NEW YORK - December 15 - In response to the New York Times’ report earlier today that a Swedish prosecutor has, unprompted, raised the possibility that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, could be extradited to the U.S. from Sweden, Vince Warren, the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

It's deeply troubling that Sweden is even thinking about extraditing Julian Assange to the U.S.  If the allegations against him in Sweden are their true motivation, then that, and not the needs of the U.S., should be their focus. The Swedish prosecutor's unprompted statement on extradition to the U.S.—the first we have heard from a government official—only reinforces what we already know: that U.S. pressure, no matter how legally dubious, is at play in the European Union, and may indeed be the end game here.

 

 

Vince Warren is available to speak to the press immediately. Please contact jnessel@ccrjustice.org or 212 549 6449 or Riptide Communications:dlerner@riptideonline.com