IT will be remembered as a major blow to advocates of freedom of the press. With UK courts clearing the path for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US, the fate of the maverick publisher and activist now rests in the hands of the British home secretary. The US has for long sought the custody of Mr Assange due to his central role in the publication, starting in 2010, of a series of deeply embarrassing classified documents and material that shed light on American forces’ excesses in Iraq, Afghanistan and the infamous Guántanamo Bay prison site. He also oversaw the release of a large volume of diplomatic cables, some containing damning revelations, from US consulates and embassies worldwide. Later, Mr Assange drew even more ire from US authorities for publishing in 2017 the largest leak of CIA documents in history, which detailed the spy agency’s hacking and surveillance capabilities.

The war logs published by WikiLeaks greatly helped shape global opinion about US misconduct in foreign territories, especially when the so-called war on terror was at its peak. They galvanised calls for an end to torture and murder with impunity that was perpetrated by American soldiers. The WikiLeaks editor braved years of isolation and confinement for his defiance of the US, was the subject of kidnapping and assassination plots, and yet remained unwavering in his commitment to a free press. It is a shame that the UK seems to be facilitating and extending the punishment of an individual who has done as much as he has to lay bare the illicit doings of a military superpower as it bent and broke international law in pursuit of its narrow goals. With another war now raging in Europe, surely British authorities realise that press freedoms are essential to reporting on and thereby preventing further abuses by warring parties. Mr Assange has already spent more than a decade living without the freedoms afforded to ordinary citizens. His relentless punishment should now stop.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2022