Before the court ruling on the US extradition request of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, several members of the Bundestag have called on the British government to intervene if the worst comes to the worst. “Should the extradition be legally decided, we call on the British government to protect against persecution of unwelcome journalists, not to extradite Julian Assange to the USA and to prevent the Wikileaks founder from being transferred to Washington,” said the members of the Bundestag working group “Freedom for Julian Assange “on Sunday of the German Press Agency. The court wants to announce its decision this Monday in London.

Government can still stop extradition “An extradition of Julian Assange to the USA, where he is facing no fair trial and up to 175 years imprisonment, would endanger his life and would also have precedent character for journalists and whistleblowers all over the world “, argued Sevim Dagdelen (left), Bijan Djir-Sarai (FDP), Frank Heinrich (CDU), Frank Schwabe (SPD) and Margit Stumpp (Greens) .

Dagdelen said: “Should the court in London actually decide on an extradition, this show trial, which took place almost completely in camera, would come to a highly problematic end from a human rights and rule of law perspective. Even if the However, if extradition would be legally determined, the UK government can stop it and prevent the Assange case from becoming a blueprint for the prosecution of unwelcome journalists. ” The left-wing politician wants to be in the London court to deliver the verdict on Monday.

The US judiciary throws Assange alleged to have stolen and published classified material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 49 -year-old put the lives of US informants in danger, so the allegation. His supporters, however, see him as an investigative journalist who has brought war crimes to light. For years Assange had evaded arrest by escaping to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and is currently in a British prison. Just a few days ago, the organization Reporters Without Borders 108. 000 had signatures collected against extradition and handed over to the British government.

Morris: “A kind of life sentence” Also Stella Moris , Assange’s partner, warned against a transfer to the United States. “There is a terrible vegetation waiting there, a kind of life-long death penalty that Julian would not survive long,” the lawyer told the news magazine Der Spiegel . “In America Julian would be buried alive.” Moris and Assange became a couple during his time in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, they have two young sons together.

(tiw)