Assange activists flocked to Saint Peter’s Square today (Sunday, January 5) holding a banner and signs inviting the Pope to ask Joe Biden, during his papal visit to the Vatican next Friday, for a presidential pardon for Julian Assange. Among the activists was former Italian Senator Vincenzo Vita, Guarantor of Article21 (video).
The WikiLeaks publisher and journalist was released from prison last June, but at the cost of signing a plea deal that sullies his criminal record, subjecting him to work and travel restrictions. Worse yet, the activists say, the plea deal creates a real danger to press freedom because any future authoritarian U.S. president can now incriminate “inconvenient” publishers or journalists – whether in the United States or around the world – by using the overly generic Espionage Act as a weapon and citing the Assange case as a precedent.
Two U.S. Congressmen – Jim McGovern (D) and Thomas Massie (R) – have written Biden to this effect and are contemplating an amendment to the Espionage Act that, by “de-weaponizing” it, would protect journalists in the performance of their duties. But, for this to happen, a strong signal must be sent to the U.S. Congress that an injustice has been committed in the Assange case. Granting a full pardon to Julian Assange would be that signal, according to the activists, and would reaffirm the principle that investigative journalism should not be equated with espionage.
The Pope has shown considerable interest in the Assange case in the past. On March 28 (Palm Sunday), 2021, the Pontiff wrote a letter of encouragement to the Australian journalist while he was in the London prison of Belmarsh and on June 30, 2023, Francis received Assange’s wife Stella and their two children in his Vatican office for a visit, expressing his support for the family’s plight.
The activists note that on Dec. 23, President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 federal prisoners, thereby signaling to Congress and individual states the need to eliminate this scourge. “He defended life and will be remembered for this forthright gesture, ” says Patrick Boylan, spokesperson for the activists. “And, if he pardons Julian Assange, he will also be remembered as a defender of free speech and freedom of the press. That is why we are inviting the Pope to tell President Biden that this should be his legacy.”
