Report: Biden DOJ Considers a Plea Deal for WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
Shane Trejo
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A report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that the Department of Justice is considering offering a plea deal to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Assange is holed up in a supermax prison in Britain awaiting extradition after being charged with multiple felonies under the Espionage Act for releasing secret documents exposing immense government and corporate criminality.
Barry Pollack, an attorney for Assange, has stated that he does not believe there is any indication that the DOJ will do anything but continue to come after Assange and make an example of him to prevent whistleblowing against corruption in the future.
“It is inappropriate for Mr. Assange’s lawyers to comment while his case is before the UK High Court other than to say we have been given no indication that the Department of Justice intends to resolve the case and the United States is continuing with as much determination as ever to seek his extradition on all 18 charges, exposing him to 175 years in prison,” Pollack said in a statement.
Big League Politics has reported on the sustained mistreatment of Assange by his captors since his detention:
“Wikileaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange has suffered from a stroke while incarcerated in Britain’s notorious HMP Belmarsh prison, according to his fiancé, Stella Moris. Moris revealed that Assange had suffered the stroke on Friday night, with the event in question occurring around a video court appearance in October.
Moris fears for Assange’s health as legal proceedings involving his extradition continue, with the United States government winning a case to extradite him on appeal in the British legal system this week.
“Julian is struggling and I fear this mini-stroke could be the precursor to a more major attack. It compounds our fears about his ability to survive the longer this long legal battle goes on.” The mini-stroke has left Assange with a drooping left eye, memory problems, and signs of neurological damage.
“It urgently needs to be resolved. Look at animals trapped in cages in a zoo. It cuts their life short. That’s what’s happening to Julian. The never-ending court cases are extremely stressful mentally.”
Years of incarceration without any criminal conviction have taken a toll on Mr. Assange’s health, with the WIkileaks publisher concerned that he may die unless he’s released from the notorious Belmarsh prison.
The primary witness in the American criminal case against Assange was jailed for a “crime spree” in Iceland earlier this year, with the repeat offender pedophile jailed for creating fictitious companies that charged customers for services and declared bankruptcy before they could be sued for breach of contract.”
Assange taking the plea deal may free the man, but it would come at a great cost as the precedent would be set for lawful journalism and the protection of sources to be an unlawful act.
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