A group of eminent intellectuals in India has criticised the arrest of WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange, saying his arrest "attacks on freedom of the press and its right to publish."
In a statement, the six public figures have also called for his immediate release.
The statement was signed by N Ram, the former editor-in-chief of The Hindu Group of Publications, writer Arundhati Roy, former Additional Solicitor General of India Indira Jaising, former West Bengal Governor and writer Gopalkrishna Gandhi, journalist and People’s Archive of Rural India founder P Sainath, and historian and writer Romila Thapar.
“Protecting sources, freedom to publish – without these there is no freedom of expression and journalists will not be able to speak truth to power. We demand that Assange be set free immediately,” the statement reads while calling journalists and readers everywhere to raise their “voices against the persecution of free, independent, and fearless journalism”.
Assange was arrested from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London last week after the country withdrew the asylum provided to him in 2012.
Defending his decision to overturn Assange's asylum status, Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno told the Guardian newspaper that the WikiLeaks founder had tried to set up a "centre for spying" in Ecuador's London embassy.
"It is unfortunate that, from our territory and with the permission of authorities of the previous government, facilities have been provided within the Ecuadoran embassy in London to interfere in processes of other states," Moreno said.
"We cannot allow our house, the house that opened its doors, to become a centre for spying," added Moreno.
"Our decision is not arbitrary but is based on international law," he said.
