Assange extradition threatens press freedom, rights group

The Council of Europe rights group said Thursday that a move by Britain to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face espionage charges would have a "chilling effect" on press freedoms.

Assange, held at Belmarsh prison in London, is wanted by Washington over the 2010 release of 500,000 American documents on the Iraq and Afghan wars, revealing civilian deaths as well as torture and clandestine military operations.

A London court will begin examining the extradition request on Monday.

If found guilty in the United States, Assange could be jailed for 175 years.

"The indictment raises important questions about the protection of those that publish classified information in the public interest, including those that expose human rights violations," the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement.

She said many of Assange's alleged offences "concern activities at the core of investigative journalism in Europe and beyond." "Allowing Julian Assange's extradition on this basis would have a chilling effect on media freedom, and could ultimately hamper the press in performing its task as purveyor of information and public watchdog in democratic societies," she added.

US authorities say the WikiLeaks data drop put the lives of American soldiers in danger by exposing information on sources, intelligence techniques and key infrastructure sites.

But press freedom and anti-war activists hail Assange as a hero who avoided persecution by seeking asylum at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he lived for years until he was turned over to British authorities last April.

In a separate case management hearing in London on Wednesday, Assange's lawyer said US President Donald Trump had promised a pardon if Assange denied that Russia leaked damaging emails from Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 election campaign.

A White House spokeswoman denied the claim.