One of the most famous whistleblowers in history, Daniel Ellsberg, testified today in favor of Julian Assange before the court in London, which is deciding the US request for the extradition of the founder of WikiLeaks.
Elzberg (89), who many consider responsible for ending the Vietnam War because he released the so-called "Pentagon Papers" in 1971, said via video link that after several meetings with Assange, he concluded that they shared the same aspirations, to shed light on "the great lack of transparency " in decision-making circles in the US, especially when it comes to issues of war.
He said that the cables about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, published by WikiLeaks, showed that torture had become "normalized".
"The American public urgently needed to find out what was routinely being done on their behalf, and there was no other way for them to find out than by unsanctioned disclosure of information to the public," Elzberg said.
US prosecutors have charged the 49-year-old Assange with 17 counts of espionage and computer misuse over WikiLeaks' release of classified US military documents 10 years ago, mostly about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The maximum sentence Assange could receive is 175 years in prison.
Like Assange, Ellsberg was tried on 12 counts of espionage after he released 7.000 pages of classified US military documents to the media.
He faced up to 115 years in prison, but the charges were dropped in 1973 because of the illegal treatment he was subjected to.
Ellsberg, who has worked at both the State Department and the Pentagon, said Assange would not be able to justify his actions if extradited to the US.
He added that Assange "cannot get a fair trial in the US for what he is accused of doing."
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