Journalists body: WikiLeaks founder deserves solidarity

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - A group of journalists have called for solidarity with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who was arrested by police in the U.K. on Thursday.

In a statement, the London-based Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) expressed grave concern over Assange’s arrest at the Embassy of Ecuador in London.

"The organization that he leads, WikiLeaks, was pioneering in its publication of classified media," said the CIJ.

The group noted that WikiLeaks material from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere have "become a unique, invaluable resource for investigative journalists and scholars around the world."

Founded in 2006 by the Sunshine Press in Iceland, WikiLeaks published secret information, news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources.

It claimed a database of 10 million documents in 10 years since its launch.

Assange took refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he had resided since 2012.

The U.K. government said he was arrested upon an extradition request by the U.S. where he faces computer hacking charges.

The CIJ said WikiLeaks’ "innovations -- from cross-border, collaborative reporting to systems for secure, anonymous leaks -- have been borrowed by almost every major news outlet in the world."

It underlined that the charges brought against WikiLeaks as well as any attempt to extradite Assange to Washington was an attack on all investigative journalists.

Assange did not leave the embassy in the last seven years for fear of arrest for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.

"Mr. Assange deserves the solidarity of the community of investigative journalists. The world is now watching," said the CIJ.