Official documents published today by the Berliner Zeitung newspaper now show that Green Foreign Minister Analena Burbock “did not play a good role in the legal process for the release of the Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange».
The German newspaper reports that “official documents from the German Foreign Ministry give the impression that Burbock did not actually want Assange released.”
In one of the documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it is emphasized: “Avoid calling Assange a journalist”.
It is worth noting, however, that Burbok, as the Greens’ candidate for chancellor during the 2021 election campaign, called for Assange’s “immediate release.”
The Wikileaks founder was deprived of his liberty for 14 years and was released from prison last June after years of legal action and tough political negotiations.
The documents were made public by German MEP Fabio De Masi, from the “Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance” (BSW) party.
De Masi had officially requested in August 2023 from the German Foreign Ministry, under the Freedom of Information Act, “any internal communication within the Foreign Ministry relating to the extradition of Julian Assange and the inauguration of Foreign Minister Analena Burbock”.
After several months and legal procedures, he received these documents, which are now available to the Berliner Zeitung.
“These are several hundred pages of explosive information about the State Department’s legal assessment of Assange’s release. An internal email between department officials dated June 28, 2022, stated that it would be to Assange’s advantage to be recognized as a journalist in the event of a trial in a US court. This would increase his chances of being released.”
Press associations argued in defense of the Australian that he was a journalist, while the US, on the other hand, characterized Assange as a criminal, because as a journalist it would be difficult to convict him.
However, an email dated May 3, 2023 shows that the German Foreign Office urged the Federal Government’s Human Rights Commissioner, Louise Amtberg, to “avoid describing Assange as a journalist.”
For Fabio De Masi, the behavior of the German Foreign Ministry shows “that Mrs. Burbock’s supposedly moral foreign policy is just a farce,” as he told the Berliner Zeitung. “The Greens are world champions in double standards!” argued the German MEP.
Contacted by the Berliner Zeitung, the German Foreign Ministry did not comment directly on the accusations.
A spokeswoman said simply that the federal government’s position on the Julian Assange case was clear. “We have made it clear many times, both to our US and UK partners and publicly, that the case raises fundamental issues of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The resolution of the Assange case has clearly been welcomed by the federal government.”