President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said this Tuesday that he will ask his colleague from the United States, Joe Bidenwhich addresses the case of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assangeand stated that Mexico would open its doors to him if he were released.
The British Home Secretary, Pritti Patel, approved Friday the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the United States to face criminal charges. Assange’s wife promised to fight using all possible legal avenues.
“I am going to ask President Biden to address this issue. I am aware that it goes against hard, severe groups that exist in the United States, as in all countries, but humanism must also prevail,” said López Obrador at his morning conference.
Mexico opens the doors to Assange, in the event that it is decided to release him, there are mechanisms to do so,” he added.
López Obrador is scheduled to meet with Biden in July after missing the recent US-hosted Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to protest the exclusion of the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the event.
US authorities are seeking Assange on 18 charges, including espionage, related to WikiLeaks’ publication of large amounts of sensitive US military records and diplomatic cables that Washington says put lives in danger.
His supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimized because he exposed US wrongdoing in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that his prosecution is a politically motivated attack on journalism and freedom of expression.
“He is the best journalist of our time in the world and he has been treated very unfairly, worse than a criminal, this is a shame for the world, the treatment they have given this journalist,” said the Mexican president.