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On Saturday, United Nations (UN) human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the potential extradition of whistleblower Julian Assange raises concerns about the rights of future whistleblowers and investigative journalists. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency supporters have continued to donate to Assange and his legal battle as Wikileaks has amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto assets since Assange was held captive in London from 2019.
The US would like to see Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, extradited to the US for leaking classified information provided by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. When Wikileaks published the “Collateral Murder” video, the Afghanistan war logs, the Iraq war logs and Cablegate, the US government launched a full-scale criminal investigation against Assange. When the federal authorities opened an indictment against Assange, the complaints stemmed from the leaks from Manning. Assange is accused of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.
Assange joins a number of others who have been charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, including Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. While Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador in 2012, seven years later on April 11, 2019, he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London and has been fighting US extradition ever since. This week, Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights chief, has expressed concern over the extradition of Assange to the United States.
While meeting with Assange’s wife and lawyers, Bachelet said:
The potential extradition and prosecution of Assange raises concerns about media freedom and a possible chilling effect on investigative journalism and on the activities of whistleblowers.
One of Assange’s lawyers, Jennifer Robinson, told the press that the case will be forwarded to the European Court of Human Rights. Assange’s lawyers dispute that the Wikileaks founder is being “prosecuted and punished for his political opinions”. After Bachelet’s opening remarks, the UN human rights chief said her office would monitor the whistleblower’s case.
“Under these circumstances, I would like to emphasize the importance of ensuring respect [for] Mr. Assange’s human rights, in particular the right to a fair trial and due process, are guaranteed in this case, Bachelet told the press. – My office will continue to follow Assange’s case closely.
Wikileaks has been supporting cryptocurrencies and accepting bitcoin for donations since 2010. After Assange’s arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, cryptocurrency donations started pouring in and have continued to this day. In the last four months alone, Wikileaks has raised 3,480 BTC worth $133,179 using today’s bitcoin rates. Wikileaks BTC has changed frequently in recent years.
Data further shows that in about 24 months, Wikileaks has collected 228.16 BCH worth close to $100K. Over the past four years, Wikileaks has collected 147.48 ETH worth $145,647 using today’s ether rates. Of course, a large sum of BTC, BCH and ETH donated were paid out at much higher USD values than they are worth today. Furthermore, Wikileaks also accepts donations in litecoin (LTC), zcash (ZEC) and monero (XMR).
What do you think of the UN human rights chief saying that the US extradition of Assange could send a chilling blow to media freedom, whistleblowers and investigative journalism? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.
Image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Editorial photo credit: London, UK, October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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