GENEVA: An international coalition of journalists, editors and publishers called for the immediate release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from a British jail and that all charges against him be dropped.

Fifteen representatives of international journalist and publishers’ unions and organisations gathered in Geneva for the “call to free Julian Assange in the name of press freedom”.

“We are demanding that Julian Assange be freed, returned to his family, and finally permitted to live a normal life,” said Dominique Pradalie, head of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which counts some 600,000 members across 140 countries.

“If Julian Assange is freed today, they will still have stolen 10 years of his life,” she told the event.

The call came after the British government last week approved Assange’s extradition to the United States, to the dismay of his supporters and free press campaigners.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022