Barely days after US President Donald Trump granted full pardon to his first national security advisor Michael Flynn, calls have grown for the pardon of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder. Assange's partner Stella Moris appealed to Trump to pardon him.
Flynn, who was accused of lying to the FBI during the probe against Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections, was granted full pardon by the US President, even as the Justice department said that they would have preferred to have seen the case resolved with a dismissal in court.
'His Kids Need Their Father'- Stella Moris
In a tweet posted on Thanksgiving, Moris asked the US President to pardon her partner for the sake of his kids. Posting a picture of the couple's two kids, Moris tweeted: "These are Julian's sons Max and Gabriel. They need their father. Our family needs to be whole again. I beg you, please bring him home for Christmas."
As previously reported, before the US went to polls to elect its 45th President, Wikileaks released thousands of DNC's [Democratic National Committee] emails. Among other things, the emails hinted at Democratic Party deriding Bernie Sanders' campaign, in favor of Hillary Clinton. They were leaked just after an embarrassing tape, in which Trump joked about molesting multiple women, was released.
During his 2017 trip to London, the then-Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher, told Assange that "on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr Assange said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks", Assange lawyers had claimed before the Westminster magistrates court. The White House had denied the same.
Social Media Comes Together Seeking Assange's Pardon
Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of secret American military documents, which carries a maximum sentence of 175 years imprisonment. Presently, he is in a high-security British prison awaiting decision on extradition to the US to face espionage charges.
Over the last few days, voices have also grown on social media demanding a pardon for the WikiLeaks founder. "It would be a historic move for @realDonaldTrump to pardon Julian Assange," tweeted a user.
Representative Tulsi Gabbard too urged the US President to grant pardon to Assange. "Since you're giving pardons to people, please consider pardoning those who, at great personal sacrifice, exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state," Gabbar wrote while sharing a previous video on the same issue.
Extending gratitude to those demanding pardon for Assange, his mother Christine Assange tweeted: "Many thanks to everyone asking President Trump to pardon my journalist son Julian Assange While being strong & passionate, please also remember to be respectful Thank you," tweeted Assange's mother.
