Assange retreats from extradition pledge

Paris, January 19 

It was only last week that Assange raised eyebrows across the internet when he appeared to offer himself up as a kind of swap for Manning, the former private convicted of leaking the hundreds of thousands of documents that made WikiLeaks a household name.

“If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case,” WikiLeaks said, apparently referring to the US Department of Justice’s continuing probe into the radical transparency website.

But when Obama granted clemency to Manning, setting a May release date that lops almost 30 years off her sentence, Assange’s lawyers said it wasn’t enough.

“There’s no question that what President Obama did is not what Assange was seeking,” said Barry Pollack, who represents the WikiLeaks chief in the US, yesterday. 

“Mr Assange was saying that Chelsea should never have been prosecuted, never have been sentenced to decades in prison, and should have been released immediately.” — AP