As supporters of Julian Assange held a news conference Friday at the United Kingdom’s consulate in New York to demand freedom for the jailed WikiLeaks founder, a trio of leading leftist figures decried the British government’s approval of the ailing Australian’s extradition to the United States.<\/p>\n
In a statement published ahead of Friday’s press conference, the three chairs of the Assange Defense Committee – linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker – blasted U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel’s greenlighting<\/a> of Assange’s transfer to the U.S. earlier in the day. Assange plans to appeal the decision.<\/p>\n “It’s a sad day for Western democracy. The UK’s decision to extradite Julian Assange to the nation that plotted to assassinate him – the nation that wants to imprison him for 175 years for publishing truthful information in the public interest – is an abomination,” the trio said, referring to an alleged 2017 CIA scheme<\/a> to kidnap or kill the WikiLeaks founder.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We expect the world’s most despised autocrats to persecute journalists, publishers, and whistleblowers. We expect totalitarian regimes to gaslight their people and crack down on those who challenge the government,” they continued. “Shouldn’t we expect Western democracies to behave better?”<\/p>\n ?? BREAKING?? "It is a sad day for western democracy."https:\/\/t.co\/oxhiKJjPsA<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/ZKNPCG6BBO<\/a><\/p>\n — Assange Defense (@DefenseAssange) June 17, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, and Alice Walker React to the Assange Extradition Sign Off:<\/p>\n