A WikiLeaks delegation arrives in Brazil and is expected to meet with Lula and his transition team.

247 - A delegation from the WikiLeaks (WL) website arrives in Brazil this Thursday (24), composed of investigative journalist, editor-in-chief and spokesperson for the platform, Kristinn Hrafnsson, and journalist and editor, Joseph Farrell. The extensive agenda that the two will carry out in the country includes a meeting with the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and with the Working Groups (WGs) on Communication and Foreign Relations of the Transition Government. 

The visit to Brazil is being coordinated by the International Assembly of Peoples (AIP) and is part of a series of engagements that journalists are undertaking throughout Latin America in order to meet with political and social leaders, movements, organizations, and organized civil society that defend Julian Assange's freedom and denounce the various violations of the journalist's human, civil, and political rights. The Wikileaks delegation also wants to discuss issues related to the importance of freedom of expression and the right to information, values ​​that qualify as pillars of society. "The Wikileaks representatives intend to discuss the risks to democracy and press freedom if Assange is extradited to the United States," the organization said.

The political and health situation of the Wikileaks founder is dramatic. Detained in the maximum-security prison of Belmarsh, in the United Kingdom, since 2019, Assange is about to be extradited to the United States where he could face a sentence of up to 175 years in solitary confinement.

The Australian activist is accused by the US government of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. He was responsible, for example, for publishing classified documents between 2010 and 2011 revealing war crimes and torture camps in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Then-UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Assange's extradition to the US on June 17. "Without strong international mobilization, journalist Julian Assange will not be released. By publishing thousands of documents, photos and videos on WikiLeaks proving the involvement of the United States and its allies in the deaths of innocents and international espionage, Assange fulfilled his duty as a journalist. That is why the fight for his freedom affects us all," declares Giovani del Prete, from the Operational Secretariat of the International Assembly of Peoples.

Threats to freedom of the press

A potential conviction of Assange for these publications would criminalize every step of the basic journalistic process: soliciting, receiving, possessing, and publishing truthful information of public interest. The journalist's defense wants the US to drop the charges as a way to protect press freedom worldwide.

The US government's action seeks to establish a global precedent, as it could exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over any foreign journalist or press outlet, which is alarming. The US has indicated that the First Amendment to the Constitution does not apply to foreign journalists; therefore, if Assange is extradited and prosecuted, he will not benefit from constitutional protections of freedom of expression by virtue of being an Australian citizen. 

The decision to prosecute Assange was universally condemned by advocacy groups, freedom of expression advocates, major newspapers, prominent politicians, and labor unions, indicating that the actions the United States wishes to impose are an unprecedented threat to press freedom worldwide. 

Who are Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell of Wikileaks?

Kristinn Hrafnsson is an investigative journalist and editor-in-chief/spokesperson for WikiLeaks since 2010. He has worked for two decades as a journalist in Iceland, in print, radio, and television, the longest period at RUV, the public broadcaster. He was co-producer and presenter of the investigative program Kompás (Compass) on the private broadcaster Channel 2 during the turbulent period of Iceland's financial collapse following the 2008 banking crisis. Kompás was an award-winning program where he and his colleagues frequently exposed criminal activity and corruption in high-ranking positions. In April 2010, he flew to Baghdad to interview children from the military attack recorded in the "Collateral Murder," the iconic video published by WikiLeaks. Kristinn is one of Iceland's most awarded journalists and received the Icelandic Federation of Journalists' Award in all three major categories in 2004, 2007, and 2010.

Joseph Farrell is a British journalist and editor who has worked for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Centre for Investigative Journalism, where he currently serves on the Board of Directors. He has worked for WikiLeaks since 2010 as editor of numerous important WikiLeaks publications, including the Iraq and Afghanistan War Diaries and Cablegate. His work for WikiLeaks, along with other associates, has made him the target of an ongoing FBI investigation. He was a member of the Civil Society Coalition at the World Intellectual Property Organization's diplomatic conference on a copyright exception treaty for people with disabilities in Marrakech, Morocco. He also regularly appears on television networks as a news commentator.

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