Germany's Democratic Lawmakers Create Working Group To Release Assange - Reports

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd December, 2020) A group of German lawmakers from democratic parliamentary groups has established a special working group in the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, aimed at releasing Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website, who is currently held in a prison in the United Kingdom, the Rheinische Post newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the newspaper, citing the lawmaker's statement, the initiative also aims at sending a clear message to protect freedom of speech and press freedom, which are threatened by Assange's extradition.

The newspaper noted that the working group did not include representatives from the right-wing Alternative for Germany party.

Assange is currently pending extradition to the United States on 17 espionage charges, potentially punishable by a 175-year prison term.

The US Department of Justice is also seeking the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder on one count of computer misuse for the publication of classified information on the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and thousands of US diplomatic cables between 2010 and 2011.

Judgment on his extradition will be handed down on January 4, 2021, but depending on the outcome, it is possible that the case will go before several UK courts before it is concluded.

Earlier in December, UN Special Rapporteur for Torture Nils Melzer said Assange should be immediately released or transferred to house arrest from the Belmarsh high-security prison amid a COVID-19 outbreak in the UK facility.