National Union of Journalists denounces CIA plans to kidnap and assassinate Julian Assange

The National Union of Journalists has denounced CIA plans to kidnap and assassinate Julian Assange.  Reports show that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, together with the State Department, had plans in motion to kidnap and kill the renowned political prisoner.

Reacting to media reports of the CIA plot, NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “The suggestion that U.S. security services even considered kidnapping and murder on the streets of a trusted ally is chilling.  That such acts might have been contemplated as a reaction to an individual who had simply published inconvenient truths is all the more troubling.

“At Assange's extradition hearings, the U.S. government did not contest evidence that individuals allegedly working on its behalf had bugged the Ecuadorian embassy in London, followed Assange’s family and associates, and burgled the office of his lawyer.  That context makes these fresh allegations all the more difficult to dismiss.

“If true, the story ... blows a hole in the case made by the U.S. government that its attempt to extradite Assange is not politically motivated.  I am calling on the UK home secretary to explain whether the security services had any involvement in, or knowledge of, these plans.

“Furthermore, it is clear that when the U.S. appeal against the dismissal of its extradition application in respect of Assange is heard in October, it should be dismissed out of hand and its subject released at once.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) general secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said:  “If these accusations are true, it would cast a long shadow over all independent journalism and they would once again prove that extraditing Assange to the United States would put his life at serious risk.  We are calling for a full investigation and for the British authorities to release him immediately.”

For more than 100 years, the NUJ has fought for journalists and journalism.  Today, the union is one of the largest independent journalists' unions in the world.

NUJ members work across the media, from newspapers, broadcasting and book publishing to magazines, websites, mobile devices, social media and PR agencies.  Members work across a diverse range of jobs – anything from reporting, writing, photography and editing to design, videography, communications and presenting.