Free Assange

It's been said that true journalism is printing what the government doesn't want to be printed, it's taking a risk to expose war crimes and criminality that is committed by the state. Daring to speak out against the fold, exposing injustice that the sate would rather remain covered-up.

Reporting on leaked materials or inconvenient truths that the government would prefer to sweep under the rug is doing a service to the people because it helps to inform them about the character and actions of who is ruling over them, that they otherwise might never have been exposed to.

Julian Assange is one of those individuals who has taken that risk to try and increase awareness, spreading truth and shining a light about what is going on behind closed doors.

And for that sacrifice he has been severely punished, liberty infringed unimaginably, and has recently been arrested under threat of extradition to the United States for further prosecution for his actions.

The prosecution of Assange has the potential to impact every media outlet in the country because it sets a precedent, where the state can punish a media outlet for publishing controversial classified material.

Many legal and civil liberties organizations have also claimed that it's unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. Punishing Assange could put other journalists at risk and would greatly contribute to a fearful environment that would discourage information sharing. It isn't within the best interest of the public to keep them in the dark of what the government is doing with their own money.

The work that Assange and his team have done over the years has helped to expose the criminality of tyrants and private individuals worldwide.

This isn't just an attack on Assange but could be viewed as an attack on the freedom of the press and is an effort from the government to punish those who have revealed their criminality and wrongdoing. But the ones who should be prosecuted are the war criminals who have been exposed by Assange and Wikileaks.

"Any prosecution would be incredibly dangerous for the First Amendment and pretty much every reporter in the United States,...You can hate WikiLeaks all you want, but if they’re prosecuted, that precedent can be turned around and used on all the reporters you do like." - Trevor Timm, exec director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

It is expected that Assange will be sentenced sometime next month.

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