Hundreds of people formed a human chain around Britain’s parliament this Saturday to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is being held while his extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States is being arranged.
Supporters of the 51-year-old journalist showed banners and posters asking the British government to reject its surrender to US justice, as the case is a political prosecution following the revelations on its website.
Julian Assange, who has been held in high-security Belmarsh prison near London since 2019, has appealed the British government’s decision to extradite him to the United States.
Speaking to journalists, Assange’s lawyer said the human chain shows the “great support” of the people and their outrage at an “unlawful legal process”.
“It’s nothing more than an instrumentalization of the law to keep him in prison indefinitely,” he said.
The United States has charged Assange with 18 crimes of espionage and computer hacking that could carry up to 175 years in prison in that country.
At issue is the publication on the “WikiLeaks” website in 2010, of more than 700,000 confidential documents related to the activities of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Source: DN
