Well unless you live under a rock the news of a potential extradition by the Ecuadorian government of Julian Assange to the United Kingdom has been making the rounds. Each passing hour gives fairly more credence to the information that has everyone curious as to what comes next.
There is very little doubt that should the extradition succeed Assange will be imprisoned by either the UK or US governments who view him as a criminal. In the eyes of many though, Assange is a hero. Perhaps an understanding of the many ‘crimes’ he has committed will enlighten us more on how posterity will judge.
The major ‘crime' of Assange is giving the public a right to know the truth with the platform demystifying the gloss governance has on the people. Wiki leaks can be described accurately as important to journalism and truth what a fully realized blockchain will be to banking
Wikileaks, with Assange as its editor and publisher, redefined reporting in the 21st Century by giving people the ability to be whistleblowers to reveal the abuses of government and big business . People anonymously send documents to Wikileaks via the Internet and then after reviewing and authenticating them, Wikileaks publishes them.
John Pilger describes WikiLeaks’ documents, writing , “No investigative journalism in my lifetime can equal the importance of what WikiLeaks has done in calling rapacious power to portray the truth.
If you’re still searching for a crime I’ll be glad to tell you what it is – giving the public a right to know. Some of the biggest reports of the last decade have been products of wiki leaks and the war mongers probably are not happy with eyes on them.
Also Ironic is the fact that the so called crime of publishing classified information is not new to journalism, and is still practiced by the mainstream media in targeting political dissenters and enemies.
If Assange loses the battle, it’ll be a monumental step backwards for journalism and particularly freedom of speech. Let’s just watch this one out and hope a man that has done nothing wrong is not persecuted unjustly.