FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2024
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK Celebrates the Release of WikiLeaks Founder & War Crime Whistleblower Julian Assange
After more than five years in the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison in the UK, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reached a plea deal with the U.S. government. The deal allows for his release and return to his home country of Australia after a formal sentencing at a US court in the Mariana Islands on Wednesday, June 26. Assange agreed to plead guilty to a violation under the Espionage Act, a law over 100 years old, for publishing the truth about U.S. wars and militarism.
Without Julian Assange’s critical journalism, the world would know a lot less about war crimes committed by the United States and its allies. He is the reason so many anti-war organizations like ours have the proof we need to fight the war machine in the belly of the beast. CODEPINK celebrates Julian’s release and commends his brave journalism.
One of the most horrific videos published by WikiLeaks was called “Collateral Murder,” footage of the U.S. military opening fire on a group of unarmed civilians–including Reuters journalists–in Baghdad. While Julian has been in captivity for the past 14 years,, the war criminals that destroyed Iraq walked free. Many are still in government positions today or living off the profits of weapons contracts.
While Julian pleads guilty to espionage — we uphold him as a giant of journalistic integrity.
We send our utmost solidarity to Julian, his wife Stella, and the rest of their family.
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