By AFP – Agence France Presse
September 14, 2022
Mexican officials on Wednesday honored Julian Assange’s family in their latest show of support for the WikiLeaks founder, who is accused by the United States of spying.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum named Assange a “distinguished guest” and presented his father John Shipton and brother Gabriel with a symbolic key to the city.
Assange embodies the fight of “David versus Goliath,” said a spokesman for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, hailing the Australian publisher’s fight for “freedom of expression.”
Assange’s family has also been invited to join the special guests at Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations this week.
Lopez Obrador has offered asylum to Assange, 51, who is in a high-security prison in Britain and fighting extradition to the United States.
In July, the leftist leader said he had interceded with US President Joe Biden for Assange, insisting that the WikiLeaks founder had committed no serious crime.
Assange could face decades in prison if found guilty of violating the US Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010 to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
