Lawyer says Assange won’t surrender to U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Julian Assange’s lawyer says that President Barack Obama’s surprise commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence didn’t meet conditions set for Assange to surrender to face espionage charges, the New York Post reports.

“Mr. Assange welcomes the announcement that Ms. Manning’s sentence will be reduced and she will be released in May, but this is well short of what he sought,” said Barry Pollack, one of Assange’s lawyers, in an email to The Hill.

“Mr. Assange had called for Chelsea Manning to receive clemency and be released immediately.”

Manning’s release is scheduled for May 17.

In a tweet last week, WikiLeaks said Assange would agree to extradition proceedings against him if Manning were shown mercy “despite the clear unconstitutionality of DOJ case.”

DOJ refers to the Department of Justice.

Pollack’s stand differs from another Assange lawyer, Melinda Taylor, who said late Tuesday that Assange would keep his word.

“Everything that he has said he’s standing by,” she said.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex assault charges and fears he could be extradited to the US.