Government should oppose extradition of Julian Assange, says Jeremy Corbyn
3 min read
America's request for Julian Assange to be extradited from the UK should be opposed by the Government, according to Jeremy Corbyn.
The Labour leader said the Wikileaks founder was being targeted by America "for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan".
His comments, in a tweet on Thursday night, came hours after Assange was found guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court of breaching bail conditions.
District Judge Michael Snow told the court that the 47-year-old Australian had shown "the behaviour of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest".
Mr Corbyn backed Assange in a tweet linking to a video showing him being removed from the Ecuadorian embassy by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday morning.
He had sought refuge in the building in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that was later dropped.
The controversial whistleblower will appear in court via a video link on 2 May to respond to the US extradition charges, which concern the leak of 700,000 documents by former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
In the Commons on Thursday, Theresa May confirmed Assange's arrest had followed an extradition request by the United States.
She said: "This goes to show that in the United Kingdom, no one is above the law."
But Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott praised Assange for exposing activities relating to “illegal war, mass murder murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale”.
“Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security, he is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces,” she insisted.
“Julian Assange is at risk of extradition to the US precisely because, on this side of the House we believe, he disclosed material which is the utmost public interest.”
Responding, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "I think the whole country will be pretty astounded by the tone she has taken...
"She started talking about the reason for Mr Assange’s arrest and tried to come up with all sorts of justification herself which have nothing to do with the reason."
He added: "She is implying, actually quite clearly, that Mr Assange should be not subject to UK law. And that is something that should worry every British citizen should she ever become Home Secretary.
"Why is it that whenever someone has a track record of undermining the UK and our allies and the values we stand for, you can almost guarantee the leadership of the party opposite will support those who intend to do us harm."
But speaking to the BBC's Today programme on Friday morning, Ms Abbott insisted that American extradition proceedings against Mr Assange were because he had "embarassed" the American military.
The Shadow Home Secretary also dismissed concerns about rape allegations made against Mr Assange by a Swedish woman in 2010.
"Those charges were never brought", she said. "The allegations were made but the charges were never brought. We all know what this is about and it's not the rape charges, serious as they are. It is about the Wikileaks and all of that embarassing information about the activites of the American military and security services that was made public. That is what it is about."
She added: "If the Swedish government wants to bring those charges, I blieve that Assange should face the criminal justice system, but if you are talking about the American extradition attempt, which is less about the threat he poses to security in America and more about the embarassment of the things he revealed about the American military and security services."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
