UN Rapporteur says Assange Shouldn't Be Prosecuted (Also UN Commissioner for Human Rights Concerned)

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Thu Dec-09-10 05:47 PM
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UN Rapporteur says Assange Shouldn't Be Prosecuted (Also UN Commissioner for Human Rights Concerned)

Source: WikiLeaks Central / Le Monde / ABC.net.au

UN rapporteur says Assange shouldn't be prosecuted
Eleanor Hall reported this story on Thursday, December 9, 2010 12:24:00

ELEANOR HALL: The United Nations representative for freedom of opinion and expression says he is now working on a new report on free speech and the internet.

Frank La Rue says he doesn't think that the United States Government will be able to make a case against Julian Assange. But he warns it would set a very bad example for free speech if it did take action against him. He spoke to me earlier today from his home in Guatemala City:

Frank La Rue you monitor freedom of expression and attempts to curtail it around the world. Do you agree with supporters of WikiLeaks that its founder Julian Assange is now a martyr for free speech?

FRANK LA RUE: It certainly is. If there is a responsibility by leaking information it is of, exclusively of the person that made the leak and not of the media that publish it. And this is the way that transparency works and that corruption has been confronted in many cases.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s3089025.htm

http://www.wlcentral.org/node/574

UN, international officials in support of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange

Submitted by admin on Thu, 12/09/2010 - 17:36

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concern at a press conference today over political pressure aiming to discourage provision of hosting and other services to WikiLeaks.

Ms Pillay said: "I am concerned about reports of pressure exerted on private companies including banks, credit card companies and Internet service providers to close down credit lines for donations to Wikileaks, as well as to stop hosting the website." "This can be interpreted as at attempt to censor the publication of information, and potentially constitutes a violation of WikiLeaks' right to freedom of expression," she said, according to Le Monde.

The UN rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, said in an interview with ABC.net.au that he did not think the US government had grounds to charge Julian Assange or request his extradition. "If there is a responsibility by leaking information it is of, exclusively of the person that made the leak and not of the media that publish it," he said. When asked whether he agreed that Assange is "a martyr for free speech," he said "It certainly is (true)."

Mr La Rue said that "in reference to what has been published in WikiLeaks I think there is no criminal responsibility for being the medium." He noted that there are cases that have to be looked at, but "having said that just the fact that the information is embarrassing information to a government does not make it subject to be blocked or filtered or reprisals to the director/founder of the service." He added: "I have made it clear that just the fact that the information is leaked should not be the excuse to pressure any of the enterprises that are serving that information."