab allies. These are also the same regimes that are on the same bandwagon with the US busy dropping bombs on Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen to “democratise and liberate” their terrorized people. These are also the same regimes that enjoy Washington’s veto power whenever the UN Security Council tries to issue a resolution to stop them from starving besieged people to death in Yemen or Gaza.

On the other hand, when Saudi Arabia murders journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, Trump lets the autocratic regime off the hook because “it’s bad for US arms business.” Together with right-wing populist politics and xenophobic leaders, the US has equally managed to turn Europe into a terrible place to live for anti-war journalists and migrants where Fascism thrives in obscurity and darkness. And it’s getting darker and darker, so much so that some of them like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange have either fled to other countries or sought asylum in a Latin American embassy.

It is no use, however, walking anywhere to preach unless Washington’s walking is Washington’s preaching. Washington can't pick and choose which types of press freedom it wants to defend in the world. The US government must defend all of it or be against all of it. Clearly, by pursuing a criminal case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Washington is against all of it.

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