WikiLeaks: ’Unthinkable’ that Boris Johnson will support extraditing Julian Assange to the U.S.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jul/25/wikileaks-unthinkable-that-boris-johnson-will-supp/

WikiLeaks: ’Unthinkable’ that Boris Johnson will support extraditing Julian Assange to the U.S.

In this file photo dated Wednesday, May 1, 2019, buildings are reflected in the window as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is taken from court, where he appeared on charges of jumping British bail seven years ago, in London. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, FILE)

By Andrew Blake -
The Washington Times

Thursday, July 25, 2019

WikiLeaks reacted to Boris Johnson becoming British prime minister Wednesday by pouncing on recent comments he made relevant to the website’s jailed publisher, Julian Assange.

Citing remarks Mr. Johnson made days earlier about press freedom, WikiLeaks said on Twitter that “it should be unthinkable for the new PM to support the extradition of Assange,” who is wanted by the U.S. and currently imprisoned in the U.K.

The former mayor of London, Mr. Johnson had recently denounced the city’s Metropolitan Police Service for threatening criminal charges against media outlets that publish leaked documents belonging to Kim Darroch, the outgoing British ambassador to the U.S.

“A prosecution on this basis would amount to an infringement on press freedom and have a chilling effect on public debate,” Mr. Johnson said on July 13. “It cannot conceivably be right that newspapers or any other media organization publishing such material face prosecution.”

“The US government is trying to prosecute Assange for publishing leaked diplomatic cables. UK courts have stated that WikiLeaks is a media organisation. Will @BorisJohnson agree to extradite Assange even though doing so would enable prosecutions that infringe upon press freedom?” WikiLeaks tweeted Wednesday.

Representatives of the prime minister’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mr. Assange, 48, has been charged in the U.S. with crimes related to obtaining and releasing classified material through WikiLeaks, including diplomatic cables similar to Mr. Darroch’s