Attack on Freedom: The Julian Assange Saga

When people think of America the most stereotypical first thought is freedom. We are a country that prides itself on the freedom it has and the endless opportunities to be whoever you want and to say whatever you please. 

But that freedom ends when someone wants to be a journalist and expose the wrongs of this "freedom loving" country. 

This is what Julian Assange, an Australian journalist living in England, found out. In 2006 Assange founded Wiki Leaks, an online whistle blowing site.  

In 2010, with the help of ex- US Army intelligence member Chelsea Manning, Assange gained excess to confidential documents which exposed the atrocities the US military was taking part in in Afghanistan. Among those things exposed was a video of a US Army helicopter killing 18 Afghan civilians along with members of the press.  

For exposing these horrible acts Assange is paying the ultimate price. Currently Assange is rotting away in HM Prison Belmarsh. His mental and physical health has been deteriorating and many worry for his well being. Assange is being subjected to all this while the United States tries to build a case against him and extradite him for persecution. 

So lets just take a moment to digest all of that information. An Australian citizen, living in England, is currently being investigated and hunted down by the United States government. A man who does not fall under US jurisdiction at all is being threatened with over 100 years in the American prison system. A system that is currently being called "inhumane" by a British judge who denied Assange's extradition to the US.

Instead of owning up to the atrocities that they are responsible for they are planning to lock up a man for exposing the truth.

This is arguably one of the most insane attacks on freedom of speech in modern history. Journalists main goal is to tell the truth with accuracy. This is exactly what Assange did, yes it was of confidential documents and images, but it was the truth that the American people were blind to. 

The United States has been trying for a decade to silence Assange permanently, the only way to do that would be to lock him up and throw out the key. 

So what are they so afraid of? What more does Assange know? It seems that their hostile feelings towards Assange goes a lot deeper than exposing the wrongs of the government.  

This witch hunt towards Assange not only affects him but the entire journalism community. The United States government is using him as an example, a threatening move to all investigative journalist. Expose what we are trying to hide and we will come after you full force. 

Julian Assange deserves to be free. He deserves to live out the rest of his life in peace and not locked up behind bars with rapists and murderers. He does not need to be a martyr. 

Free Julian Assange.