Do not extradite Julian Assange to the United States

Written declaration No. 759 | Doc. 15692 | 25 January 2023

Signatories:

Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Kriton-Ilias ARSENIS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Sibel ARSLAN, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Karin BROUWERS, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Ms Laura CASTEL, Spain, UEL ; Mr Jeremy CORBYN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Franz Leonhard ESSL, Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr Emmanuel FERNANDES, France, UEL ; Mr Paul GAVAN, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Björn Leví GUNNARSSON, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Max HENGEL, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Mr George KATROUGALOS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Mai KIVELÄ, Finland, UEL ; Mr Eduard KÖCK, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Octavie MODERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Mariella MULARONI, San Marino, EPP/CD ; Mr Marco NICOLINI, San Marino, UEL ; Mr Hişyar ÖZSOY, Türkiye, UEL ; Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Thomas PRINGLE, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Søren SØNDERGAARD, Denmark, UEL ; Ms Anne STAMBACH-TERRENOIR, France, UEL ; Ms Feleknas UCA, Türkiye, UEL ; Mr Andreas Sjalg UNNELAND, Norway, UEL

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We strongly believe that the United Kingdom should not extradite Julian Assange to the United States.

In the event of his extradition, the founder of Wikileaks would risk further psychological and physical harm, in addition to that suffered during his long isolation and detention in London.

Mr Assange would risk an unfair trial and a disproportionately harsh penalty, following the prejudicial statements about him by senior political and security sector figures.

To extradite Mr Assange would send a devastating signal to all those who defend freedom of information and freedom of speech as a fundamental condition for our embattled democracy.