Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez said he requested former U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. President Lopez also reiterated an offer to Assange for asylum in Mexico. According to NPR, Assange faces 18 charges by American authorities (17 of espionage and one for computer misuse). 

The charges pertain to WikiLeaks obtaining and publishing thousands of leaked military documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2010 and 2011. During this time, prosecutors also accused Assange of conspiring with former United States Army Intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to compromise government computer networks. A British court overturned a prior ruling that Assange could not be extradited to the U.S. due to concerns over his mental health and treatment in prison. However, a high court permitted him to appeal to Britain’s supreme court, positing that his case raised legal issues for which the top court’s ruling is appropriate.

President Lopez said that allowing Julian Assange asylum in whichever country he chooses “would be a sign of solidarity, of fraternity.” He added that Assange would be unable to interfere in international affairs and would not represent a threat. U.S. authorities informed British judges that Assange, facing up to 175 years in prison, could serve any amount of time in his native country Australia, and promised that he would not be held at high-security penitentiaries or in solitary confinement. Still, according to NPR, the high court’s Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett highlighted that assurances [over treatment] are at the heart of many extradition proceedings.”  

Despite the U.S. government’s promises, Assange’s American lawyer Barry J. Pollack said it was “disturbing” that the British courted accept their “vague assurances” of humane treatment. Executive Director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Jameel Jaffer said that the indictment focused largely on investigative journalists’ regular activity. Although the U.S. government may cite espionage as a reason for pursuing Assange, it demonstrates attempts to stifle people who expose corruption and wrongdoing. President Lopez was right to request a pardon for Assange; there are more important issues at hand. As seen here, one should not include perpetuating a constitutional gridlock, especially over one pertaining to the first amendment.

Julian Assange has resided outside the U.S. for almost a decade. Soon after WikiLeaks became prominent, Sweden sought to extradite him from the U.K. on allegations of sex crimes. After losing an extradition case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London for asylum. But relations deteriorated after the Ecuadorian government discovered that Assange was still working with WikiLeaks. They were concerned the website’s publications would damage Ecuadoran interests in the European Union and North America. Amid growing frustration, Ecuador revoked his asylum and invited British police into its London embassy to forcibly remove him.

There will be lasting implications for any decision regarding Assange’s extradition. Nevertheless, the ideal option is to release him. Efforts to arrest Assange have persisted for almost a decade. Even if the English Supreme Court chooses not to hear his appeal, the case does not end; the home secretary must approve the extradition, whose decision is also subject to legal challenge. Additionally, a decision in which Assange is extradited will establish a dangerous precedent for what journalists cannot do. As head of Reports Without Borders, Christophe Deloire said, “we defend this case because of its dangerous implications for the future of journalism and around the world.”