“Today, a decision was made to extradite Assange to the United States. And if he is extradited, then certainly a life sentence, and he will die in prison. And we, who are talking about democracy here, need to ask: what crime did Assange commit? He spoke only the truth,” wrote Lula da Silva on his official Twitter account.
According to Lula da Silva, Julian Assange only “condemned the fraud and espionage carried out by the most important country on the planet.”
“If anyone has committed a crime, it is someone who spied on other countries on behalf of the United States. Even spied on Petrobras,” said the Workers’ Party (PT) candidate, whose polls give him a clear lead in October’s presidential election.
The British government today confirmed the extradition of the founder of the WikiLeaks portal to the United States, where he is wanted for disclosing a large number of confidential documents.
“According to the Extradition Act 2003, the government must sign an extradition order ‘unless there is reason to cancel it,'” a spokesman for the UK Home Office said, confirming that Minister Prity Pratel had already signed the extradition document.
The decision could put an end to Assange’s lengthy legal battle over the past few years in the UK to avoid extradition to the United States.
Formally, 50-year-old Julian Assange, who was arrested in the UK, has 14 days to file an appeal.
In response to the extradition order, WikiLeaks has already called it “a black day for press freedom and democracy in the UK”.
“Anyone in this country who cares about free speech should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that planned his assassination,” WikiLeaks said in a statement.
MIM (PSP) // SLX
Lusa/The End
