Julian Assange must be freed

FREE, free, Julian Assange! The chant echoing around the lively crowd outside the Royal Court of Justice, London, for two days solid.

- CATHERINE EVANS

Giddy with hope, strong with determination. Free, free, Julian Assange!

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and undoubtedly the world's most famous publisher of war crimes and whistleblowers, had his final appeal against extradition to the United States on February 20-21.

Extradition would set a dangerous precedent for journalists across the world. It's the most important press freedom case in history. This incredible journey started around 2010-2011 when WikiLeaks, well known for exposing state and corporate corruption, published clear evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, with tens of thousands of files he received from then U.S. military analyst Bradley Manning.

The CIA claims Assange conspired with Manning to 'hack' and steal top secret military information. This has never been proven, with Manning denying the allegations. Manning, subsequently convicted under the Espionage Act, spent seven years in prison. He later went through gender reassignment to become Chelsea Manning, before her sentence was commuted by President Obama.

The Trump administration wanted Assange, too. A smear campaign rained spurious allegations on him of a rape and molestation of two Swedish women.

Soon followed U.S. charges of 'conspiracy to commit computer intrusion'. To avoid extradition to Sweden, Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012. During his time there, the U.S. illegally spied on Julian's meetings with his lawyers.