(WASHINGTON, DC – 12/10/2020) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today reiterated its call for the Biden Administration to end the Justice Department’s ongoing effort to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange for his role in exposing evidence of war crimes committed by U.S. forces during the occupation of Iraq.
Today, a British court overturned a lower court’s earlier ruling that barred the UK government from extraditing Assange to the United States. Earlier this year, the Justice Department announced that prosecutors would carry on the Trump administration’s effort to prosecute Assange.
In a statement, CAIR National Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“Prosecuting Julian Assange for exposing war crimes committed against Iraqi civilians would chill free speech, undermine freedom of the press and harm America’s image around the world. The only people who should face prosecution today are the war criminals that WikiLeaks exposed over ten years.”
In 2010, WikiLeaks released government materials related to American military operations in the Middle East. The release included video showing American helicopter pilots in Iraq making jokes as they opened fire on a group of non-combatants that included civilians and journalists, as well as on Iraqis who came to their aid, killing numerous civilians and seriously wounding two children.
During the Obama Administration, the Justice Department did not pursue charges against Assange for his role in receiving and publishing the documents “on the grounds that what Assange and WikiLeaks did was too similar to journalistic activities protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
According to Reuters, “Trump administration officials stepped up public criticism of Assange and WikiLeaks only weeks after taking office in January 2017 and subsequently filed a series of increasingly harsh criminal charges accusing Assange of participating in a hacking conspiracy.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational
Subscribe to CAIR’s Email List
https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters
Subscribe to CAIR’s Twitter Feed
http://twitter.com/cairnational
Subscribe to CAIR’s YouTube Channel
Follow CAIR on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/cair_national/
Donate to CAIR
https://action.cair.com/a/donate
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
If you would like to join CAIR’s media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters — For more information, email: info@cair.com, CC ihooper@cair.com
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com