Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has joined the ranks of
politicians asking pardon for dissident whistleblower Julian Assange, who is
wanted by the US government on espionage charges, New York Post reported on
Saturday.

Palin, a Republican Party vice presidential candidate during 2008 election, made the demand in a video she uploaded on YouTube.

Palin’s demand for Assange’s pardon is a little different from
others in that she was one of the victims of Assange’s huge data leaks on his
Wikileaks website, among which he posted Palin’s photos, official emails
and other personal messages from her Yahoo.com account.

Also read: Calls for Julian Assange’s release gather strength ahead of his extradition hearing

“I made a mistake some years ago, not supporting Julian
Assange — thinking that he was a bad guy,” Palin said in the clip. “And
I’ve learned a lot since then … He deserves a pardon,” she said, as reported by
the NY Post.

She praised Assange for “what he has done in the name of
real journalism, and that’s getting to the bottom of issues that the public
really needs to hear about and benefit from.”

Palin’s softening towards the jailed Australian is a far cry
from what used to be her party’s response during the presidential election in
2008. Back then it had tried to brush off the expose terming them a ploy to malign their campaign.

Also read: Tulsi Gabbard urges Donald Trump to pardon Julian Assange, Edward Snowden

The Republican’s Party stance towards Assange apprently cooled a
little in 2016, after he leaked emails of former secretary of state Hillary
Clinton and other Democrats.

Assange is currently jailed in London over charges of
breaching bail. A hearing to decide on his extradition to the US
will be held on January 4 in a UK court.