Julian Assange's potential extradition has human rights implications that reach far beyond his individual case and might have a “chilling effect” on media freedom, Council of Europe's (CoE) Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said Thursday.

Assange is imprisoned in London, where he is awaiting the extradition hearing starting next week. The US authorities want his trial on 18 counts, including the charges for hacking government computers and violating espionage law.

Mijatovic said she has been following with “great attention” the developments concerning Assange's case, in particular the charges against him and the extradition request submitted by the United States government to the United Kingdom.

“Julian Assange’s potential extradition has human rights implications that reach far beyond his individual case. The indictment raises important questions about the protection of those that publish classified information in the public interest, including those that expose human rights violations,” said the European human rights chief.

“The broad and vague nature of the allegations against Julian Assange, and of the offences listed in the indictment, are troubling as many of them concern activities at the core of investigative journalism in Europe and beyond. Consequently, allowing Julian Assange’s extradition on this basis would have a chilling effect on media freedom, and could ultimately hamper the press in performing its task as purveyor of information and public watchdog in democratic societies,” she added.

According to her, any extradition to a situation in which the person involved would be at real risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment “would be contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

“The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has made clear that he considers that both the detention conditions in the United States and the sentence likely to be imposed on Julian Assange present such a real risk,” the Commissioner stressed, adding that it is her assessment that Assange should not be extradited.