Julian Assange: Hero or Traitor?

Is Julian Assange guilty of all of the charges against him? The Australian citizen is currently facing a plethora of charges against him. The 49 year old is currently dying in prison and it was widely believed that President Trump was his last hope. However, Trump did not pardon Assange before leaving office and his fate is now in the hands of corrupt law enforcement. Let's take a deep dive into the career of Julian Assange in order to properly come to the conclusion of whether or not he is a patriotic hero of the public or a traitor who deserves prosecution. 

Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 which is a company that leaks classified information to the public under anonymous sources. This company took off but Assange soon found himself in a lot of trouble. In April 2010, WikiLeaks released a video of a United States airstrike on innocent civilians in Baghdad. Later that year, thousands of documents were released that were secret U.S. military reports on the Afghanistan war and blunt analysis's of foreign leaders and security threats. This greatly angered the United States and set a target on his back. 

Julian Assange

In 2016, Assange angered the United States once again. At this point he has already been granted political asylum by Ecuador. Just months before a major election, he released thousands of emails from Hillary Clinton's private server. WikiLeaks also released emails from Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta, and the Democratic National Committee. This was a big deal because the whole world was watching and any incriminating information on a presidential candidate had great power. The Democrats blamed and still harbor resentment toward Assange because they believe that he caused Hillary Clinton to lose the 2016 election. Assange claims to have had no desire to influence the outcome of the election and says that if he had information on Donald Trump, he would've released it. 

Flash forward to today and Assange is still facing harsh repercussions for his actions. He is facing up to 175 years in jail for releasing information on the United States. It is challenging to determine whether to not Assange deserves everything happening to him. The matter is increasingly controversial. On one hand, Assange is leaking classified information that was deemed classified for a reason. Many believe that some of the information was incriminating and could've compromised United States citizens. On the other hand, the general public believes that they have the right to know what their elected officials are doing. They see his trial as a threat to all journalists and believe that he should be released. 

The United States is currently trying to have Assange expedited to U.S. soil from the United Kingdom. On January 4th, a British judge turned down the request to have him expedited. This is an ongoing war that will likely not be resolved soon because there are too many powerful players on each side. If Assange is convicted, many journalists are fearful of what that means for the future of the career. 

Regardless of the outcome, everyone should be following this case closely. The United States has always been regarded as the land of the free, however this case questions that ideal. It has always been the job of the people to keep their government in check. When there happens to be a brave citizen that takes on that challenge, it is controversial because of the labels the government has put on the information. The question is whether to not citizens have a right to know what their government is up to. Julian Assange is a hero in my eyes for having true loyalty to the people.