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Tucker Carlson calls for Julian Assange's release as family says he's 'innocent'

'Should you throw editors in jail because they embarrass you? Probably shouldn't, not a good precedent to set...,' said Carlson

The family of Julian Assange spoke to Tucker Carlson in an interview on Wednesday, June 16, to discuss the innocence of the jailed Wikileaks founder. Assange, an Australian journalist, has been detained in the United Kingdom since April 2019. He was earlier expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy, where he had been granted asylum for years.

On the Fox News show, Assange's family spoke out against the terms of his confinement as he fights extradition to the United States, where he faces allegations that could place him in prison for more than 100 years.

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Celebrities like Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and actor Pamela Anderson have spoken out against Assange's confinement. But there are many who don't want Assange's release to see the light of day. In January this year, Mitch McConnell reportedly told Trump not to pardon Julian Assange and Edward Snowden amid the threat of impeachment for the former POTUS's role in the US Capitol riots.

Tucker Carlson said that Assange has been in jail for an "awfully long time". "All good people hate Julian Assange. What was his crime exactly?" he said. "Was he hacking into other people's computers, was he stealing secrets from the US government? No! Actually he was publishing things other people sent him. He was a journalist, he was an editor." Carlson continued: "Should you throw editors in jail because they embarrass you? Probably shouldn't, not a good precedent to set, even if you don't like a person's politics. You should be against that." Carlson added that Assange's mistreatment is a violation of the First Amendment, which upholds free speech.

Assange's father, John Shipton, told 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' on Wednesday, June 16, that his son didn't do anything illegal or commit any "specific crime at all." Shipton is presently traveling across the United States to raise awareness about his son's condition. "He just offended some people in certain sections of Washington," he said. "And consequently has faced 12 years now of persecution and harassment." 

Despite the fact that Assange is not an American citizen, he has been prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act, which threatens him with 175 years in prison for "nothing at all," according to Shipton.

Assange's brother, Gabriel Shipton, revealed that the last time he saw Assange at London's Belmarsh Prison was in October of this year. Due to Covid-19, the prison has been totally shut down since then.

"It’s a maximum-security prison so it’s got all of the most dangerous prisoners from around the UK, the most violent prisoners," he said. "He won his extradition case on Jan 4 and the US government appealed and then a couple days later, he was refused bail." He added: "Since January, he’s been sitting in prison an innocent man, not able to see his family or lawyers. And we just don’t know when the appeal will happen or when this will end."

Since President Biden's inauguration, Gabriel disclosed that no elected officials had backed his family in their efforts to free Assange. "It’s been silent from people in Congress and in the Senate which is part of the reason why we’re doing this," he said. "To encourage Americans to stand up for their First Amendment rights and speak to their congresspeople."