US authorities should immediately drop all charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and build a statue in Washington D.C. to celebrate his “heroic” deeds, says presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The independent candidate also urged the US to pardon Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower who has been living under protection in Russia for years.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
Assange was indicted under the Espionage Act for assisting whistleblower Chelsea Manning in a 2010 disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange is still imprisoned in the UK despite serving his full 50 week term for breaching the conditions of his bail. He is now battling attempts to extradite him to the US where he is facing 170 years in prison.
RT report: Speaking at the 2024 Libertarian Party Convention in Washington, DC on Friday, Kennedy criticized ex-President Donald Trump’s track record during his first term in office.
Trump has “assaulted” the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and the press, he claimed.
Trump “continued President [Barack] Obama’s persecution and prosecution of Julian Assange,” Kennedy argued, eliciting an ovation from the audience.
According to the independent presidential candidate, “Assange should be celebrated as a hero for doing exactly what journalists are supposed to do, which is to expose government corruption.”
“We shouldn’t be putting him in prison, we should have a monument to him here in Washington DC,” he added.
Kennedy went on to say that the “same is true for Edward Snowden, who exposed illegal spying by the NSA,” calling the US whistleblower a “hero, not a criminal.”
The former contractor for the National Security Agency revealed in 2013 that the agency was systematically engaged in mass illegal spying on American citizens.
Fearing for his safety, he fled the US and ended up in Russia, where he was granted asylum and later citizenship. At home, he faces charges under the Espionage Act.
“On my first day in office, I’m going to pardon Edward Snowden and I’m going to drop the charges, all of the charges against Julian Assange,” Kennedy said.
