WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
would leave his Ecuadorian embassy refuge and accept extradition to
the US if whistleblower Chelsea Manning was granted clemency, the
media organization has suggested.
Former US Army intelligence
analyst Manning is currently serving a 35-year sentence at the
military base in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for passing on battlefield
reports and diplomatic cables from the US Department of State to
WikiLeaks.
Previously published court
documents revealed that Manning’s release of classified documents
in 2010 prompted the beginning of a Department of Justice
investigation into WikiLeaks. The non-profit media outfit, which was
behind the leak of emails from Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton’s campaign team, has now called for President
Barack Obama to use his last days in office to free Manning. “If
Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to US extradition
despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case,” a WikiLeaks
tweet read.
Scant information is known about
the DOJ investigation into WikiLeaks, and the US has not actually
requested to the extradition of its founder Assange. In August,
Assange’s lawyer Barry Pollack wrote to Attorney General Loretta
Lynch requesting the investigation be closed, and explained how he
had “repeatedly” sought information on the probe without success.
Assange has been living in the
Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012. The Australian has
previously fought extradition to Sweden over accusations of rape,
which he denies. He has claimed the effort is a way to have him
transferred to the US, which, as of May 2016, was actively
investigating WikiLeaks’ activities.
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