17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17…

Julian Assange’s father has added his name to a letter calling for New Zealand to offer his son asylum, TVNZ reports.

The call comes after a judge in the United Kingdom rejected a request from the United States for Assange’s extradition to face espionage charges.

Assange founded WikiLeaks and US prosecutors have indicted him on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago.