Last Updated on July 6, 2022
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for the Statue of Liberty to be removed if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is extradited and prosecuted in the U.S.
Obrador said Tuesday he is going to urge President Joe Biden to address the Assange issue and even said Mexico could “open its doors to Assange” if he was released.
Speaking at a morning news conference on July 4th, Obrador explained why he believes the Statue of Liberty should be taken down if Assange is convicted. “We need to start the campaign to remove the Statue of Liberty that the French gave and is in New York because it is no longer a symbol of freedom.”
“It’s a matter of humanism,” the Mexican President added. “If they don’t do it, they will be stained.”
On July 12, Obrador is set to meet with President Biden in Washington, D.C.
The Mexican politician has vocally supported Assange and his WikiLeaks release of the U.S. government’s classified documents. Obrador called Assange “the best journalist of our time,” labeling the charges against him “an embarrassment to the world.”
U.S. authorities are hoping to charge Assange on 18 counts. One of the charges is for espionage after Assange’s website, WikiLeaks, released loads of classified U.S. military records which discovered troves of U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Assange’s extradition request was recently approved by the United Kingdom, so he may have to face U.S. prosecution soon.
Mexico’s president defended Assange and his publication of the U.S. classified documents:
“When this information was released, various media participated [in its publication], they agreed to release all the information because they considered that it was a contribution to the defense of human rights, to freedom of expression, not to continue with the double talk, with the lies, with saying one thing and doing another.”
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.