Ron Paul Defends Julian Assange

Assange calls on US to end ‘witchhunt’

Julian Assange spoke in public on Sunday for the first time in months. He addressed a large crowd of supporters from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been granted asylum.

Assange called on the U.S. to end its “witch hunt” against Wikileaks. He also said that Obama needs to “do the right thing” and release Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier charged with leaking classified information to Wikileaks.

“There must be no more foolish talk about prosecuting any media organisation, be it Wikileaks or the New York Times,” he said. “The U.S. war on whistleblowers must end.”

Assange said the U.S. is at a crossroads.

“Will it return to and re-affirm the revolutionary values it was founded on? Or will it lurch off the precipice, dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark.”

Two years ago Congressman Ron Paul took a stand as one of Julian Assange’s few defenders in Washington, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder should get the same protections as the media. Watch the video below.