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Julian Assange’s last stand?

WikiLeaks founder fights extradition to US in what’s been called ‘the most important press freedom case in the world’.

Julian Assange’s last stand?

By Danylo Hawaleshka

History Illustrated is a weekly series of insightful perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into historical context using graphics generated with artificial intelligence.

Julian Assange’s last stand — A British court on Tuesday began hearing what is widely seen as Julian Assange’s last chance to avoid extradition to the US, where he faces charges under the 1917 Espionage Act.

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Julian Assange’s last stand — Fellow whistleblowers, like Edward Snowden, have come out to support Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, given the high stakes.

Julian Assange’s last stand — Not that long ago the US was seen as a bastion for press freedom, a status bolstered in 1971 by the leak of the Pentagon Papers, top-secret documents that exposed how the US government had lied about the Vietnam War.

Julian Assange’s last stand — On June 13, 1971, the New York Times began publishing stories based on those papers, but had to stop two days later, when the Nixon administration sought an injunction.

Julian Assange’s last stand — In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court refused to curb the First Amendment right to a free press. It said the government had failed to show how publication would cause “grave and irreparable” harm. The press has a duty, said the court, “to prevent the government from deceiving the people”.

Julian Assange’s last stand — The question of what the public has a right to know was raised again in 2010, when WikiLeaks published leaked military and diplomatic documents.

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Julian Assange’s last stand — The leak included a video taken on July 12, 2007, showing a helicopter attack on unarmed civilians in Iraq that killed at least 11 people, including two reporters. The military tried to cover it up.

Julian Assange’s last stand — In advance of of Assange’s latest court challenge, his wife argued that he had only acted as a publisher of information beneficial to the public, and as such should not be prosecuted. “Reporting a crime,” said Stella Assange, “is never a crime.”

Julian Assange’s last stand — To date, Assange has spent almost seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, followed by almost five more in a British jail. Many argue he has already served more than enough time for an act that should be considered a public service - namely holding the US government to account.