President Putin knows very well that, in October, 2006 (when he was six years into his first presidential term), the renowned Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was not merely arrested, but murdered.
Surprise, surprise! These days, there's very little dissent expressed in Russian media against the government.
So let us be a good example to the world and Free Julian Assange.
The US Justice Department can back out of prosecution any time it wants to.