According to a survey by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the majority of Russians believe that the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange is a freedom fighter and an altruist.
According to 45% of Russians, Assange promotes the principles of freedom of speech and freedom of the media, publishing secret materials. In addition, 40% of survey participants believe that Assange acted in the interests of the world community.
Most Russians believe that “Assange wanted to open the eyes of the world community to cases of corruption, crimes, scandals in different countries."
However, a quarter (27%) of those surveyed believe that Assange violated the law with his publications. According to 17% of Russians, Assange sought to take revenge on his enemies and attract attention.
The survey was conducted on April 13, 2019, among 1600 Russians over 18 years old. The survey method was a telephone interview.
It should be remembered that on April 11 the British court found Assange guilty of the violation of conditions of release on bail. The journalist was arrested at the Embassy of Ecuador in London. where he asked for political asylum in 2012. He never left the diplomatic mission building for fear of arrest and extradition to the United States, where he is accused of publishing secret documents of the State Department.
