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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was denied bail Monday, Jan. 5, 2021. The London judge feels that Assange would be a flight risk if allowed bail while the U.S. attempts extradition.
Assange felt that the court should allow him to go free after the Monday ruling denying his extradition. The U.S. wants to charge him with espionage because, in 2010 and 2011, Assange published thousands of classified military documents on WikiLeaks.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser said:
I am satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that if Mr. Assange is released today he would fail to surrender to court to face the appeal proceedings.
The Department of Justice plans to appeal the court’s extradition ruling and seeks to charge Assange with 18 criminal charges of espionage and maneuvering to hack government computers.
There is a large group of people that respect Assange for exposing U.S. governmental abuse of power. Whereas, some believe that he has torn down the security of the United States.
The spotlight was placed on him in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a military video exposing a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed 12 people, including two journalists who worked for Reuters.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin steps up to defend Assange. In a YouTube video, Palin said:
I am the first one to admit when I make a mistake, I made a mistake some years ago, not supporting Julian Assange — thinking that he was a bad guy, And I’ve learned a lot since then… He deserves a pardon.
Palin continues her praise of Assange, stating that what he has done is in the name of real journalism.
Written by Omari Jahi
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
CNBC: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied bail by London court, Sam Shead
New York Post: Sarah Palin, a Wikileaks victim, calls for Julian Assange’s pardon, Mary Kay Linge
Bloomberg: Trump Offered Julian Assange a ‘Win-Win’ Deal, Lawyer Says, Ellen Milligan
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of acidpolly’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
