Mexican lawmakers ask US to withdraw charges against Julian Assange

97 Mexican lawmakers join calls for immediate release of WikiLeaks journalist and publisher Julian Assange who has been detained 4 years at the UK’s maximum security Belmarsh prison.

President Joseph Biden
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr President of the United States of America,
Dear Speaker of the House,

We write to you as Members of the Mexican parliament to express our collective concerns about the US request to extradite the journalist and publisher, Julian Paul Assange, from the UK to the US, and the chilling precedent that extradition would set for other journalists and publishers around the world.

The political nature of the offense prohibits extradition

The US superseding indictment issued against Mr Assange on 24 June 2020 charges him with 18 counts all related solely to the 2010 publications of US government documents. Charges 1-17 are brought under the Espionage Act 1917, even though espionage is widely recognized as a political offense under international law. The UK-US Extradition Treaty that forms the basis of the extradition request specifically prohibits extradition for political offenses. So, too, does the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Model Treaty on Extradition, the Interpol Constitution, and other bilateral treaties ratified by the US. This principle is also enshrined in the Inter-American Human Rights System, which also upholds the right to political asylum.

Mr Assange undertook standard investigative journalistic practices, which include receiving classified information from a source inside the government and then publishing that information in the public interest. The charges under the Espionage Act would criminalize these routine practices, which are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was in recognition of the irreconcilable conflict between these charges and the First Amendment that the Obama Administration rightly refused to charge Mr Assange with espionage because it would criminalize the standard journalistic practice.

Risk of being subjected to an unfair trial in the US

Mr Assange’s legal privilege, a right enshrined in Art. 8 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and long recognized under English common law, was grossly violated through constant and criminal video and audio surveillance at the Ecuadorian embassy carried out by the Spanish security firm, UC Global. This surveillance was, according to witness testimony, ordered by the CIA and has triggered an investigation into the owner of UC Global, David Morales, by Spain’s High Court, the Audiencia Nacional. The surveillance resulted in all of Mr Assange’s meetings and conversations being recorded, including those with his lawyers. The Council of Bar and Law Societies of Europe, which represents more than a million European lawyers, has expressed its concerns that these illegal recordings may be used – openly or secretly – in proceedings against Mr Assange in the event of successful extradition to the US. The Council states that if the information merely became known to the prosecutors, this would present an irremediable breach of Mr Assange’s fundamental rights to a fair trial under Art. 6 of the ECHR and due process under the US Constitution. The UN Model Treaty on Extradition prohibits extradition if the person has not received, or would not receive, the minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, as enshrined in Art. 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Judicial Conflicts of Interest

Senior District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts) Emma Arbuthnot, who as Chief Magistrate oversees Mr Assange’s extradition proceedings, has been shown to have financial links to institutions and individuals whose wrongdoings have been exposed by WikiLeaks, the organization which Mr Assange founded. This seemingly clear conflict of interest was, however, not disclosed by the District Judge. District Judge Arbuthnot did not recuse herself and was permitted to make rulings to Mr Assange’s detriment, despite the perceived lack of judicial impartiality and independence.

Mr Assange was arrested on 11 April 2019 and is now one of the longest-serving prisoners on remand in the United Kingdom.

We respectfully call on your Administration and American Congress to renew trust in the rule of international law, and the rule of law in the United States, by dropping the charges against Mr Assange and bringing an end to the ongoing extradition proceedings.

We add ours to an ever-growing public voice across civil society, human rights organizations, press groups, and the political and judicial class proclaiming that Mr Assange’s persecution must be halted. We fully agree with the Council of Europe, which considers Mr Assange’s treatment to be among “the most severe threats to media freedom,” and with the EU Parliament and parliamentarians worldwide, who oppose the extradition and express concerns about the violations of Mr Assange’s fundamental human, civil, and political rights.

We join in the call for Mr Assange’s immediate release made by international organizations at the United Nations, Amnesty International, other human rights advocates, and legal, medical and other professional associations. 

We urge the U.S. Justice Department to drop all charges against Mr Assange. 

With all our best regards and wishes for mutual cooperation,

Minerva Citlalli Hernández Mora
Senadora por la Ciudad de México

Freyda Marybel Villegas Canché
Senadora por Quintana Roo

Cecilia Margarita
Sánchez García
Senadora por Campeche

Jesús Lucía Trasviña Waldenrath
Senadora por Baja California Sur

Navor Alberto Rojas Mancera
Senador por Hidalgo

Olga María del Carmen Sánchez Cordero
Senadora

Reyes Flores Hurtado
Senador por Coahuila

Imelda Castro Castro
Senadora por Sinaloa

Sasil de León Villard
Senadora por Chiapas

Oscar Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar
Senador por Chiapas

Sergio Pérez Flores
Senador por Morelos

María Antonieta Cárdenas Mariscal
Senadora por Jalisco

Lilia Margarita Valdez Martínez
Senadora por Durango

Héctor Vasconcelos
Senador

Higinio Martínez Miranda
Senador por el Estado de México

Griselda Valencia de la Mora
Senadora por Colima

Antares Guadalupe Vázquez Alatorre
Senadora

César Arnulfo Cravioto Romero
Senador por la Ciudad de México

Katya Elizabeth Ávila Vázquez
Senadora

Mónica Fernández Balboa
Senadora por Tabasco

Verónica Noemí Camino Farjat
Senadora por Yucatán

Marcela Mora
Senadora

Lucía Meza
Senadora por Morelos

Gilberto Herrera Ruiz
Senador por Querétaro

Raúl Paz Alonso
Senador por Yucatán

Gloria Sánchez Hernández
Senadora por Veracruz

Eunice Renata Romo Molina
Senadora

Nestora Salgado García
Senadora por Guerrero

José Narro Céspedes
Senador por Zacatecas

Ricardo Velázquez Meza
Senador por Baja California Sur

Cristóbal Arias Solis
Senador por Michoacán

Martha Lucía Micher Camarena
Senadora por Guanajuato

José Ramón Enríquez Herrera
Senador por Durango

Ovidio Salvador Peralta Suárez
Senador por Tabasco

Ma. Guadalupe Covarrubias
Senadora por Tamaulipas

Ana Lilia Rivera Rivera
Senadora por Tlaxcala

Alejandro Armenta Mier
Senador por Puebla

Casimiro Méndez Ortiz
Senador

Raúl de Jesus Elenes Angulo
Senador por Sinaloa

Maria Soledad Luévano Cantú
Senadora por Zacatecas

Arturo del Carmen Moo Cahuich
Senador por Campeche

Napoleón Gómez Urrutia
Senador

María Merced González González
Senadora por Hidalgo

Daniel Gutiérrez Castorena
Senador por Aguascalientes

Adolfo Gómez Hernández
Senador por Oaxaca

Manuel Vázquez Arellano
Diputado Federal

Jorge Alberto Barrera Toledo
Diputado Federal

Aleida Alavez Ruiz
Diputada Federal

Andrea Chávez Treviño
Diputada Federal

Mario Alberto Torres
Diputado Federal

Leticia Chavez
Diputada Federal

Hamlet García Almaguer
Diputado Federal

Susana Prieto Terrazas
Diputada Federal

Maximiano Barboza Llamas
Diputado Federal

José Luis Flores Pacheco
Diputado Federal

Yeidckol Polevnsky
Diputada Federal

María Guadalupe Chavira de la Rosa
Diputada Federal

Javier Huerta Jurado
Diputado Federal

Alma Delia Navarrete Rivera
Diputada Federal

Karla Estrella Díaz García
Diputada Federal

Olimpia Tamara Girón
Diputada Federal

Juan Guadalupe Torres Navarro
Diputado Federal

Erika Vanessa del Castillo Ibarra
Diputada Federal

José Guadalupe Ambrocio Gachuz
Diputado Federal

Graciela Sánchez Ortiz
Diputado Federal

María Clemente García Moreno
Diputada Federal

Jaime Humberto Pérez Bernabé
Diputado Federal

Ángel Miguel Rodríguez Torres
Diputado Federal

Alejandro Robles
Diputado Federal

Arturo Hernández Tapia
Diputado Federal

Raymundo Atanacio Luna
Diputado Federal

Steve del Razo Montiel
Diputado Federal

Armando Corona Arvizu
Diputado Federal

Ana Elizabeth Ayala Leyva
Diputada Federal

Martín Sandoval Soto
Diputado Federal

Otoniel García Montiel
Diputado Federal

Leticia Estrada Hernández
Diputada Local de la Ciudad de México

Cirse Camacho
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Martha Soledad Avila Ventura
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Miriam Valeria Cruz Flores
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Ana Francis López Bayghen Patiño
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Héctor Díaz Polanco
Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Marcela Fuente Castillo
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Nancy Marlene Núñez Reséndiz
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Xóchitl Bravo Espinosa
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

José Martin Padilla Sánchez
Diputado local por la Ciudad de México

Miguel Ángel Macedo Escartín
Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Yuriri Ayala Zúñiga
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Alejandra Méndez Vicuña
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

José Fernando Mercado Guaida
Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Valentina Valia Batres Guadarrama
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Christian Moctezuma González
Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Nazario Norberto Sánchez
Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

María Guadalupe Chávez Contreras
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Esperanza Villalobos Pérez
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Marisela Zúñiga Cerón
Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Carlos Hernández Mirón
Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Mexican Lawmakers Letter to US President – English

Mexican Lawmakers Letter to US President – Spanish

Source: dontextraditeassange.com