John Pilger: The Betrayers of Julian Assange
Consortium NewsAPR 2023
Assange is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimized and punished for exposing American war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. His prosecution has been rife with procedural violations, and it criminalizes routine journalistic activity.
Assange is not the free-speech champion he's often framed as, but rather a criminal whose publication of classified documents put lives at risk. He committed a serious crime and deserves a serious punishment.