On the day of the court ruling against Assange, December 10, 2021, Chris Hedges invited Joe Lauria on the show he is hosting: On Contact on RT America.
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prizeâwinning journalist and author. He was a foreign correspondent for 15 years for The New York Times. Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent.Â
Allowing the extradition of Assange, an Australian national, to be tried in the US for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 raised protests around the world. If convicted Assange faces 175 years in prison and journalists everywhere fear the loss of free speech and freedom of the press.
Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006. The website came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of documents and films provided by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. These leaks included the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Murder video and the Afghanistan war logs. All with evidence of US war crimes.
The United States government unsealed an indictment against Assange, related to the leaks provided by Manning. On May 23, 2019, the United States government further charged Assange with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. Editors from newspapers, including The Washington Post and The New York Times said this was an attack on the First Amendment and freedom of the press.
On December 10, 2021, Britainâs Court of Appeal ruled that Assange can be extradited to the US to face the charges. On this program Chris Hedges discussing these latest developments with Joe Lauria.
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