The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) spends around $40 million every year on litigation intended to prevent the disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Julian-Assange-Hero-Violence-Never-Stopped-by-Silence-Oct-11-2022-Photo-by-Alisdare-Hickson

WikiLeaks founder says whistleblowers are no longer as willing to risk the consequences of being caught sharing documents with the media organization. Journalist Charles Glass visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh in London, where he has been jailed for over four and a half years as the United States government pursues extradition.

(l to r) Wikileaks Founder/Publisher Julian Assange,  U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning

A resolution in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on December 13.

Cosponsored by eight representatives, it states that “regular journalistic activities are protected under the First Amendment,” and the U.S. government should “drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange.”

Shadowproof and Project Censored present a conversation between Kevin Gosztola and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg to mark the release of Kevin’s book Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange. The book is available from Censored Press and Seven Stories Press. It is a crucial and compelling guide to the United States government’s case against the WikiLeaks founder and the implications for press freedom.

A group of legal experts, press freedom activists, journalists, and public figures filled a ballroom at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to organize international opposition to the United States government's extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. For the Belmarsh Tribunal, United Kingdom parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn flew more than 3,670 miles to speak in person on January 20, 2023. Other speakers flew in from Italy and Croatia. In fact, very few of the delegates on the tribunal organized by Progressive International were from the D.C. area.

Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning redacted passage.

The United States government censored parts of Chelsea Manning’s new book, in which she attempted to describe the information she provided to WikiLeaks in 2010. Manning says she wrote README.txt because she had not really been able to tell her story, and that the book was a “first draft of history” from her perspective. “While I did testify a little bit during the court-martial, my voice has been kind of lost during this whole process,” Manning declared on CBS Mornings. However, the U.S. government used the publication review system to block her from highlighting any of the documents from the Afghanistan War Logs, Iraq War Logs, or US Embassy cables that garnered widespread news headlines.

Mexico President Obrador

When Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador meets with United States President Joe Biden on July 12, he plans to once again urge the U.S. government to drop the charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Obrador is one of the few presidents in the world, who has expressed genuine support for Assange and even offered to engage in talks about asylum in Mexico.

Julian Assagnge Journalism is Not a Crime

Reporters Without Borders international campaigns director Rebecca Vincent reacted, “We welcome the High Court’s decision to allow Julian Assange the right to appeal his extradition case to the Supreme Court. This case will have enormous implications for journalism and press freedom around the world and could be hugely precedent-setting. It deserves consideration by the highest court in the land."

 

Screen shot from the press release from Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision against the Kansas "ag-gag" law

DES MOINES, IOWA (August 24, 2021) — Laws intended to suppress journalism, whistleblowing, and speech on the food and agriculture industry continue to experience defeats in the United States court system.

Julian Assange in 2020

The Justice Department under President Joe Biden plans to continue the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that was launched under President Donald Trump. "We continue to seek his extradition," Justice Department spokesperson Marc Raimondi told Reuters days before February 12 – the deadline for the United States government to submit its "grounds for appeal." The statement represents a departure from President Barack Obama's administration, which declined to prosecute Assange. Justice Department officials were reportedly concerned about the threat it would pose to press freedom.

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