Liberty or death

He now looks much older than his 52 years, gaunt and pale. But little wonder. Julian Assange, one of the world's most controversial figures, is fighting for his future. 

Later today, the High CourtIn England and Wales, a court that deals with particularly important cases, or those that involve large sums of money. in London is expected to decide whether or not he should be extradited from the UK to the USA to face espionage charges. There he is facing a prison sentence of 175 years.

But Assange's wife, Stella, says his health is so poor that he might not even survive the extradition process.

Assange is the founder of WikiLeaksA whistleblowing platform founded by Julian Assange. It has published news leaks and classified documents obtained by anonymous individuals. , an international organisation that publishes secret documents leaked to it from governments around the world. These included official reports detailing corruption, censorship, espionage and civilianA person who is not in the armed services or the police force. deaths from military operations.

It has always been a divisive project. Supporters call it an icon of citizen journalism, exposing the dark secrets at the heart of power. Detractors say it is an activist group with an anti-Western bias and a cosy relationship with brutal dictators.

Although it has leaked documents from many governments, the most controversial leaks have come from the USA. WikiLeaks published material from its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including footage of a US helicopter killing several civilians, among them two ReutersA major worldwide news agency. journalists.¹

Tomorrow will be the culminationThe point at which a series of events ends. of a 14-year saga of flight, confinement and refuge. Assange was first arrested in 2010 after the Swedish government accused him of committing serious sexual crimes while he was living in the country.

Since then he has been fending off efforts to extradite him both to Sweden and to the USA, which unveiled its own indictmentA formal accusation that a suspect has committed a crime. against him in 2019.

The US State DepartmentIn the US, the government department responsible for foreign policy and international relations. accuses WikiLeaks of endangering the lives of US citizens and of those who cooperated with the USA in places like Afghanistan. It claims the information released by the organisation could have been used by the TalibanA violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women. to hunt down Afghan informants.

However, it has never proved that anyone was harmed as a result of the leaks.²

Some say WikiLeaks heroically exposed facts that governments have gone to great lengths to cover up. Without it we might never have found out key details about torture at Guantanamo BayA US military base in Cuba. It is known for its infamous detention camp, a military prison which opened after the 9/11 attacks, where some people were kept without trial. and US drone strikes in YemenThe poorest country in the Gulf region is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. .³

They claim it does not have an anti-Western bias and many of its most important stories had nothing to do with the US. For example, it won an award from Amnesty InternationalAn international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights. for exposing extrajudicialNot authorised by law. killings in Kenya, a story in which few media outlets had shown any interest.⁴

The problem, they say, is that the media only covers WikiLeaks when it exposes Western governments.

But others argue it often targeted not only governments, but also dissidentsPeople who publicly disagree with or criticise an authority or government, especially an oppressive one. and ordinary citizens. There are allegations that material it published allowed the BelarusianFrom Belarus, a country of 9 million in eastern Europe. It is often described by the media as "Europe's last dictatorship". government to identify people who protested against election-riggingDeliberately altering the results of an election. .⁵

More recently it has been accused of working with the Russian government during the 2016 US presidential election, after it chose to publish emails stolen from the DNCThe Democratic National Committee, the top committee of the US Democratic party. by Russian hackers indicating collaboration with Hillary ClintonAn American Democrat politician, diplomat and former First Lady. 's presidential campaign.

Is Julian Assange a hero? 

Yes: WikiLeaks represents a new kind of journalism: open-source, daring, willing to publish vital information that others will not touch. And Assange has paid a terrible price for this.

No: Even other leakers, like Edward SnowdenKnown for leaking classified information from the USA's National Security Agency in 2013. He moved to Russia to avoid arrest. , have criticised Assange for refusing to curate the material he publishes.⁶ He is nothing but a loose cannon with a grudge against Western governments.

Or... Assange is a complicated man, at turns campaigning journalist and conspiracy theorist. But whether or not he is a hero has little bearing on whether it is right or wrong to punish him for his work.