Assange gets honorary membership at German PEN Centre

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been appointed an honorary member of the German PEN Centre, a writers' association which advocates freedom of speech, reported dpa.

The appointment as an honorary member is linked to concerns about the health of Assange, whose conditions of imprisonment are described by Amnesty International as torture.

Assange is in the midst of a legal fight in Britain against extradition to the United States.

He is accused of having stolen and published classified material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan along with whistleblower Chelsea Manning. US prosecutors argue that he put US informants in danger by publishing the material.

His supporters see him as an investigative journalist who brought war crimes to light.

He has been detained in a London maximum security prison for more than two years. He has already served a prison sentence for breaking bail conditions.

The PEN Centre Germany described the deprivation of Assange's liberty as an outrageous violation of human rights.

"We call on the relevant authorities in England not to extradite our honoured member Julian Assange to the United States of America, where he faces up to 175 years in prison, but to release him from prison immediately and unconditionally," explained Ralf Nestmeyer, PEN vice president. His detention is "politically motivated," Nestmeyer said.

PEN stands for Poets, Essayists, Novelists. Last week, journalist and writer Deniz Yücel was elected the new president of the PEN Centre Germany.