Julian Assange’s mother voiced on Wednesday her disappointment at U.S. President Donald Trump not pardoning the WikiLeaks founder before leaving the White House but said she was not surprised.
“I’m not shocked… Just disappointed that my private prediction was right Courage is not always contagious Many thanks to everyone who supported #PardonAssange”, Christine Assange wrote on Twitter after Trump pardoned 71 individuals and commuted the sentences of another 70 people on his last day in office.
Among those pardoned by the outgoing president were his former adviser Steve Bannon, former Detroit mayor Kwane Kilpatrick and rapper Lil Wayne.
Assange is wanted by the U.S. Justice Department on espionage and computer fraud charges after WikiLeaks published thousands of secret files and classified information that shed light on war crimes committed by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The whistleblower is awaiting in a UK maximum security prison for the outcome of an appeal filed by the U.S. prosecutors at the UK Court of Appeals against a district judge’s decision not to extradite him to the U.S. over fears that he could commit suicide.
Assange faces up to 175 years in solitary confinement inside a top security U.S. prison if convicted in the U.S. (Sputnik/NAN)
