Categories
Press Release

A resolution campaign is being launched across the labour movement in solidarity with Assange

03. 06. 2020

A new call for solidarity with Julian Assange has been issued as his extradition hearing is set to resume in September. Following motions in support of Assange at Birmingham TUC and from the National Union of Journalists a resolution campaign is being launched across the labour movement. The comprehensive resolution adopted by the NUJ is to be circulated for other trade unions, Labour Party bodies, and campaign organisations to adapt for thier own use.  

‘Please put this resolution to your next meeting’, said John Rees from the Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign, ‘this is the defining free speech case of the 21st century. Freedom of information, free from government censorship, is the lifeblood of an effective labour movement. The NUJ have made a stand. Follow their example’.

The NUJ resolution is reproduced in full below and can be found here.

Please adapt it as required for your own organisation and let us know when it passes at: office@dontextraditeassange.com

Here are four other useful campaigning tools. 
Our petition: https://www.change.org/p/release-julian-assange-from-belmarsh-prison-before-covid-19-spreads
Write to your MP: https://assangedefense.org/mp 
Donate: https://assangedefense.org/donate
For the full breadth of support for Julian Assange: https://assangedefense.org/statements




National Union of Journalists’ resolution notes:

1. That WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is held in Belmarsh prison awaiting United States extradition proceedings, a process that can take many years.

2. If Assange is successfully prosecuted in the US he faces 175 years in prison.

3. That the extraterritorial application of the Espionage Act in the indictment of Assange criminalises journalistic activities, in this case activities carried out on UK soil by a non-US national, in collaboration with numerous UK media (including The Guardian, Channel 4 and The Telegraph).

4. That previous statements by the General Secretary of the NUJ, by the Australian Journalists Union MEAA, and by the International Federation of Journalists’ organisations have supported Assange. 

5. That there is a political dimension to extraditions and that the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and US makes the extradition of Assange more likely to go ahead.

Believes:

1. That Assange’s indictment comes at a time of heightened threats to the press in Western countries in the form of raids on newspapers and broadcasters, government claims that the press are ‘the enemy of the people’, and actual prosecutions involving life-long sentences for publishing accurately.

2. That Assange’s extradition to the United States would establish a dangerous precedent with regard to the prosecution of journalists in this country under the UK Official Secrets Act given the requirement for the UK courts to accept US arguments as to dual criminality for the extradition to go ahead. 

3. That press freedoms in this country will be weakened if the courts accept that NUJ members’ publishing activities in this country can give rise to criminal liability in foreign states and to their consequent lawful extradition.

4. That the publication of the Afghan and Iraq war logs and other material by WikiLeaks that are the subject of the US indictment revealed important information that has benefitted the public.

5. Disclosing information to the public should never be equated with espionage 

Resolves

1. To campaign to stop the extradition of Julian Assange to the US.

2. To write to the Home Secretary, the Shadow Home Secretary, and the Shadow Justice Secretary making the union’s case on this issue.

Categories
Press Release

Australian politicians coming to U.S. to free Julian Assange

September 15, 2023 — More than 60 Australian politicians have called on the United States government to drop the prosecution of Julian Assange, warning of “a sharp and sustained outcry in Australia” if the WikiLeaks founder is extradited. The letter comes ahead of announcements that a contingent of parliamentarians are coming to Washington D.C. this week in hopes of securing Assange’s freedom.

In the letter, the 63 MPs and senators said they were “resolutely of the view that the prosecution and incarceration of the Australian citizen Julian Assange must end”.

Together with a large and growing number of Australians we believe it is wrong in principle for Mr Assange to be pursued under the Espionage Act (1917), and that it was a political decision to bring the prosecution in the first place. In any case, this matter has dragged on for over a decade and it is wrong for Mr Assange to be further persecuted and denied his liberty when one considers the duration and circumstances of the detention he has already suffered. It serves no purpose, it is unjust, and we say clearly – as friends should always be honest with friends – that the prolonged pursuit of Mr Assange wears away at the substantial foundation of regard and respect
that Australians have for the justice system of the United States of America.

The letter will be taken to Washington D.C. where it will be presented to US Congresspeople and others as part of the cross-party delegation made up of Senators Alex Antic, David Shoebridge and Peter Whish-Wilson, Barnaby Joyce MP, Monique Ryan MP and Tony Zappia MP.

Their trip, scheduled for September 20-21, is intended to raise the profile of Assange’s plight in the weeks leading up to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s first prime ministerial trip to Washington at the end of October.

“There is some urgency to this mission because of the imminent possibility of Mr Assange’s extradition to the US, and his deteriorating physical and mental health”, wrote Monique Ryan MP, one of the members of the Australian parliamentary delegation.

This situation is one of politics, not of law. If the extradition request is approved, Australians will witness the deportation of one of our citizens from one AUKUS partner to another – our closest strategic ally – with Assange facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison.

Read the whole letter here:

Denver: Free Assange Poetry & Songwriting Contest

August 26 @ 6:00 pm

Calling all Denver writers, Denver bards, songsters, versifiers, tune-smiths, lyricists, laureates, stand-up comics, hip-hop, free association, spoken word, slammers and extempore rappers.

A horror is dangling like the sword of Damocles over all of humanity.

At stake is both a courageous man’s life and, if we remain silent, the conquest of our intellects, our sense of right and wrong, and indeed, our very humanity.

So let us look at ourselves, if we have the courage, to see what is happening to us.

The US, UK, and Australia are colluding to extradite a journalist for exposing the truth.

Their collusion to persecute Assange for exposing uncomfortable truths has revealed their free press and free speech rhetoric to be nothing more than a facade.

Who among us is prepared to stand up rather than remain bystanders to the epic travesty that is the judicial kidnapping of Julian Assange?

Julian Assange has done the greatest public service of any journalist of our times.

He documented repeat lies, callous disregard of human life, rampant corruption and innumerable war crimes.

Freedom of the press is just the tip of the iceberg. All people who oppose empire are at risk.

The corporate, military, and governmental forces imprisoning, torturing, and slowly killing Julian Assange –and many others — are the forces also in the process of destroying life on the planet.

Denver Poets, Denver Songwriters, we ask for your voices and your suffrage’s!

Heed the call!

Employ your skills!

We’ll record the event and send around the world!

6pm sign-in/ 7pm start

$100 first; $50 second; $25 third!

Free entry- each contestant will have 10 minutes.

Topic is free press, free speech, free Assange.

Winners will be decided by the audience!

We all owe this man a tremendous debt.

Even when it was terrifying. Even when it meant being locked away, silenced, smeared, hated, and unable to hold his children, Julian Assange published the truth.

The ruling class is crucifying him for this.

The least we can do is try our best to set him free.

Let’s get him free.

Free Julian Assange

Classic Pianos

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Ithaka at The Social Justice Film Festival

October 11 @ 8:00 am October 15 @ 5:00 pm EDT

ITHAKA will be screening at the 2023 Social Justice Film Festival, held in Seattle, WA, October 11-15.

Boston Rally To Free Assange

August 14 @ 4:00 am 5:30 pm EDT

We will gather at Charles Circle (aka Hamilton Coolidge Sq) to protest the continued prosecution of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. 

Assange Defense Boston

Classic Pianos

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Denver, Colorado 80210 United States
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Categories
Press Release

Bring him home: Australians reject Blinken’s comments

A host of Australian politicians have rejected the comments made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that WikiLeaks’ revelations ‘risked very serious harm’ to national security.

Responding to Blinken, MPs Julian Hill, Andrew Wilkie and Bridget Archer have reiterated that the US needs to get Assange out of prison.

Wilkie stressed that “Antony Blinken’s allegation that Julian Assange risked very serious harm to US national security is patent nonsense.”

Mr Blinken would be well aware of the inquiries in both the US and Australia which found that the relevant WikiLeaks disclosures did not result in harm to anyone.

The only deadly behaviour was by US forces … exposed by WikiLeaks, like the Apache crew who gunned down Iraqi civilians and Reuters journalists.

Senators David Shoebridge, Nick McKim, Peter Whish-Wilson, Gerard Rennick and Malcolm Roberts addressed the Australian Senate on the motion to bring Julian Assange home.

Prime Minister Antony Albanese told reporters that Blinken’s public comments echoed points made by President Joe Biden’s administration during private discussions with Australian government officials. However, he added that Australia will not give up on the issue.

We remain very firm in our view and our representations to the American government and we will continue to do so.

Categories
Press Release

NUJ: The UK must play no part in supporting Assange’s extradition

July 10, 2023 — Reacting to reports that UK police made “voluntary interview” approaches to British-based journalist, UK’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) issued a statement condemning the move and urging the UK government not to allow Assange’s extradition to the US, or assist with information gathering.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said:

The UK must play no part in supporting Assange’s extradition and journalists should not have to fear being contacted to aid a case that poses considerable threat to media freedom and to journalists worldwide. Nor should they have to worry about potential consequences of refusing to take part in such interviews, in relation to future travel or work in the US.

Categories
Press Release

Julian Assange awarded Konrad Wolf prize

Julian Assange is named winner of the 2023 Konrad Wolf prize, awarded by Germany’s Academy of Arts, for his journalistic work which brought to light “illegal state actions, injustice, murder and war crimes”.

The jury said:

Julian Assange’s Wikileaks publicizes information about this – our – reality, so that we as citizens can recognize this reality and take action. ‘We open governments’ so that we know. It is a democratic act. Assange is a worthy laureate, who with his Wikileaks project has exposed government activity, wartime lies, war crimes and cover-ups. His work embodies journalistic awareness-building at its best, and aims to change the world by democratic means – something that is direly needed.

The Akademie der Künste has in recent years repeatedly called for the German government and political leaders in Europe to secure Julian Assange’s release. Julian Assange is being made an example of in order to intimidate and weaken the fourth estate. Journalists, publicists and whistleblowers must be protected, as they perform an essential service to society.

The award ceremony for the Konrad Wolf Prize will take place at the Akademie der Künste on Friday, 20 October 2023.

Free Speech/Free Press

FREE

JULIAN ASSANGE

***NO EXTRADITION***

 

July 15 @ 12:00 pm 3:00 pm America/Seattle WA

Join us for a rally on Saturday, July 15th, at 12 noon in Columbia City,

by PCC (corner of Edmunds & Rainier Ave) in Seattle WA

Categories
Press Release

Ben & Jerry’s Co-founder Arrested for Blocking DOJ Entrance While Protesting US Government’s Prosecution of Wikileaks Publisher Julian Assange

Washington, D.C. – Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, and Jodie Evans, co-founder of CODEPINK, have been arrested for blocking the entrance to the Department of Justice. Cohen and Evans arrived in Washington, D.C. to protest the US government’s prosecution of Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange, who has been indicted on 18 charges for the publication of the Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs, which uncovered war crimes, torture, and civilian deaths perpetrated by the US government. 

“It’s outrageous. Julian Assange is nonviolent. He is presumed innocent. And yet somehow or other, he has been imprisoned in solitary confinement for four years. That is torture….He revealed the truth, and for that he is suffering, and that’s we we need to do whatever we can to help him, and to help preserve democracy, which is based on freedom of the press,” Ben Cohen said during the demonstration. “It seems to me that, right now, unless things change, and unless we change them, freedom of the press is going up in smoke.”  

“Why do we have freedom of press? Because there needs to be someone reporting the truth about the violence of power….When you don’t have freedom of the press and no one’s telling the truth, it weaponizes your capacity to feel, to have compassion and empathy. Because if you don’t have the full story and if your heart is being manipulated with lies, then we’re all lost. How can we have peace in the world if we’re just drowning in lies?” Jodie Evans said

Cohen and Evans asked to enter the Department of Justice to discuss their attack on the freedom of press. Security guards denied them access. They proceeded to sit peacefully in the entrance until DC Metropolitan Police arrested them. 

Members of Congress, world leaders, as well as major publishers, have urged the Department of Justice to drop the charges against Julian Assange due to the threat it poses to the First Amendment and press freedom. 

The Obama administration declined to indict Assange because it would risk criminalizing basic journalistic activities that every mainstream media outlet engages in on a regular basis. 

This month, UK High Court Judge Jonathan Swift rejected Assange’s most recent appeal, pushing him ‘dangerously close’ to extradition. The Australian government, where Assange is a citizen, is currently working through diplomatic channels to end Assange’s incarceration, while his legal team continues the appeal process. 

Julian Assange is currently confined in Belmarsh’s maximum-security prison in London and has been since April 2019. If extradited, he will face up to 175 years in prison. 

###

View photographs of the action arrest here, here, here, here, and here. An original tweet from Ben is here.

Video footage of the action is available here and the full stream of the event is here. The footage is free to use and courtesy of Robin Bell/Assange Defense.

NOTE for producers: 

00:00 – 05:47 Ben’s opening remarks, burning the 1A, approaching the DOJ guard

05:48 – 16:59 Ben Cohen Q&A with press

17:00 – 19:27 Ben Cohen arrest footage For more information about AssangeDefense.org.

Categories
Press Release

Happy birthday Julian!

July 3rd was Julian Assange’s 52nd birthday, his 5th in Belmarsh prison, and 12th without freedom.

Amnesty International Australia released a statement calling on the Australian government to take all necessary measures to ensure Assange’s safe release. This needs to be “Julian Assange’s last birthday without freedom”, they stressed.

Amnesty International Australia calls on the Australian government to demand that the United States drop the charges against Julian Assange and end extradition efforts.

Dominique Pradalié, President of the International Federation of Journalists, congratulated Julian’s 52nd birthday with a blog post recounting his “crimes” and achievements.

Indeed, if an Australian journalist, having published in Europe, were to be brought before an American court, and held subject to US law, who, in this world, would then dare to publicly displease the US administration?

Julian, you must be released, rehabilitated, fulfilled with your rights and returned to your wife and two young children.

To mark the occasion, solidarity rallies and support actions were held across the world.

In the US, Free Assange banners were set up across the country.

Categories
Press Release

Pope Francis holds meeting with Stella Assange

On Friday, June 30th, Pope Francis has met with Julian Assange’s family, his wife Stella and their two children.

After the audience, Stella Assange said the Pope’s gesture in receiving them was evidence of his concern over the suffering of her husband, Julian.

He has provided great solace and comfort and we are extremely appreciative for his reaching out to our family in this way.

She added that the Pope had sent a letter to her husband in March 2021, during a particularly difficult period, and that the visit reflects his “ongoing show of support for our family’s plight”.

Categories
Press Release

Daniel Ellsberg, 1931-2023

Julian Assange and Daniel Ellsberg at the Frontline Club in 2010 (Photo by Robert Wallis/Corbis/Getty Images)

June 16, 2023 — Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower and an icon of movements for peace and the freedom of the press, has died today at the age of 92. Daniel was a co-chair of the Assange Defense Committee, and he testified in Julian Assange’s extradition hearing in 2020.

In 1969, inspired by antiwar draft resisters, Daniel leaked the Pentagon Papers — a damning 7,000-page Top Secret report of the U.S. war in Vietnam exposing the deceit of public rhetoric over the conflict — to the New York Times and Washington Post and was nearly sent to prison for life under the Espionage Act of 1917. Daniel’s case was dismissed in 1973 when the judge learned that prosecutors had broken into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s records in an attempt to discredit his mental state in court.

Daniel has spent the last half century continuing to fight for peace and justice, speaking out against war and attempts to justify it, supporting whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, and warning of the dangers of U.S. nuclear war policy.

Assange Defense director Nathan Fuller said,

Ellsberg and Fuller at a rally for WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2012

“We knew it was coming and still I am crushed by the loss of Daniel Ellsberg. The way Daniel chose to live his life, down to his last days, he has left behind a blueprint for the rest of us whose conscience finds us at odds with the world around us. He never gave up in his struggles for peace, for press freedom, and for nuclear disarmament.

His specific contributions to the defense of Julian Assange alone are incredible. Nearing age 90, Daniel became the co-chair of Assange Defense — not just a figurehead, he participated in webinars, authored op-eds, and was a soundboard for ideas and actions. He testified in Julian’s extradition hearing, expertly deconstructing the prosecution’s attempt to disparage Assange and standing up for the right to publish in the public interest.

I am so lucky to have counted Daniel as a friend, let alone to have worked alongside him in the fight for truth and justice. Thank you, Daniel, we will miss you dearly.”

Ellsberg testified in Julian Assange’s extradition hearing in London in September 2020. In cross-examination, prosecutors attempted to draw a distinction between Ellsberg — who is now widely lauded as a heroic whistleblower — and Assange. Daniel explicitly rejected this false dichotomy and explained how Assange and WikiLeaks’ publications were similarly in the public interest.

“My own actions in relation to the Pentagon Papers and the consequences of their publication have been acknowledged to have performed such a radical change of understanding. I view the WikiLeaks publications of 2010 and 2011 to be of comparable importance.”

Ellsberg explained that this tactic is an effort to turn public opinion against those charged with Espionage for engaging in acts of whistleblowing:

Ellsberg said at the time of his releases, he was harshly criticized, the way Snowden and Manning and Assange are now. Then for a long time he was ignored. And now that these new releases have come out, WikiLeaks’ in 2010 and Snowden’s NSA revelations in 2013, all of a sudden commentators were contrasting them with him, referring to Ellsberg positively “to draw some contrast between us.”

“I totally disagree with the ‘good Ellsberg / bad Assange’ theory,” he said. “Except for the computer aspects which didn’t exist back then, I see no difference between the charges against me and the charges against Assange.”

Ellsberg in support of Julian Assange

Daniel Ellsberg: Espionage Charges Against Assange Are Most Significant Attack on Press in Decades

Indict Us Too: Daniel Ellsberg & Cryptome’s John Young Demand US Drop Charges Against Julian Assange

Daniel Ellsberg on Julian Assange’s Espionage Charges


More remembrances for Daniel Ellsberg

Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter | The Loving Truth-Teller That Was Daniel Ellsberg

Seeing Dan’s life announcement, and the warm responses to it, made it easier for me to accept that one of the best human beings I have ever known had come to the end of his life.

Dan was not at peace with the world around him. Wars and the threat of nuclear armageddon motivated him to do several more interviews while he could still speak with reporters. But he did feel joy and gratitude having lived his life unapologetically as a peace activist and truth-teller—someone who embodied the idea of the moral imperative.

For the rest of my life, I will cherish the fact that I was one of the first journalists who Dan spoke with on his farewell media tour and that I had the privilege of interacting and sharing his wisdom with the world for over a decade.

Chip Gibbons, Jacobin | Daniel Ellsberg, American Hero

“In his email announcing his terminal cancer, the threat of nuclear war was clearly weighing heavily on Ellsberg’s mind. Stating that the world risked nuclear war over Ukraine or Taiwan, Ellsberg wrote, “It is long past time — but not too late! — for the world’s publics at last to challenge and resist the willed moral blindness of their past and current leaders. I will continue, as long as I’m able, to help these efforts.”

While he viewed the world as close to catastrophe as ever, he noted, “I’m happy to know that millions of people — including all those friends and comrades to whom I address this message! — have the wisdom, the dedication and the moral courage to carry on with these causes, and to work unceasingly for the survival of our planet and its creatures.”

When I interviewed him for the fiftieth anniversary of the Pentagon Papers’ release, it was clear that he was far less interested in reminiscing about the past than carrying forward his urgent work to avert nuclear war and reform the Espionage Act. Honoring Ellsberg requires not just recalling him as a historic figure, but carrying on his work and legacy to dismantle the machinery of war that has claimed far too many lives and end its accompanying regime of secrecy that crushes truth-tellers while granting impunity to war criminals.”

Julian’s Birthday Banner Drop and Letter Campaign

July 3 All day

Across the nation and around the world activists will be dropping banners reminding the world and the Biden Administration that “Journalism is Not A Crime”. That if we wish to have a free and open press Julian Assange MUST BE FREED NOW!

We are also looking for folks to write letters or birthday cards to Julian in Belmarsh prison

Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming response to this action we have run out of banners and time sufficient to ship any more. Therefore, please find a banner drop near you and show your support by being there as a witness to history being made

Assange supporters and free press defenders are hosting over 150 banner drop actions across the country. Check back soon to find an event near you and join an action on Julian Assange’s birthday!

Categories
Hearing Coverage Press Release

UK Judge Rejects Julian Assange’s Appeal Request

June 8, 2023 — Julian Assange’s legal battle in the UK hit a roadblock this week as High Court Judge Jonathan Swift unilaterally rejected an appeal of Julian’s extradition order on all grounds. This leaves just one avenue at the High Court level remaining for Assange: he now has five business days to submit another request to appeal to a panel of two judges, who will convene a public hearing as to whether they will grant Assange leave of appeal. 

Press freedom groups condemn UK decision

Judge Swift ruled against Julian on all grounds, drawing a harsh rebuke from the globally renowned watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Chip Gibbons, Policy Director of Defending Rights & Dissent, said,

The US government seeks to prosecute Assange for his legitimate journalistic activity that exposed war crimes, corruption, and abuses of power. The prosecution of Assange under the Espionage Act is inherently illegitimate. On top of that, the legal case against Assange is irrevocably tainted by the extralegal war multiple intelligence agencies have waged on the Australian publisher. 

The Biden Administration must heed the calls of nearly every human rights and press freedom organization, major newspapers, and members of Congress and drop these charges once and for all.

“The idea of Assange or anyone being tried in a U.S. court for obtaining and publishing confidential documents the same way investigative reporters do every day should be terrifying to all Americans,” said Freedom of the Press Foundation Director of Advocacy Seth Stern.

Final High Court appeal

While this ruling is obviously a major setback, it isn’t the end of the road. RSF explained,

“This leaves only one final step in the UK courts, as the defence has five working days to submit an appeal of only 20 pages to a panel of two judges, who will convene a public hearing. Further appeals will not be possible at the domestic level, but Assange could bring a case to the European Court of Human Rights.”

Julian’s wife, Stella Assange, said on Twitter that Assange will submit a renewed appeal request early next week. This request will argue on the same grounds as the previous appeal, which include that the prosecution of Assange is a highly politicized indictment which violates the US-UK Extradition Treaty, which specifically exempts political accusations.

The Solution

The Biden administration can end this case any time it so chooses, and the chorus of voices around the world calling on Biden to #DropTheCharges keeps growing. Australia, a key U.S. ally, has recently reiterated that it wants this nightmare to end; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese personally raised the issue with President Biden, and Albanese has publicly stated that “enough is enough” when it comes to Washington’s crusade against Julian.

Categories
Press Release

Reports that the FBI has ‘re-opened’ its Assange investigation are incorrect

On Thursday, Sydney Morning Herald incorrectly reported that the FBI investigation into Julian Assange had been ‘re-opened’.

The Herald revealed that the FBI sought to interview a London-based writer about his time working on Assange biography project in 2011. The request was denied by the writer who said he opposes any attempt to punish Assange for publishing classified material.

The FBI’s failed attempt to solicit a new witness, however, does not constitute the investigation’s re-opening, but its continuation. The process, initiated under the Trump Administration in 2017, has since been ongoing.

In their statement Wikileaks emphasized that the move indicates that the persecution has no case.

“The case against Julian Assange has no foundation and is politically motivated. The FBI’s latest move simply highlights the political desperation of his persecutors. The FBI’s efforts to create a case out of thin air include making a convicted fraudster their star witness (who has since recanted his testimony).”

Read the full Wikileaks statement bellow:

On Thursday, the Sydney Morning Herald incorrectly reported in a front-page story that the FBI investigation into Julian Assange had been ‘re-opened’. Since the current process was initiated in 2017 under the Trump Administration after pressure from CIA head Michael Pompeo, the investigation has never been closed. It is therefore nonsensical to suggest it has been re-opened.

The Herald’s story stemmed from an FBI request to a London-based writer to “discuss your experiences with Assange/Wikileaks”. This writer had worked on a project of a biography about Mr. Assange in 2011. The writer told the Herald he would rather go to prison than cooperate with the FBI’s efforts to silence a journalist.The FBI request was sent on the same day that President Biden was scheduled to address the Australian Parliament, before he cancelled his official visit.

That same day, May 23rd, Stella Assange briefed a packed room of Australian members of parliament from all political parties and held a press conference in the Parliamentary building. Her visit came after months of building momentum culminating in a week of unprecedented political unity and supporter engagement in Australia. Recent polls show 89% of Australians want Assange free. An extraordinary and undeniable level of support.

Stella Assange said:

“I wanted my first ever visit to Australia to be with Julian and our children,  but after four years he remains imprisoned in London whilst facing a life sentence in the United States. The solid support of the Australian people who overwhelmingly want to see Julian brought home to Australia has cemented my belief that Julian is closer than he has ever been to returning to his family. The US and Australian governments now have a duty to sit down and draw up a solution given the swell of political and public support in Julian’s home country. The Australian people will be funding the USD 245bn nuclear submarine AUKUS deal over the next thirty years and their opinion on releasing Julian therefore cannot be ignored.”

The case against Julian Assange has no foundation and is politically motivated. The FBI’s latest move simply highlights the political desperation of his persecutors. The FBI’s efforts to create a case out of thin air include making a convicted fraudster their star witness (who has since recanted his testimony).

Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks said:

“The FBI has reached an alarming new low by asking a journalist (Mr. O’Hagan) to reveal his interactions with his source (Mr. Assange). There can be no doubt that the decisions taken in the case of Julian Assange are having a chilling effect on journalists globally. From spying on Julian’s lawyers, to planning his assassination, the behaviour of his persecutors is opening a Pandora’s box of abuses of power. The message that needs to be sent to the Biden administration and the Attorney General Merrick Garland is, for the sake of press freedom all over the world: Drop The Charges. End this now.”

Categories
Press Release

Stella Assange visits Australia

May 24, 2023 — Stella Assange is in Australia raising support for the release of her husband, imprisoned publisher Julian Assange.

“Although it is my first time coming to Australia, I do not feel like a stranger on these shores,” she said speaking at the National Press Club on Monday, May 22nd. “I have mixed emotions about being here, because I had always imagined my first visit to be with my husband and children.”

She declared that the prosecution of Julian Assange was being used to “bully journalists into submission” and urged the Albanese government to offer a “political solution” and bring her husband home.

“Julian’s life is in the hands of the Australian government”, she stressed.

Mrs Assange added that she believes they are closer than ever to a resolution in Assange’s long-running case, but that securing his release from prison is a matter of life and death.

On Tuesday, accompanied by Assange’s Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson, and his brother and father Gabriel and John Shipton, she attended a briefing at the Parliament House.

Speaking after the briefing, MP Andrew Wilkie said it was vital for the Australian Government to ramp up its support for Julian. “There has been growing support for Julian in Australia, with politicians from all parties agreeing that the persecution of Julian has gone on too long and must be brought to an end.”

“Proud to stand beside Stella Assange to call for the Australian Government to ramp up its support for Julian Assange”, Wilkie wrote in a Twitter post.

On Wednesday, hundreds of protestors have joined the wife of Julian Assange in Hyde Park, calling on the Federal Government to help secure his release. Next to Mrs Assange, a number of long-time Julian’s supporters, including Scott Ludlum, David McBride, and Stephen Kenny, spoke at the rally. Mr Kenny, a lawyer for former Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks, told the crowd that Assange had committed no crime.

“This is a political matter and it requires a political solution,” he said.

Watch Stella Assange’s speech at the Sydney rally.

Journalism is Not A Crime President Biden

The Biden administration trip to Sydney has been canceled. However, our preplanned actions at the Hyde Park Fountain in defense of Julian Assange and all journalists are going forward regardless. Please join David McBride, Steven Kenny, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Gabriel and John Shipton and many others as they call on Joe Biden and Merrick Garland to drop the extradition of Julian Assange. We are asking all of our supporters to fly their Assange and WikiLeaks wearable’s to show your solidarity with this event regardless of where you are in the world

May 24 @ 10:00 am 1:00 pm Australia/Sydney

Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW

@Stella_Assange

Sydney, Australia: I will join you on Wednesday 24 May. Meet at Hyde Park Fountain at 10am! Make #FreeAssange visible wherever and however you can!

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Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) Movie Committee presents Ithaca

A discussion led by Coleen Rowley and Mike Madden of the Twin Cities Assange Committee will follow the film

Program begins at 6:15 sharp

May 31 @ 6:00 pm 8:00 pm America/Minneapolis

Weaving historic archive and intimate behind-the- scenes footage, this story tracks John Shipton, Julian Assange’s father, alongside Stella Morris, Assange’s wife, as they join forces to advocate for Julian. We witness John embark on a European odyssey to rally a global network of supporters, advocate to politicians and cautiously step into the media’s glare.

Twin Cities Assange Committee, (WAMM) Tackling Torture at the Top Committee, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Citizens for Global Solutions Minnesota and Anti-War Committee and Assange Defense National

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Press Release

Julian Assange pens letter to King Charles III

This letter was first published by Declassified UK

May 5, 2023

To His Majesty King Charles III,

On the coronation of my liege, I thought it only fitting to extend a heartfelt invitation to you to commemorate this momentous occasion by visiting your very own kingdom within a kingdom: His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh.

You will no doubt recall the wise words of a renowned playwright: “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath.”

Ah, but what would that bard know of mercy faced with the reckoning at the dawn of your historic reign? After all, one can truly know the measure of a society by how it treats its prisoners, and your kingdom has surely excelled in that regard.

Your Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh is located at the prestigious address of One Western Way, London, just a short foxhunt from the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. How delightful it must be to have such an esteemed establishment bear your name.

It is here that 687 of your loyal subjects are held, supporting the United Kingdom’s record as the nation with the largest prison population in Western Europe. As your noble government has recently declared, your kingdom is currently undergoing “the biggest expansion of prison places in over a century”, with its ambitious projections showing an increase of the prison population from 82,000 to 106,000 within the next four years. Quite the legacy, indeed.

As a political prisoner, held at Your Majesty’s pleasure on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign, I am honoured to reside within the walls of this world class institution. Truly, your kingdom knows no bounds.

During your visit, you will have the opportunity to feast upon the culinary delights prepared for your loyal subjects on a generous budget of two pounds per day. Savour the blended tuna heads and the ubiquitous reconstituted forms that are purportedly made from chicken. And worry not, for unlike lesser institutions such as Alcatraz or San Quentin, there is no communal dining in a mess hall. At Belmarsh, prisoners dine alone in their cells, ensuring the utmost intimacy with their meal.

Beyond the gustatory pleasures, I can assure you that Belmarsh provides ample educational opportunities for your subjects. As Proverbs 22:6 has it: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Observe the shuffling queues at the medicine hatch, where inmates gather their prescriptions, not for daily use, but for the horizon-expanding experience of a “big day out”—all at once.

You will also have the opportunity to pay your respects to my late friend Manoel Santos, a gay man facing deportation to Bolsonaro’s Brazil, who took his own life just eight yards from my cell using a crude rope fashioned from his bedsheets. His exquisite tenor voice now silenced forever.

Venture further into the depths of Belmarsh and you will find the most isolated place within its walls: Healthcare, or “Hellcare” as its inhabitants lovingly call it. Here, you will marvel at sensible rules designed for everyone’s safety, such as the prohibition of chess, whilst permitting the far less dangerous game of checkers.

Deep within Hellcare lies the most gloriously uplifting place in all of Belmarsh, nay, the whole of the United Kingdom: the sublimely named Belmarsh End of Life Suite. Listen closely, and you may hear the prisoners’ cries of “Brother, I’m going to die in here”, a testament to the quality of both life and death within your prison.

But fear not, for there is beauty to be found within these walls. Feast your eyes upon the picturesque crows nesting in the razor wire and the hundreds of hungry rats that call Belmarsh home. And if you come in the spring, you may even catch a glimpse of the ducklings laid by wayward mallards within the prison grounds. But don’t delay, for the ravenous rats ensure their lives are fleeting.

I implore you, King Charles, to visit His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh, for it is an honour befitting a king. As you embark upon your reign, may you always remember the words of the King James Bible: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). And may mercy be the guiding light of your kingdom, both within and without the walls of Belmarsh.

Your most devoted subject,

Julian Assange

A9379AY

Categories
Past Events Press Release

Julian Assange, World Press Freedom Day, and U.S. Hypocrisy 

May 4, 2023 — Yesterday was World Press Freedom Day, a day in which the United States’ hypocrisy over its stated support of freedom of the press was on full display. U.S. officials held events and press conferences to claim they support protections for journalists around the world, even condemning adversarial countries for their treatment of their reporters, but activists reminded them that these words ring hollow as long as the U.S. continues to persecute and prosecute imprisoned journalist Julian Assange.

Activists take to the streets for Julian Assange and the First Amendment

Chicago: Press Freedom Webinar
DC: Funeral March for the Death of Press Freedom
NYC: Press Freedom Rally
Los Angeles: Hollywood die-in

U.S. officials confronted over hypocrisy on press freedom

CodePink protests Sec. State Blinken
Press Sec. Jean-Pierre refuses to engage

“Advocates on Twitter today have been talking a great deal about how the United States has engaged in hypocrisy by talking about how Evan Gershkovich is held in Russia on espionage charges but the United States has Espionage Act charges pending against Julian Assange.  Can you respond to that criticism?” asked Portnoy.

“What is the criticism?” asked Jean-Pierre. 

“Well, the criticism is that — the argument is that Julian Assange is a journalist who engaged in the publication of government documents,” Portnoy replied. “The United States is accusing him of a crime under the Espionage Act, and that, therefore, the United States is losing the moral high ground when it comes to the question of whether a reporter engages in espionage as a function of his work. So can you respond to that?”

“Look, I’m not going to speak to Julian Assange and that case from here,” said Jean-Pierre.

State Dept. dodges Associated Press on Assange

Associate Press reporter Matt Lee

“So then can I ask you, as was raised perhaps a bit abruptly at the very beginning of his comments this morning, whether or not the State Department regards Julian Assange as a journalist who would be covered by the ideas embodied in World Press Freedom Day?” asked Lee.

“The State Department thinks that Mr. Assange has been charged with serious criminal conduct in the United States, in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in our nation’s history,” Patel replied. “His actions risked serious harm to US national security to the benefit of our adversaries. It put named human sources to grave and imminent risk and risk of serious physical harm and arbitrary detention. So, it does not matter how we categorize any person, but this is – we view this as a – as something he’s been charged with serious criminal conduct.”

“Well, but it does matter actually, and that’s my question. Do you believe that he is a journalist or not?” asked Lee.

“Our view on Mr. Assange is that he’s been charged with serious criminal conduct in the United States,” said Patel.

“Yeah, but anyone can be charged with anything,” Lee replied. “Evan Gershkovich has been charged with a serious criminal offense in Russia, and you say that he is a journalist, and he is obviously. And I just want to know whether or not you, the State Department – regardless of any charges that he faces – believe that he is a journalist, or he is something else.”

“The United States doesn’t go around arbitrarily detaining people, and the judicial oversight and checks and balances that we have in our system versus the Russian system are a little bit different,” said Patel, before again repeating his line that Assange has been charged with a very serious crime.

“Okay. So, basically, the bottom line is that you don’t have an answer. You won’t say whether you think he is a journalist or not,” Lee replied.

Sam Husseini follows up with State Department

Independent journalist Sam Husseini

“You refer to WikiLeaks allegedly damaging US national security,” said Husseini. “People might remember that WikiLeaks came to prominence because they released the Collateral Murder video. And what that showed was US military mowing down Reuters reporters – workers in Iraq. Reuters repeatedly asked the US Government to disclose such information about those killings, and the US government repeatedly refused to do so. Only then did we know what happened, that the US helicopter gunship mowed down these Reuters workers, through the Collateral Murder video? Are you saying that disclosure of such criminality by the US government impinges US national security?”

“I’m not going to parse or get into specifics,” Patel said, before again repeating his line that Assange stands accused of serious crimes in a way that harmed US national security.

Further coverage

Trevor Timm in The Guardian | If you care about press freedom, make some noise about Julian Assange

If Assange is extradited, his case will go from being ignored in the United States to an absolute circus. The justice department will dig its heels in even further to avoid the embarrassment of dropping the charges during a media firestorm. By then it may be too late anyway. A new president may be in office, who would not only ignore pleas from journalists but may revel in them.

Ask yourself: do you trust Donald Trump not to turn around and use this precedent on the reporters he considers the “enemies of the people” and has previously wanted thrown in jail? If not, then now is the time to make your voice heard about the dangerous case against Julian Assange.

John Nichols, The Nation | If Biden Really Believes in Press Freedom, He’ll Stop Targeting Julian Assange https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/biden-julian-assange-press-freedom/ 

“Tonight, our message is this: Journalism is not a crime!” declared Biden, as he put aside the evening’s punch lines for a serious show of solidarity with jailed and persecuted journalists around the world, including Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been falsely accused of espionage by the Russians, and Austin Tice, a kidnapped American journalist who is believed to be held by the Syrian government.

“The free press is a pillar—maybe the pillar—of a free society, not the enemy,” Biden told the assembled reporters, editors, TV anchors, and radio hosts. “You make it possible for ordinary citizens to question authority—and, yes, even to laugh at authority—without fear or intimidation. That’s what makes this nation strong. So, tonight, let us show ourselves and the world our strength, not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”

The statement was a welcome departure from the attacks on journalism that characterized the administration of Donald Trump, who claimed in 2019 that “the press…is the enemy of the people.”And it anticipated the participation of high-profile Biden administration members, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in events scheduled for Wednesday that will honor World Press Freedom Day.

Counter Points | Assange Advocate SHREDS Biden Hypocrisy On Free Press

“Ryan and Emily are joined by Ann Wilcox who shreds Biden for claiming to support a free press while continuing to push forward with the prosecution of Julian Assange.”

Categories
Press Release

Free Assange events planned across U.S. for World Press Freedom Day

World Press Freedom Day, created 30 years ago by the UN, is meant to act as both a reminder and a reflection on the freedoms of the press and of speech that we all hold dear. But these freedoms are under attack daily. With the continued prosecution of Assange, and now the imprisonment of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, we have to stand up to protect free speech. 

Events are being added daily, so make sure to keep an eye on our events page! On May 3, 2023, join us for the below events to mark World Press Freedom Day, or create your own by contacting Organizer Vinne De Stefano.

Los Angeles – Join a broad coalition of activists at Hollywood and Highland to raise our voices in support of journalism and journalists and the very principle of freedom of the press. Details can be found here!  

Washington, D.C. – Join us for a rally on May 3. The rally will have several stops, ending outside the the Washington Post headquarters, calling on the mainstream media to protect press freedom and support journalists as well as whistleblowers who have risked their careers to inform the public. Details can be found here!

New York – Join Assange Countdown to Freedom, NYC Free Assange and Assange Defense for a rally at MSNBC to call for the Extradition of Julian Assange. Details can be found here!

Chicago – Join us for a panel discussion with journalists Kevin Gosztola, the author of the recently released “Guilty of Journalism – The Political Case Against Julian Assange”; Jamie Kalven, founder of the Invisible Institute; and lawyer Leonard Goodman, founder of the Leonard Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting. Details can be found here!

San Francisco – Join us for a Day of Action to free journalists! This event will discuss both Julian Assange and Mumia Abu-jamal’s imprisonments and call for their freedom. Details can be found here!

Boston – Boston Area Assange Defense will be holding a call-in to the White House, Attorney General’s offices, and local representatives to call for an end to Julian’s extradition. Details can be found here!

The White House Correspondent’s Dinner

April 29 @ 6:00 pm 7:00 pm America/Washington DC

DC Action for Assange in concert with Assange Defense is calling all those who support Freedom of the Press and the journalists who practice it to come to this gathering of the Main Stream Media and the Government officials to tell them that without a truly robust, independent and free press the very foundation of Democracy stands in jeopardy

Call on Journalists to Support Free Press!

Call on Media to Cover The Assange Case!

Call on Media to Protect Sources!

Call on Government Officials to Protect Our 1st Amendment!

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World Press Freedom Day

Boston Area Assange Defense Call to Action

Different branches of the Assange Defense Committee are planning actions around the country

May 3 @ 12:00 pm

We are setting a call-in day on that date. Let’s all call and write President Joe Biden (use this link), Attorney General Merrick Garland (use this link) and our reps!
Press Freedom Day should apply to all, including Julian Assange. If we, as a country, say we believe in press freedom, we
should show it, by dropping the charges on Assange. You could also try to get a letter in a newspaper that day.

World Press Freedom Day

Press Freedom, Journalists and Whistleblowers

May 3 @ 7:00 pm 8:30 pm America/Chicago

The right to expose the truth and express political dissent is under attack by the U.S. government, as exemplified by the continued persecution of Julian Assange for exposing war crimes, and the recent indictment of members of the Uhuru Movement for “sowing social discord” and furthering so-called “Russian propaganda.”

AssangeDefense-Chicago, in association with Chicago Area Peace Action and CodePink, has brought together a panel of speakers uniquely qualified to discuss these critically important issues affecting the future of democracy in the U.S..

We are especially excited about the opportunity to hear from Len Goodman, the criminal defense lawyer representing Penny Hess (chairperson of the African People’s Solidarity Committee) who is due to be arraigned on May 2nd.

World Press Freedom Day

May 3 @ 4:00 pm 5:30 pm EDT

May 3, 2023 is the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day established by the UN to a remind governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media

Join Assange Countdown to Freedom, NYC Free Assange and Assange Defense for a rally at MSNBC to call for the Extradition of Julian Assange to be dropped immediately and unconditionally.
Why is award-winning publisher and journalist, Julian Assange, still in prison?

“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people” John F. Kennedy

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A Day Of Action To Free Journalists

Julian Assange and Mumia Abu-jamal

Defend All Journalists & Freedom Of The Press

Meet at Radio Statiion KQED 2601 Mariposa St

May 3 @ 12:00 pm 2:00 pm America/San Francisco

Throughout the world, journalists are being targeted, tortured, and murdered. There is growing censorship by governments & corporate media. In the United States, the two most world known journalists are Julian Assange who was also publisher of Wiki-leaks and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Julian Assange is member of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance in Australia and has been imprisoned in the UK for “espionage”, and Mumia was a member of CWA NABET and working as a journalist on Philadelphia’s NPR (National Public Radio) radio station, WUHY-FM, (now WHYY) in Philadelphia and was president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. The SEIU in 2000, ILWU Local 10, OEA and CWA PMWG have also called for his freedom

Don’t Kill The Messenger

May 3 @ 4:00 am 7:00 pm America/Los Angeles

Here in Los Angeles, a broad coalition of activists will join together at 4 p.m. at Hollywood and Highland to raise our voices in support of journalism and journalists and the very principle of freedom of the press. Please join us in this effort. It is much too important to simply wish our elected leaders would honor their oath of office when they pledged to “protect our Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic.” Protecting journalism and journalists is the very best way to abide by that oath.

We must stop the persecution and prosecution of those whose job it is to reveal the embarrassing or painful truth of what our government is doing in our name. We hope to see you May 3rd.

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Press Release

Lawmakers around the world call on AG Merrick Garland to drop charges against Julian Assange

U.S. letter | UK letter | Australian letter | Mexican letter

April 11, 2023  — Seven U.S. policymakers, led by Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, have cosigned a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling for the Department of Justice to drop the unprecedented charges against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Tlaib is joined by New York Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Texas Rep. Greg Casar, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush. The letter comes on the fourth anniversary of Assange’s arrest and imprisonment in London.

In support of the U.S. effort, parliamentarians across the political spectrum in the UK, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil have cosigned similar letters to AG Garland, emphasizing the global implications in this case. 

The U.S. letter-writers note that “The prosecution of Mr. Assange marks the first time in U.S. history that a publisher of truthful information has been indicted under the Espionage Act,” and go on to warn how a conviction on these charges would change the media and political landscape of the country:

“The prosecution of Mr. Assange, if successful, not only sets a legal precedent whereby journalists or publishers can be prosecuted, but a political one as well. In the future the New York Times or Washington Post could be prosecuted when they publish important stories based on classified information. Or, just as dangerous for democracy, they may refrain from publishing such stories for fear of prosecution.”

Richard Burgon MP said: 

“British Parliamentarians are increasingly alarmed by the potential extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. Any extradition would, in effect, be putting press freedom on trial. It would set a dangerous precedent for journalists and publishers around the world.

Four years on since Julian Assange was first detained in Belmarsh High-Security prison, now is the right moment to draw a line under this outrageous prosecution initiated by the Trump Administration, drop the charges against Julian Assange and allow him to return home to Australia.”

Andrew Wilkie MP, Independent Member for Clark in the Australian Federal Parliament said:

“The widespread political concern for Julian Assange is a powerful reminder that this terrible saga has gone on for much too long and must be brought to an end.

The 48 Australian federal parliamentarians who put their name to the formal letter of concern, in concert with similar letters from parliamentarians from around the world, represents millions of constituents. This is no small matter and must not be dismissed.

Nor should it be ignored that the outpouring of political concern spans the political spectrum and is based on a diverse range of reasons. This reflects how the injustice being endured by Julian Assange is so wrong on so many levels. It must be brought to an end.

The parliamentarian effort was welcomed by leaders of civil society organizations who have warned of the grave implications this case has for press freedom around the world.”

Reporters without Borders’ Rebecca Vincent said,

“As Julian Assange marks four years in Belmarsh prison and faces possible imminent extradition to the United States, it’s more crucial for Members of Congress to speak up now than ever before. No one should face prosecution or the possibility of the rest of their lives in prison for publishing information in the public interest. As long as the case against Assange continues, it will be a thorn in the side of the US government, and undermines US efforts to defend media freedom globally. We welcome Representative Tlaib’s leadership on this issue and encourage widespread support for her call on the Justice Department to drop the charges against Assange. It’s time for the US to lead by example by bringing this 12 year-old case to a close and allowing for his release without further delay.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Seth Stern said,

“We commend Rep. Tlaib’s efforts to finally put an end to the unconstitutional prosecution of Julian Assange. Whatever one might think about Assange personally, there is no principled distinction between the conduct he is charged with and the kind of investigative journalism that has helped shape U.S. history. As long as the government claims the power to prosecute newsgathering, all journalists can do is hope prosecutors exercise restraint and don’t come after them for doing their jobs. Journalists will surely tread more cautiously as a result. No one who values the First Amendment should be comfortable with that which is why every major press rights and civil liberties organization opposes Assange’s prosecution.”

Julian Assange has been detained in maximum-security Belmarsh prison in London since his arrest on April 11, 2019. He is fighting extradition to the United States where he has been indicted on unprecedented charges for publishing truthful information in the public interest, for the 2010-11 publication of documents exposing war crimes and other abuses in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If convicted, he faces 175 years in prison.

Chip Gibbons, Policy Director of DC-based civil liberties organization Defending Rights and Dissent, said: 

Defending Rights & Dissent applauds Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s courageous defense of the First Amendment. Defending the Bill Of Rights is the responsibility of every branch of government and we are proud to stand with those members of Congress who are joining with nearly every press freedom group and newspapers such as The New York Times, in calling on the Department of Justice to end its prosecution of Julian Assange.  When the Trump Administration brought unprecedented Espionage Act charges against Julian Assange for doing what journalists do everyday, they put the First Amendment in peril. To turn the page, the Biden Administration must heed the call of nearly every major human rights and press freedom group, and halt this press freedom endangering prosecution.

Nathan Fuller, Executive Director of Assange Defense, said:

We are so grateful that Rep. Rashida Tlaib has stepped up in defense of the freedom of the press and in defense of Julian Assange. The indictment against Assange is a blatant attack on the First Amendment right to publish, and it puts every investigative journalist around the world at risk.

It is heartening to see members of Congress—as well as members of parliaments across the globe—refuse to sit back and let this attack go on without a fight. Merrick Garland should leap at this opportunity to reassess the indictment, recognize the dangers it poses to democratic principles, and drop the charges at once.

U.S. letter | UK letter | Australian letter | Mexican letter


U.S. letter

Dear Attorney General Merrick Garland,

We write you today to call on you to uphold the First Amendment’s protections for the freedom of the press by dropping the criminal charges against Australian publisher Julian Assange and withdrawing the American extradition request currently pending with the British government.

Press freedom, civil liberty, and human rights groups have been emphatic that the charges against Mr. Assange pose a grave and unprecedented threat to everyday, constitutionally protected journalistic activity, and that a conviction would represent a landmark setback for the First Amendment. Major media outlets are in agreement: The New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel have taken the extraordinary step of publishing a joint statement in opposition to the indictment, warning that it “sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press.”

The ACLU, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Defending Rights and Dissent, and Human Rights Watch, among others, have written to you three times to express these concerns. In one such letter they wrote:

“The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely—and that they must engage in in order to do the work the public needs them to do. Journalists at major news publications regularly speak with sources, ask for clarification or more documentation, and receive and publish documents the government considers secret. In our view, such a precedent in this case could effectively criminalize these common journalistic practices.”

The prosecution of Julian Assange for carrying out journalistic activities greatly diminishes America’s credibility as a defender of these values, undermining the United States’ moral standing on the world stage, and effectively granting cover to authoritarian governments who can (and do) point to Assange’s prosecution to reject evidence-based criticisms of their human rights records and as a precedent that justifies the criminalization of reporting on their activities. Leaders of democracies, major international bodies, and parliamentarians around the globe stand opposed to the prosecution of Assange. Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic have both opposed the extradition. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on the U.S. government to end its pursuit of Assange. Leaders of nearly every major Latin American nation, including Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Argentinian President Alberto Fernández have called for the charges to be dropped. Parliamentarians from around the world, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia, have all called for Assange not to be extradited to the U.S.

This global outcry against the U.S. government’s prosecution of Mr. Assange has highlighted conflicts between America’s stated values of press freedom and its pursuit of Mr. Assange. The Guardian wrote “The US has this week proclaimed itself the beacon of democracy in an increasingly authoritarian world. If Mr. Biden is serious about protecting the ability of the media to hold governments accountable, he should begin by dropping the charges brought against Mr. Assange.” Similarly, the Sydney Morning Herald editorial board stated, “At a time when US President Joe Biden has just held a summit for democracy, it seems contradictory to go to such lengths to win a case that, if it succeeds, will limit freedom of speech.”

As Attorney General, you have rightly championed freedom of the press and the rule of law in the United States and around the world. Just this past October the Justice Department under your leadership made changes to news media policy guidelines that generally prevent federal prosecutors from using subpoenas or other investigative tools against journalists who possess and publish classified information used in news gathering. We are grateful for these pro-press freedom revisions, and feel strongly that dropping the Justice Department’s indictment against Mr. Assange and halting all efforts to extradite him to the U.S. is in line with these new policies.

Julian Assange faces 17 charges under the Espionage Act and one charge for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.  The Espionage Act charges stem from Mr. Assange’s role in publishing information about the U.S. State Department, Guantanamo Bay, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Much of this information was published by mainstream newspapers, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, who often worked with Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks directly in doing so. Based on the legal logic of this indictment, any of those newspapers could be prosecuted for engaging in these reporting activities. In fact, because what Mr. Assange is accused of doing is legally indistinguishable from what papers like the New York Times do, the Obama administration rightfully declined to bring these charges. The Trump Administration, which brought these charges against Assange, was notably less concerned with press freedom.

The prosecution of Mr. Assange marks the first time in U.S. history that a publisher of truthful information has been indicted under the Espionage Act. The prosecution of Mr. Assange, if successful, not only sets a legal precedent whereby journalists or publishers can be prosecuted, but a political one as well. In the future the New York Times or Washington Post could be prosecuted when they publish important stories based on classified information. Or, just as dangerous for democracy, they may refrain from publishing such stories for fear of prosecution.

Mr. Assange has been detained on remand in London for more than three years, as he awaits the outcome of extradition proceedings against him. In 2021, a U.K. District Judge ruled against extraditing Mr. Assange to the United States on the grounds that doing so would put him at undue risk of suicide. The U.K.’s High Court overturned that decision after accepting U.S. assurances regarding the prospective treatment Mr. Assange would receive in prison. Neither ruling adequately addresses the threat the charges against Mr. Assange pose to press freedom. The U.S. Department of Justice can halt these harmful proceedings at any moment by simply dropping the charges against Mr. Assange.

We appreciate your attention to this urgent issue. Every day that the prosecution of Julian Assange continues is another day that our own government needlessly undermines our own moral authority abroad and rolls back the freedom of the press under the First Amendment at home. We urge you to immediately drop these Trump-era charges against Mr. Assange and halt this dangerous prosecution.

Sincerely,
Members of Congress

CC: British Embassy; Australian Embassy

UK letter

Dear Attorney General,

We write to you as members of the UK Houses of Parliament to request that you end the extradition proceedings against Julian Assange.

This April 11th marks the fourth anniversary of Mr Assange, an award-winning journalist and publisher, being detained in His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh in London, where he awaits a decision on extradition to the United States of America.

As you will be aware, this threat of extradition follows a decision by the Trump Administration to bring charges against Mr Assange relating to his role as a journalist and publisher in publishing evidence of war crimes, corruption and human rights abuses.

If Mr Assange were to be extradited to the United States, he faces a prison sentence of up to 175 years for his publishing work which was carried out in the United Kingdom and in partnership with globally leading news outlets.

This would clearly have a chilling impact on journalism and would set a dangerous precedent for other journalists and media organisations. It would also undermine the US’ reputation on freedom of expression and the rule of law.

Given this, there is a growing clamour for the release of Julian Assange. Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, has urged the United States to end the prosecution of Julian Assange, who is an Australian citizen.
Likewise, extradition is opposed by the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović.

Globally leading human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders have also warned against the impact of extradition and called on the United States to drop the charges.

As we approach the fourth anniversary of the detention of Julian Assange in the HMP Belmarsh we request that you take a stance to uphold the First Amendment of the US Constitution and drop the extradition proceedings to allow Mr Assange to return home to Australia.

Yours sincerely
,

MPs

Richard Burgon MP (Labour)

David Davis MP (Conservative Party)

Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party)

John McDonnell MP (Labour Party)

Angus MacNeil MP (Scottish National Party)

Liz Saville-Roberts MP (Plaid Cymru)

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Kenny MacAskill MP (Alba Party)

Diane Abbott MP (Labour Party)

Apsana Begum MP (Labour Party)

Ian Byrne MP (Labour Party)

Dan Carden MP (Labour Party)

Ben Lake MP (Plaid Cymru)

Clive Lewis MP (Labour Party)

Rachael Maskell MP (Labour Party)

Andy McDonald MP (Labour Party)

Grahame Morris MP (Labour Party)

Kate Osborne MP (Labour Party)

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (Labour Party)

Tommy Sheppard MP (Scottish National Party)

Zarah Sultana MP (Labour Party)

Claudia Webbe MP (Independent)

Mick Whitley MP (Labour)

LORDS

Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter (Liberal Democrat Party)

Baroness Caroline Cox (Cross-bench)

Lord Bryn Davies (Labour Party)

Lord Hugh Dykes (Liberal Democrat Party)

Lord John Hendy KC (Labour Party)

Baroness Molly Meacher (Cross-bench)

Lord Jonny Oates (Liberal Democrat Party)

Lord Diljit Rana (Conservative Party)

Lord Prem Sikka (Labour Party)

Lord Paul Strasburger (Liberal Democrat)

Lord Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrat Party)

Lord Tony Woodley (Labour Party)

Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter (Liberal Democrat Party)

Lord Paul Strasburger (Liberal Democrat)

Australian letter

The Honourable Merrick B. Garland
Attorney General of the United States of America
US Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
WASHINGTON DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General

We write to you as Australian parliamentarians from the Government, Opposition and crossbench to call on you to end the extradition proceedings against Australian citizen, Mr Julian Assange. Mr Assange is the Australian journalist and publisher, currently detained in His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh in London awaiting a decision on extradition to the United States of America.

As you would be aware, the previous US Administration brought charges against Mr Assange for seventeen counts relating to allegedly obtaining and disclosing information under the Espionage Act of 1917, and one count under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1968. The charges pertain to Mr Assange’s actions, as a journalist and publisher for WikiLeaks, in publishing information with evidence of war crimes, corruption and human rights abuses.

If the extradition request is approved, Australians will witness the deportation of one of our citizens from one AUKUS partner to another – our closest strategic ally – with Mr Assange facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. This would set a dangerous precedent for all global citizens, journalists, publishers, media organizations and the freedom of the press. It would also be needlessly damaging for the US as a world leader on freedom of expression and the rule of law.

International experts oppose the continued persecution of Mr Assange, including the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, as well as human rights organisations, various heads of state and parliamentarians from around the world.

Attorney General, Australian public opinion on this matter is clear. Indeed polling shows that 88 per cent of Australians either support, or are unopposed, to calls for Mr Assange to be brought back to Australia. Mr Assange has been effectively incarcerated for well over a decade in one form or another, yet the person who leaked classified information had their sentence commuted and has been able to participate in American society since 2017. A clear majority of Australians consider that this matter has gone on for far too long and must be brought to a close. We implore you to drop the extradition proceedings and allow Mr Assange to return home.

Yours sincerely

Australian Parliamentarians
Signatories overleaf

2 / 3
Senator Penny Allman-Payne
Senator for Queensland

Michelle Ananda-Rajah MP
Member for Higgins

Bridget Archer MP
Member for Bass

Senator Ralph Babet
Senator for Victoria

Adam Bandt MP
Member for Melbourne

Stephen Bates MP
Member for Brisbane

Senator The Hon Matthew Canavan
Senator for Queensland

Max Chandler-Mather MP
Member for Griffith

Kate Chaney MP
Member for Curtin

Senator Dorinda Cox
Senator for Western Australia

Zoe Daniel MP
Member for Goldstein

The Hon Warren Entsch MP
Member for Leichhardt

Senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi
Senator for New South Wales

Dr Mike Freelander MP
Member for Macarthur

Dr Helen Haines MP
Member for Indi

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Senator for South Australia

Julian Hill MP
Member for Bruce

The Hon Barnaby Joyce MP
Member for New England

Peter Khalil MP
Member for Wills

Tania Lawrence MP
Member for Hasluck

Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
Member for Swan

Senator Nick McKim
Senator for Tasmania

Brian Mitchell MP
Member for Lyons

Llew O’Brien MP
Member for Wide Bay

Alicia Payne MP
Member for Canberra

Graham Perrett MP
Member for Moreton

Senator Barbara Pocock
Senator for South Australia

Senator David Pocock
Senator for Australian Capital Territory

Senator Gerard Rennick
Senator for Queensland

Senator Janet Rice
Senator for Victoria

Senator Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland

Dr Monique Ryan MP
Member for Kooyong

Dr Sophie Scamps MP
Member for Mackellar

Rebekha Sharkie MP
3 / 3
Member for Mayo

Senator David Shoebridge
Senator for New South Wales

Allegra Spender MP
Member for Wentworth

Senator Jordon Steele-John
Senator for Western Australia

Zali Steggall OAM MP
Member for Warringah

Susan Templeman MP
Member for Macquarie

Senator Lidia Thorpe
Senator for Victoria

Kylea Tink MP
Member for North Sydney

Maria Vamvakinou MP
Member for Calwell

Senator Larissa Waters
Senator for Queensland

Elizabeth Watson-Brown MP
Member for Ryan

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
Senator for Tasmania

Andrew Wilkie MP
Member for Clark

Josh Wilson MP
Member for Fremantle

Tony Zappia MP
Member for Makin

Mexican letter

(En español)

President Joseph Biden
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr President of the United States of America,
Dear Speaker of the House,

We write to you as Members of the Mexican parliament to express our collective concerns about the US request to extradite the journalist and publisher, Julian Paul Assange, from the UK to the US, and the chilling precedent that extradition would set for other journalists and publishers around the world.

The political nature of the offense prohibits extradition

The US superseding indictment issued against Mr Assange on 24 June 2020 charges him with 18 counts all related solely to the 2010 publications of US government documents. Charges 1-17 are brought under the Espionage Act 1917, even though espionage is widely recognized as a political offense under international law. The UK-US Extradition Treaty that forms the basis of the extradition request specifically prohibits extradition for political offenses. So, too, does the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Model Treaty on Extradition, the Interpol Constitution, and other bilateral treaties ratified by the US. This principle is also enshrined in the Inter-American Human Rights System, which also upholds the right to political asylum.

Mr Assange undertook standard investigative journalistic practices, which include receiving classified information from a source inside the government and then publishing that information in the public interest. The charges under the Espionage Act would criminalize these routine practices, which are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was in recognition of the irreconcilable conflict between these charges and the First Amendment that the Obama Administration rightly refused to charge Mr Assange with espionage because it would criminalize the standard journalistic practice.

Risk of being subjected to an unfair trial in the US

Mr Assange’s legal privilege, a right enshrined in Art. 8 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and long recognized under English common law, was grossly violated through constant and criminal video and audio surveillance at the Ecuadorian embassy carried out by the Spanish security firm, UC Global. This surveillance was, according to witness testimony, ordered by the CIA and has triggered an investigation into the owner of UC Global, David Morales, by Spain’s High Court, the Audiencia Nacional. The surveillance resulted in all of Mr Assange’s meetings and conversations being recorded, including those with his lawyers. The Council of Bar and Law Societies of Europe, which represents more than a million European lawyers, has expressed its concerns that these illegal recordings may be used – openly or secretly – in proceedings against Mr Assange in the event of successful extradition to the US. The Council states that if the information merely became known to the prosecutors, this would present an irremediable breach of Mr Assange’s fundamental rights to a fair trial under Art. 6 of the ECHR and due process under the US Constitution. The UN Model Treaty on Extradition prohibits extradition if the person has not received, or would not receive, the minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, as enshrined in Art. 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Judicial Conflicts of Interest

Senior District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts) Emma Arbuthnot, who as Chief Magistrate oversees Mr Assange’s extradition proceedings, has been shown to have financial links to institutions and individuals whose wrongdoings have been exposed by WikiLeaks, the organization which Mr Assange founded. This seemingly clear conflict of interest was, however, not disclosed by the District Judge. District Judge Arbuthnot did not recuse herself and was permitted to make rulings to Mr Assange’s detriment, despite the perceived lack of judicial impartiality and independence.

Mr Assange was arrested on 11 April 2019 and is now one of the longest-serving prisoners on remand in the United Kingdom.

We respectfully call on your Administration and American Congress to renew trust in the rule of international law, and the rule of law in the United States, by dropping the charges against Mr Assange and bringing an end to the ongoing extradition proceedings.

We add ours to an ever-growing public voice across civil society, human rights organizations, press groups, and the political and judicial class proclaiming that Mr Assange’s persecution must be halted. We fully agree with the Council of Europe, which considers Mr Assange’s treatment to be among “the most severe threats to media freedom,” and with the EU Parliament and parliamentarians worldwide, who oppose the extradition and express concerns about the violations of Mr Assange’s fundamental human, civil, and political rights.

We join in the call for Mr Assange’s immediate release made by international organizations at the United Nations, Amnesty International, other human rights advocates, and legal, medical and other professional associations. 

We urge the U.S. Justice Department to drop all charges against Mr Assange. 

With all our best regards and wishes for mutual cooperation,

En español

Presidente Joseph Biden

Presidente de la Cámara de Representantes, Kevin McCarthy

La Casa Blanca,

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20500

Estimado presidente de la Cámara,

Les escribimos como miembros del Senado y de la Cámara de Legisladores de México para expresar nuestras preocupaciones colectivas sobre la solicitud de EE. UU. de extraditar al periodista y editor, Julian Paul Assange, del Reino Unido, a EE. UU. y el

escalofriante precedente que establecería la extradición para otros periodistas y editores de todo el mundo.

La naturaleza política del delito prohíbe la extradición

La acusación sustitutiva emitida por Estados Unidos contra el Sr. Assange el 24 de junio de 2020 contempla 18 cargos, todos relacionados únicamente con las publicaciones de documentos del gobierno de EE. UU. hechas en 2010. Los cargos 1 a 17 se presentan en virtud de la Ley de espionaje de 1917, aunque el espionaje está ampliamente reconocido como un delito político según el derecho internacional. El Tratado de Extradición Reino Unido-Estados Unidos que constituye la base de la solicitud de extradición prohíbe específicamente la extradición por delitos políticos. Lo mismo ocurre con el Convenio Europeo de Extradición de 1957, el Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos, el Tratado Modelo de Extradición de la ONU, la Constitución de Interpol y otros tratados bilaterales ratificados por EE.UU. Este principio también está consagrado en el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, que también defiende el derecho al asilo político.

Assange llevó a cabo prácticas periodísticas de investigación estándar, que incluyen recibir información clasificada de una fuente dentro del gobierno y luego publicar esa información en interés público. Los cargos bajo la Ley de Espionaje criminalizarían estas prácticas rutinarias que están protegidas por la Primera Enmienda de la Constitución de los Estados Unidos. Fue en reconocimiento del conflicto irreconciliable entre estos cargos y la Primera Enmienda que la Administración Obama se negó acertadamente a acusar a Assange de espionaje porque criminalizaría la práctica periodística estándar.

Riesgo de ser sometido a un juicio injusto en EE. UU.

El privilegio legal del señor Assange, un derecho consagrado en el art. 8 Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos (CEDH) y reconocido desde hace mucho tiempo por el derecho consuetudinario inglés, fue violado gravemente a través de la vigilancia constante y criminal de video y audio en la Embajada ecuatoriana, misma que fue llevada a cabo por la empresa de seguridad española, UC Global. Esta vigilancia fue, según el testimonio de un testigo, ordenada por la CIA, desencadenando una investigación sobre el propietario de UC Global, David Morales, por parte del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de España, la Audiencia Nacional. La vigilancia resultó en la grabación de todas las reuniones y conversaciones de Assange, incluidas aquellas con sus abogados. El Consejo de Colegios de Abogados y Abogados de Europa, que representa a más de un millón de abogados europeos, ha expresado su preocupación

de que estas grabaciones ilegales puedan usarse, abierta o secretamente, en procedimientos contra el Sr. Assange en caso de una extradición exitosa a los EE. UU. El Consejo afirma que, si la información simplemente llegara a ser conocida por los

fiscales, esto representaría una violación irremediable de los derechos fundamentales del Sr. Assange a un juicio justo en virtud del art. 6 de la CEDH y el debido proceso bajo la Constitución de los Estados Unidos. El Tratado Modelo de Extradición de la ONU prohíbe la extradición si la persona no ha recibido, o no recibiría, las garantías mínimas en los procesos penales, tal como lo establece el art. 14 del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos (PIDCP).

Conflictos de intereses judiciales

Se ha demostrado que la jueza principal de distrito (tribunales de magistrados) Emma Arbuthnot, quien como magistrada principal supervisa los procedimientos de extradición del Sr. Assange, tiene vínculos financieros con instituciones y personas cuyas fechorías han sido expuestas por WikiLeaks, la organización que fundó el Sr. Assange. Sin embargo, este aparentemente claro conflicto de intereses no fue revelado por el juez de

distrito. La jueza de distrito Arbuthnot no se recusó y se le permitió dictar sentencias en detrimento de Assange, a pesar de la aparente falta de imparcialidad e independencia judicial.

Assange fue arrestado el 11 de abril de 2019 y ahora es uno de los presos con más años en prisión preventiva en el Reino Unido.

Hacemos un llamado respetuosamente a su administración y al Congreso estadounidense para que renueven la confianza en el Estado de derecho internacional y el Estado de derecho en los Estados Unidos, retirando los cargos contra el Sr. Assange y poniendo fin a los procedimientos de extradición en curso.

A una voz pública cada vez mayor en la sociedad civil, las organizaciones de derechos humanos, los grupos de prensa y la clase política y judicial que proclaman que se debe detener la persecución del Sr. Assange, agregamos la nuestra. Estamos totalmente de acuerdo con el Consejo de Europa, que considera que el trato al Sr. Assange se encuentra entre “las amenazas más graves a la libertad de prensa”, y con el Parlamento de la Unión Europa y los parlamentarios de todo el mundo, que se oponen a la extradición y expresan su preocupación por las violaciones de los principios fundamentales del Sr. Assange. derechos humanos, civiles y políticos.

Nos unimos al llamado para la liberación inmediata del Sr. Assange hecho por organizaciones internacionales en las Naciones Unidas, Amnistía Internacional, otros defensores de los derechos humanos y asociaciones legales, médicas y otras

asociaciones profesionales. 

Instamos al Departamento de Justicia de EE. UU. a que retire todos los cargos contra Assange.

Con todos nuestros mejores saludos y deseos de cooperación mutua,

Minerva Citlalli Hernández Mora

Senadora por la Ciudad de México

Freyda Marybel Villegas Canché

Senadora por Quintana Roo

Cecilia Margarita

Sánchez García

Senadora por Campeche

Jesús Lucía Trasviña Waldenrath

Senadora por Baja California Sur

Navor Alberto Rojas Mancera

Senador por Hidalgo

Olga María del Carmen Sánchez

Cordero

Senadora

Reyes Flores Hurtado

Senador por Coahuila

Imelda Castro Castro

Senadora por Sinaloa

Sasil de León Villard

Senadora por Chiapas

Oscar Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar

Senador por Chiapas

Sergio Pérez Flores

Senador por Morelos

María Antonieta Cárdenas Mariscal

Senadora por Jalisco

Lilia Margarita Valdez Martínez

Senadora por Durango

Héctor Vasconcelos

Senador

Higinio Martínez Miranda

Senador por el Estado de México

Griselda Valencia de la Mora

Senadora por Colima

Antares Guadalupe Vázquez

Alatorre

Senadora

César Arnulfo Cravioto

Romero

Senador por la Ciudad de México

Katya Elizabeth Ávila Vázquez

Senadora

Mónica Fernández Balboa

Senadora por Tabasco

Verónica Noemí Camino Farjat

Senadora por Yucatán

Marcela Mora

Senadora

Lucía Meza

Senadora por Morelos

Gilberto Herrera Ruiz

Senador por Querétaro

Raúl Paz Alonso

Senador por Yucatán

Gloria Sánchez Hernández

Senadora por Veracruz

Eunice Renata Romo Molina

Senadora

Nestora Salgado García

Senadora por Guerrero

José Narro Céspedes

Senador por Zacatecas

Ricardo Velázquez Meza

Senador por Baja California Sur

Cristóbal Arias Solis

Senador por Michoacán

Martha Lucía Micher Camarena

Senadora por Guanajuato

José Ramón Enríquez Herrera

Senador por Durango

Ovidio Salvador Peralta Suárez

Senador por Tabasco

Ma. Guadalupe Covarrubias

Senadora por Tamaulipas

Ana Lilia Rivera Rivera

Senadora por Tlaxcala

Alejandro Armenta Mier

Senador por Puebla

Casimiro Méndez Ortiz

Senador

Raúl de Jesus Elenes Angulo

Senador por Sinaloa

Maria Soledad Luévano Cantú

Senadora por Zacatecas

Arturo del Carmen Moo Cahuich

Senador por Campeche

Napoleón Gómez Urrutia

Senador

María Merced González González

Senadora por Hidalgo

Daniel Gutiérrez Castorena

Senador por Aguascalientes

Adolfo Gómez Hernández

Senador por Oaxaca

Manuel Vázquez Arellano

Diputado Federal

Jorge Alberto Barrera Toledo

Diputado Federal

Aleida Alavez Ruiz

Diputada Federal

Andrea Chávez Treviño

Diputada Federal

Mario Alberto Torres

Diputado Federal

Leticia Chavez

Diputada Federal

Hamlet García Almaguer

Diputado Federal

Susana Prieto Terrazas

Diputada Federal

Maximiano Barboza Llamas

Diputado Federal

José Luis Flores Pacheco

Diputado Federal

Yeidckol Polevnsky

Diputada Federal

María Guadalupe Chavira de la Rosa

Diputada Federal

Javier Huerta Jurado

Diputado Federal

Alma Delia Navarrete Rivera

Diputada Federal

Karla Estrella Díaz García

Diputada Federal

Olimpia Tamara Girón

Diputada Federal

Juan Guadalupe Torres Navarro

Diputado Federal

Erika Vanessa del Castillo Ibarra

Diputada Federal

José Guadalupe Ambrocio Gachuz

Diputado Federal

Graciela Sánchez Ortiz

Diputado Federal

María Clemente García Moreno

Diputada Federal

Jaime Humberto Pérez Bernabé

Diputado Federal

Ángel Miguel Rodríguez Torres

Diputado Federal

Alejandro Robles

Diputado Federal

Arturo Hernández Tapia

Diputado Federal

Raymundo Atanacio Luna

Diputado Federal

Steve del Razo Montiel

Diputado Federal

Armando Corona Arvizu

Diputado Federal

Ana Elizabeth Ayala Leyva

Diputada Federal

Martín Sandoval Soto

Diputado Federal

Otoniel García Montiel

Diputado Federal

Leticia Estrada Hernández

Diputada Local de la Ciudad de

México

Cirse Camacho

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Martha Soledad Avila Ventura

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Miriam Valeria Cruz Flores

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Ana Francis López Bayghen Patiño

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Héctor Díaz Polanco

Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Marcela Fuente Castillo

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Nancy Marlene Núñez Reséndiz

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Xóchitl Bravo Espinosa

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

José Martin Padilla Sánchez

Diputado local por la Ciudad de México

Miguel Ángel Macedo Escartín

Diputado local de la Ciudad de México

Yuriri Ayala Zúñiga

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

Alejandra Méndez Vicuña

Diputada local de la Ciudad de México

José Fernando Mercado Guaida

Diputado local de la Ciudad de

México

Valentina Valia Batres Guadarrama

Diputada local de la Ciudad de

México

Christian Moctezuma González

Diputado local de la Ciudad de

México

Nazario Norberto Sánchez

Diputado local de la Ciudad de

México

María Guadalupe Chávez Contreras

Diputada local de la Ciudad de

México

Esperanza Villalobos Pérez

Diputada local de la Ciudad de

México

Marisela Zúñiga Cerón

Diputada local de la Ciudad de

México

Carlos Hernández Mirón

Diputado local de la Ciudad de

México

Rally at the JFK Federal Building to Speak out for Julian Assange

April 17 @ 11:30 am 1:00 pm America/Washington DC

On April 17th, 11:30am-1pm, Boston Area Assange Defense will rally at the JFK Federal Building to speak out for Julian Assange and encourage MA senators, Warren and Markey, to co-sign Representative Rashida Tlaib’s congressional ‘sign-on’ letter to AG Merrick Garland calling on him to drop the prosecution of Julian Assange

Press Freedom

The Case of Julian Assange

Short Film Screening followed by Discussion

March 30 @ 6:00 pm 8:30 pm America/

Student Press Freedom Day event examining the legal and political factors surrounding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Four Years in Belmarsh Prison

April 11 @ 4:00 pm 6:00 pm America/Washington DC

Come to the US Department of Justice to tell the Biden Administration that 4 years of imprisonment for Julian Assange without a conviction is 4 years too long.

Come to stand up for Freedom of the Press

April 11 marks the four-year anniversary of the arrest of journalist and publisher Julian Assange.

Join activists and supporters from around the country gathering in Washington, DC to demand the charges against Assange be dropped.

Department of Justice ‘Free Assange Rally’

  • Tuesday April 11, 4-6pm
  • Pennsylvania Ave at 10th St, NW

What’s happening to Julian Assange is happening to all of us. It’s the criminalization of truth. The world is watching and the tide is turning. Journalism is not a crime.

Also please join us, same day for “Assange Lobby Day”

At 10am, we will meet in the cafeteria lower level of the Rayburn House Office Building to divide into small groups then lobby at select offices.

  • Rayburn HOB April 11, 10-2pm
  • 45 Independence Ave SW

As we meet with our representatives, we will ask them to co-sign Representative Rashida Tlaib’s letter to Atty General Merrick Garland demanding that he drop all charges against Julian Assange.

Let’s be Julian Assange’s voice – silenced since April 11, 2019 – let’s defend his rights and our First Amendment rights!

See you on April 11th in Washington, DC­ – Free Assange NOW!

Categories
Press Release

Assange activist sends support kits across the U.S.

All over the world, activists and volunteers have been hard at work to bring awareness to Assange’s prosecution and the continued threat to free press. One of those activists is Halo Benson, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who created these amazing seed kits!

Filled with t-shirts, stickers, flyers, postcards pre-stamped and addressed to the Department of Justice and the White House, and more, these kits are a creative way to keep activists engaged, and keep up the drumbeat as we approach the one-year anniversary of Assange’s extradition. Watch this video to see more of what’s inside! If you’d like your own kit, you can reach out to her on Twitter.

When we think of actions to help Assange, we often jump to protesting, tabling, or other bigger, more public-facing work. However, not everyone has the resources or time to hit the streets. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be helpful in spreading awareness about Assange’s extradition and the encroaching threat to freedom of the press. There are so many creative ways to get the message out, just as Halo has shown here.  

Halo, we’re so grateful for your continued advocacy and support! Inspired by Halo’s work? You can get involved, too! Click here to find all the ways you can take action. Want to support Halo’s effort? Donate to Halo’s Assange Anniversary fundraiser.

Halo, right, with Julian Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton at a screening of Ithaka in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

ITHAKA: Film screening and Q&A tour

March 1 @ 8:00 am April 10 @ 7:00 pm EST

Award-winning documentary on the global campaign to defend the right to publish and free Julian Assange is coming soon to a theater near you, followed by Q&A panel events with Julian’s father and brother, John and Gabriel Shipton

Categories
Press Release

Students, professors, activists assemble for Assange’s release and freedom of the press on Student Press Freedom Day

February 23, 2023 — All over the country, students and universities will be hosting events focused on the threat to freedom of the press for Student Press Freedom Day. Nothing represents this threat better than the unprecedented prosecution against Julian Assange.  In Boston and Chicago, Assange Defense chapters will hold open events to discuss the impacts of Assange’s case on the future of the free press.

In the United States and around the world, freedom of speech and the press are under attack. One of the biggest examples of this is the case against Julian Assange. Assange is fighting extradition to the United States, where he faces unprecedented charges that carry up to 175 years in prison. For the first time in history, the U.S. Justice Department is charging a journalist under the controversial Espionage Act of 1917. The United Nations has declared Julian Assange “arbitrarily detained” since 2010. 

“The case against Julian Assange could spell the end of investigative journalism for the next generation of reporters, editors, and publishers before they even have a chance to graduate,” said Nathan Fuller, director of the Assange Defense Committee. “This prosecution would fundamentally alter the relationship between the people and the government, by eliminating an essential avenue of accountability, and that’s what these students are standing up and speaking out against. It’s really inspiring to see and hear from young people who care about these issues and I hope these rallies and panels are the first of many for those who’ve started participating in events like these today.”

“The prosecution of Julian Assange would criminalize national security journalism and send a chilling message to journalists that they disclose government secrets at their peril,” said attorney Marjorie Cohn, member of the national advisory board of Assange Defense and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. “Assange would be punished for doing what journalists do – protect confidential sources and publish classified secrets to tell us what our government is doing in our name.”

Press freedom and human rights groups have condemned the U.S. extradition efforts. And now, future journalists and lawyers are taking on the mantle, calling on President Biden to honor his word to protect press freedom and to free Julian Assange.

“If the Trump/Biden prosecution against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange under the infamous Espionage Act of 1917 succeeds, the next generation of journalists will face an unprecedented era of intimidation, repression and censorship, denying the American public vital information about government wrongdoing, ” said Stephen Rohde, former chair of ACLU SoCal and author of American Words of Freedom. 

Student Press Freedom Day, Feb 23: Assange Prosecution/Boston Webinar

Community Church of Boston 565 Boylston St.

In-Person/Online

February 23 @ 6:30 pm 8:00 pm America/Boston

Please join us in person at the Community Church of Boston, or online, for a panel discussion on how the Julian Assange case will impact the future of journalism. This event is part of the fifth annual Student Press Freedom Day initiative.

The reality is that ‘Bold Journalism’ has landed Julian Assange in a supermax prison for publishing the most important journalistic work of this century. Our First Amendment rights are threatened by this unconstitutional prosecution of a journalist.

An accomplished panel of journalists and activists will have a conversation about the Assange prosecution (its threat to journalism), independent media v. corporate media, and the importance of a free press in the workplace. Censorship is driving the current trend for respected, award-winning journalists like Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, and Seymour Hersh to self-publish on platforms such as Substack.

Guest speakers:

“The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) created Student Press Freedom Day to give student journalists a platform to advocate for press freedom in their communities.” SPLC’s article, ‘Responding to Censorship’ advises students that, if their school-sponsored student media is consistently being censored, they may want to consider an alternative means of getting their message out. Off -campus websites or underground, independently published student publications are entitled to significant First Amendment protections.

Students and citizens alike are entitled to a free press so that we can make informed decisions.
We must fight against censorship and the criminalization of investigative journalism. We must show ‘Brave Advocacy’ to end the prosecution of Julian Assange!

Can’t make this conversation in person? Join us online!

Questions? Contact Paula Iasella at AssangeBoston@gmail.com

Free Event
Categories
Past Events Press Release

Listen: Free Julian Assange

by Francisco Herrera and Dennis Bernstein

This is a song to promote the freedom of Julian Assange.

lyrics

FREE JULIAN NOW

1. Military chopper opens fire
Instruments of genocide
Wiki-leaks unmasked the liars
Of the Orders cued by
central command
Gun-sight video
Nails the murder scene down

2.The victims of smart bombs
Went up in flames
Baghdad on fire
Julian gave it a name
Collateral murder
A family shredded and maimed
Journalists died
Who will remember their names

3. It does not help to shield my eyes
The camera is still running
Deep inside the mind
History is watching us
Which side are we on
Julian told the truth
about the war machine
It’s getting late in the hour
Don’t wait another minute
To speak truth to power

One-liners:

Free Julian, Free
He Spoke for you and Me
and we will set him free
Libertad, libertad para Julian
Que se oiga esa voz
Por todo el mundo
Tell your neighbor tell your friend
Write the congress and the president
Truth to power Now’s the Hour

He spoke for you and me

And we must set him free

credits

Francisco Herrera- music
Dennis Bernstein- lyrics
Produced and arranged by Greg Landau

Drums- Darian Gray
Bass- Ernesto Mazar Kindelan
Keyboards- Steve Carter
Guitars- Greg Landau, Camilo Landau
Vocals- Francisco Herrera
Background Vocals- Zule Guerra, Liliana Herrera, and Orlando Torriente

Recorded and Mixed by Greg Landau

© all rights reserved

San Rafael: ITHAKA film screening

March 3 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm PST

Chicago: Assange Defense Forum

Harold Washington College

30 Last E. Lake St.

Room 102

February 23 @ 5:30 pm 7:00 pm America/Chicago

Come celebrate Student Press Freedom Day by taking part in a forum focused on the threat to Freedom of The Press represented by the case for extradition against Julian Assange.

Kevin Gosztola will be the featured speaker. He is an author known for his stellar work on whistleblowers cases, WikiLeaks, national security and civil liberties He is managing editor of Shadowproof, where he writes The Dissenter. Gosztola has previously covered the court martial of Chelsea Manning, The case of CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou and extensively covered the extradition case against Julian Assange

Gosztola has written for the Nation, Salon and many other journals of note. He co-authored, with Greg Mitchell Truth and Consequences: The US vs. Bradley Manning. Since 2014, Gosztola has co-hosted, with Rania Khalek, the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure. Kevin will be discussing his soon to be released Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange.

This new work examines abuses of power by the CIA and the FBI, including a spying operation that targeted Assange’s family, lawyers, and doctors. Guilty of Journalism offers a balanced and comprehensive perspective on all the events leading up to what press freedom advocates have called the trial of the century.

Guilty of Journalism is a joint production of The Censored Press and Seven Stories Press.

Parking is limited. However the closest CTA stop is State & Lake

Free

free

ITHAKA film screening: Roxie Theater in San Francisco

March 2 @ 6:30 pm 8:30 pm San Francisco

Classic Pianos

1332 South Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80210 United States
+ Google Map

ITHAKA film screening: L.A.

March 1 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm Los Angeles

Classic Pianos

1332 South Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80210 United States
+ Google Map

Student Press Freedom Day

February 23 @ 1:00 am 11:00 pm EST

Night Carnival For Assange

Night Carnival for Assange

4:00pm GMT

After a successful #FreeAssange #HumanChain event last October we are going to take the streets of London for a Night Carnival. Bring torches, lanterns, masks, drums, pots and pans!

Date and time

Saturday, February 11, 2023, 4:00 PM GMT

Assemble

Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2A 3LJ London, United Kingdom

The #NightCarnival is nearly upon us!
Will you be marching to Parliament?

If you haven’t got your tickets for the post-Carnival rally, you can find them here: https://t.co/2h6yzv81S1#FreeAssangeNOW #DarknessIntoLight pic.twitter.com/3mLFuZZB6h— Don’t Extradite Assange – #FreeAssange (@DEAcampaign) January 28, 2023

Emmanuel Centre rally

At the end of the Night Carnival for Assange on Saturday 11 February there will be a rally in the Emmanuel Centre, Marsham Street, Westminster, SW1P 3DW. Speakers will include Stella Assange, Kristinn Hrafnsson, Richard Ratcliffe and Jeremy Corbyn..

Date and time

Saturday, February 11, 2023, 6:00 PM GMT

Location

Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street London SW1P 3DW United Kingdom

Get your tickets here

The pressure on the UK Government to free Julian Assange is very high. Help us reach our goal as we ramp up campaigning efforts to #FreeAssangeNOW with Night Carnival.

Donate

Boston Free Assange Rally

February 11 @ 11:30 am 12:30 pm Boston

Boston Area Assange Defense will be gathering at Park St. Station, Feb 11th, 11:30-12:30.
Please join us to keep the spotlight on the continued prosecution and persecution of journalist Julian Assange as he remains languishing in limbo in a supermax prison, in virtual solitary confinement awaiting the UK High Court ruling on the defense extradition appeal.

In the Assange News:

*January 20 Belmarsh Tribunal in Washington, DC was an excellent snapshot of global support to free Julian Assange. Democracy NOW! footage and transcript, please watch and share widely:
https://www.democracynow.org/…/belmarsh_tribunal_dc…

*Jan 5, Stella Assange audio update with Suchitra Vijayan, executive director of The Polis Project:
https://assangedefense.org/…/listen-stella-assange…/

*Jan 24, full broadcast of ‘Assange Odysseia’, a “theatre forum” held in Strasbourg. Stella’s speech at 1:55:50 is a must listen. Assange phones in and listens to applause (he does not speak) at 2:19:00 min. 2018 audio clip of Assange speaking with Kristinn Hrafnsson at the embassy about the leaked document that ended the war in Iraq, much of it is inaudible.
At 38:05min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BmZ6JJyN7g…

*Jan 24, Covert Action Magazine short illustrated article on DC Belmarsh Tribunal: https://covertactionmagazine.com/…/tribunal-in…/

*Jan 25, Jon Stewart podcast discussing National Security, classified docs, Espionage Act used against those without impunity like Manning and Assange: https://twitter.com/jonstewart/status/1618252323993817090…

*Jan 26, article ‘Three Extraordinary Journalists: Burchett, Pilger and Assange’:
https://johnmenadue.com/three-extraordinary-australian…/

*Jan27, Newsweek article ‘Julian Assange’s Biggest Fight in Notorious Prison Isn’t Over Extradition’ with a short video clip of Assange’s family speaking. Newsweek has proven itself to be one of the few mainstream media outlets to report regularly on the Assange case.
https://www.newsweek.com/…/julian-assanges-biggest…

*Jan 27, Twitter Files15: internal twitter communications reveal the secret 2017 ‘Hamilton68’ list targeting both right and left and pushing the russiagate narrative on social media, mainstream media, universities, and think tanks. Let’s not forget that it was this Russia hysteria that helped pave the way to Assange’s prosecution.
https://consortiumnews.com/…/cn-editor-named-on-secret…

Here is our call-to-action to help amplify this growing support for Assange. Please be his voice:

1) Call Atty General Merrick Garland’s Dept of Justice! It’s easy to leave a simple message on their comment line: 202-353-1555 press 1. Call on Garland to drop all the charges against this publisher! All major news outlets warn that this prosecution of a journalist is a threat to global press freedom. The United Nations along with press freedom, human rights, and civil rights organizations call for Assange’s freedom with compensation for his arbitrary detention.

2) Write Letters-to-the-Editor! LTEs/op-eds written to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald or local papers, whether published or not, will apply pressure for the news outlet to cover the Assange case. https://www.agilitypr.com/…/top-10-massachusetts-daily…/

AssangeDefense.org Letter writing tips:
https://assangedefense.org/…/write-a-letter-to-the-editor/

Boston Area Assange Defense has been on the streets to Free Assange since October 2020. We are committed to raising awareness on the Assange case which is the single most important case on global press freedom and protecting our First Amendment. Our goal is to stop the US extradition, and for the US Dept of Justice to drop all charges against Assange, and set him free to join his loving friends and family.

Please join us Saturday, Feb 11th – 11:30-12:30pm (winter hours!)

Contact:
Paula Iasella, AssangeBoston@gmail.com or
Susan McLucas, SusanBMcL@gmail.com 617-501-9125.

Categories
Press Release

Newsweek on what it’s like for Julian Assange inside the cell at Belmarsh

Newsweek‘s Shaun Waterman reports: Julian Assange “is locked alone in a 6′ by 12′ cell for 20 or more hours a day — his reading limited and his mail censored.”

Waterman also reported on the CIA lawsuit and the ‘Spartacus moment‘ of Daniel Ellsberg and John Young coming forward to announce themselves as equally eligible for prosecution.

Stella talked about what he’s been reading in prison:

“Assange sleeps poorly, she said, meaning that he is often too tired to concentrate properly. But when he can, he likes to read, and recently enjoyed a new biography of the visionary leader of the Haitian slave revolt, Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture. He also tackled In the Thick of It, the autobiography of controversial Tory Minister Alan Duncan.

He is teaching himself to read and write Chinese, she added.”

On the ongoing punishment by process of a years-long imprisonment and trial:

“His family says that with uncertainty about his extradition hanging over him like the sword of Damocles, he has lost weight and become depressed and anxious.”

The worst part about the confinement is having no idea when or how he would be able to leave, Stella Assange said. “It is the uncertain duration that makes it so hard to bear … It’s a kind of torture.”

The uncertainty has exacerbated Assange’s physical and mental deterioration, his wife said. In October 2021, during a High Court hearing about his extradition, Assange, attending via video link from Belmarsh, suffered a “transient ischaemic attack” — a mini-stroke. He has been diagnosed with nerve damage and memory problems and prescribed blood thinners.

“He might not survive this,” she said.

Waterman on the support Assange receives around the world:

Assange gets thousands of letters and parcels from all over the world, Stella Assange said, but the authorities interdict banned items, such as books about national security, paintings and other forbidden objects.


Even the letters he doesn’t recieve make a difference, Stella Assange said. “The letters he reads help him feel connected to the world, but above all the letters show prison authorities the world cares about him.”

What it’s like for Julian’s two young children, Max and Gabriel:

Gabriel has recently “put two and two together” and figured out that the place he meets his father a couple of times a week is actually a prison, Stella Assange said. “Because he has a concept of what a prison is from TV or whatever, and he asked me the other day ‘Is he in prison?’ And I said, Yes. He’s in prison, but he’s not like any other prisoner. He’s not there because he’s done anything bad. He’s there because he’s done something good.”

Max, for his part, refers to Belmarsh simply as “the Queue” because of the repeated lines the family has had to join to be cleared through to visit. “The checks are very onerous,” she said. “The children have to be searched, as well as me. We have to be checked inside our mouths and in our hair, behind our ears, under our feet, and so on. And sometimes there are dog searches, which are quite intimidating.”

Read the full piece here.

Stand-Ups for Assange: Fritzi Cohen Presente!

January 19 @ 6:00 pm 8:00 pm EST

Belmarsh Tribunal: Washington DC

January 20 @ 2:00 pm 4:00 pm EST

Categories
Press Release

Killing the messenger: Joe Biden’s disturbing hypocrisy on Julian Assange

A protester seen with a placard expressing her opinion at the Royal Courts of Justice. U.S wins appeal to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the UK. (Thomas Krych/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

January 18, 2023 — It is time for President Biden to live up to his rhetoric on press freedom.

As a candidate in 2020, Biden released a powerful statement on the importance of press freedom, writing:

Reporters Without Borders tells us that at least 360 people worldwide are currently imprisoned for their work in journalism. We all stand in solidarity with these journalists for, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1786, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

Biden left out the fact that one of those imprisoned people is WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, and that he is languishing in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison in London because the U.S. government wants to make an example of him.

Assange was indicted by the Trump administration in an aggressive, precedent-shattering move that was widely condemned by journalists and human rights groups. President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have had almost two years to do the right thing and drop this dangerous prosecution.

They have failed to deliver.

Instead, the Biden administration continues to lecture the world about press freedom and disinformation. Biden and his allies rightly chastise authoritarian regimes for censoring the press, cracking down on dissent and even criminalizing publishing the truth. Reporters Without Borders condemns violations of press freedom in places like Iran, China and Myanmar. But they also note that press freedom violations are not unique to such regimes. They condemn the persecution of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa in the Philippines, and they lead a coalition of 16 journalism advocacy groups calling on the British government to free Assange.

These reports underscore the importance of a free and independent press that can expose wrongdoing, inform the public of uncomfortable realities and push back on government propaganda. In other words, a free press protects our access to the truth when the government deceives us.

I am proud to know Julian Assange. When I met with him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, I was most impressed by his intelligence, compassion, and his belief in truth as an antidote to the poison of lies and war propaganda. As Assange said, “if wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth.”

For more than three years, Assange has been held in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison known as “England’s Guantánamo” — much of that during a COVID outbreak at the jail that posed a threat to his life. As I write this, he is in 24-hour isolation with COVID. Last year, he suffered a mini-stroke. UN Special Rapporteur Nils Melzer has determined that the conditions of Assange’s confinement constitute torture.

Prior to being held in a maximum-security prison with murderers, Assange spent years confined in the Ecuadorian embassy, without access to adequate medical care. During that time, the U.S. government spied on his lawyers, his visitors (including me), his family and his doctors. They even seized his files and legal notes when he was arrested. Why? Because Assange’s work with WikiLeaks had embarrassed the government on the world stage.

Barack Obama refused to indict Assange because of the “New York Times problem”: If Obama were to indict Assange for publishing truthful information, he’d have to indict the New York Times as well. But Biden has now affirmed Trump’s contention that publishing the truth is a crime. Assange is being charged under the Espionage Act of 1917. That law is controversial enough when prosecutors use it to target whistleblowers, but it has never been used successfully against a publisher. What Biden is really saying by indicting Assange is that the U.S. government can lie to the public, conceal its criminal behavior and then destroy those who would dare seek the truth.

The Justice Department has charged Assange for receiving and publishing truthful, newsworthy information leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning, but has never charged any of the military or government officials whose wrongdoing was exposed.

It is the 21st-century version of killing the messenger.

No one was harmed by Assange’s reporting, unless you count the bruised reputations of politicians who were caught breaking the law, lying or concealing misconduct. Experts testified in British court proceedings that Assange went to extreme lengths to help protect both his sources and people who might be harmed by the disclosure of sensitive information. Instead of investigating the wrongdoing that WikiLeaks exposed and punishing those who broke the law or covered it up, the government has focused on attacking whistleblowers and the journalists who work with them.

Why? Because it sends a message to others who might be tempted to inform the public about government misconduct: We can destroy your life.

Thomas Jefferson was right, and as a candidate Joe Biden was right to cite his words. There is no democracy without a free press to hold the government accountable. And Reporters Without Borders is right to be concerned about press freedom in the United States. Its fact sheet begins with the ominous line: “In the United States, once considered a model for press freedom and free speech, press freedom violations are increasing at a troubling rate.”

There is no free press without a free Julian Assange. As long as the government can prosecute Assange for publishing truthful information in the public interest, the Biden administration’s pontifications about human rights, “fake news” and propaganda are the epitome of hypocrisy.

Categories
Press Release

President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador receives Wikileaks delegation

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, and Joseph Farrell, ambassador of the organization, met with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico. During their Latin American tour, representatives of Wikileaks have so far been received by Presidents of Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia.

López Obrador reiterated his solidarity with Julian Assange, imprisoned in the Belmarsh maximum security prison in London, and promised to speak about the case with US President Joe Biden, in the private meeting of both leaders.

Hrafnsson noted that the meeting “was a good conclusion to our tour of Latin America. Now we have the commitment of all the main countries south of the US border, to put pressure on the Biden administration, call on it to do the right thing and practice what he preaches on the issue of free speech, and to drop the charges against Julian.”

Hrafnsson emphasized that it is clear that Assange’s case is political and not judicial. “They are even avoiding the fact that the extradition request violates the extradition treaty between the United States and Great Britain. This treaty prohibits extradition for political reasons, and Julian is charged with the political offense in its purest form: espionage.” So “we cannot depend on the judicial process, we have to treat this for what it is: a political persecution that requires the intervention and interest of political leaders”, he said.

Categories
Press Release

Listen: Stella Assange updates on Julian’s case and condition

January 5, 2023 — Julian Assange’s wife Stella Assange spoke with Suchitra Vijayan, executive director of The Polis Project, a research and journalism organization, to provide an update on Julian’s legal case as well as to discuss the latest developments in the campaign to drop the charges against him.

Listen to the conversation, hosted on Twitter Spaces, below:

World Press Freedom Day 2023: Rally in Washington DC to Free Julian Assange

May 3 @ 12:00 pm 2:00 pm America/Washington DC

Stand up for Journalists and Journalism

Help us mark World Press Freedom Day by calling attention to the urgent need to protect press freedom, and support reporters and publishers who support the public’s right to know.  We plan to meet again at the DOJ (10th and Penn NW) at noon. and have several speakers. Then move to the National Press Club (12th & F St NW) for additional speakers.  We will call on the Press Club to support persecuted journalists, as well as those who have suffered or died doing their job – such as slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh. We call on the US government to enforce an investigation into Abu-Akleh’s death. 

Finally we will move to the Washington Post headquarters, at 13th and K St NW (opposite Franklin Park).  There we will call on the mainstream media to protect the public’s right to know, and support journalists as well as whistleblowers who have risked their careers to inform the public.  We will conclude the rally no later than 2 pm.  More information will be forthcoming; we hope you will be interested and available to help carry this important message about press freedom and the public’s right to know!

dcactionforassange@gmail.com www.dcactionforassange.org

Categories
Press Release

The Belmarsh Tribunal is coming to Washington D.C.

The Belmarsh Tribunal comes to Capitol Hill on 20 January 2023 to hear expert testimony from journalists, whistleblowers, lawyers, publishers, and parliamentarians on assaults to press freedom and the First Amendment of the US Constitution

From Ankara to Manila to Budapest, state actors are cracking down on journalists, their sources, and their publishers in a globally coordinated campaign to disrupt the public’s access to information and shut off their sources of dissent.

A landmark case in this campaign is that of Julian Assange, the publisher who founded WikiLeaks, exposed crimes by the United States government, and now faces 175 years in prison if extradited from the Belmarsh Prison where he is currently held in the United Kingdom. Assange’s case is the first time in history that a publisher has been indicted under the Espionage Act.

Inspired by the Russell-Sartre Tribunals of the Vietnam War, the Belmarsh Tribunal brings together a range of expert witnesses – from constitutional lawyers, to acclaimed journalists and human rights defenders – to present evidence of this attack on publishers and to seek justice for the crimes they expose. 

Since its first sitting in October 2020, the Belmarsh Tribunal has since traveled to London and New York with members such as President Lula da Silva, whistleblower Edward Snowden, and Guantánamo Bay detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi.

The Washington D.C. Tribunal — organized by the Progressive International in partnership with the Wau Holland Foundation — will be held at the National Press Club, where Assange first premiered Collateral Murder, the leaked video documenting war crimes committed by the United States Army in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, Iraq.

The Tribunal will be co-chaired by Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman and philosopher Srećko Horvat. 

Members of the Tribunal include: Wikileaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, human rights attorney Steven Donziger, former CIA official Jeffery Sterling, parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn, whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, journalist Stefania Maurizi, publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, professor Noam Chomsky, Stella Assange, and many others.

Partners of the Tribunal include: Democracy Now!, Defending Rights & Dissent, Courage Foundation, DiEM25, The Intercept, The Nation, and PEN International.

Co-chair Srećko Horvat said:

“The First Amendment, Freedom of the press, and the life of Julian Assange are at stake. That’s why the Belmarsh Tribunal is landing literally just two blocks away from the White House next  January. As long as the Biden administration continues to deploy tools like the Espionage Act to imprison those who dare to expose war crimes, no publisher and no journalist will be safe. Our tribunal is gathering courageous voices of dissent to demand justice for those crimes and to demand President Biden to drop the charges against Assange immediately.”

Human rights lawyer and former member of the Assange legal team Renata Ávila said:

“The Espionage Act is one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation in the world: an existential threat against international investigative journalism. If applied, it will deprive us from one of our must powerful tools towards de-escalation of conflicts, diplomacy and peace. The Belmarsh Tribunal convenes in Washington to present evidence of this chilling threat, and to unite lawmakers next door to dismantle the legal architecture that undermines the basic right of all peoples to know what their governments do in their name.”

Categories
Press Release

WikiLeaks delegation meets with Bolivian President Luis Arce

Continuing their Latin American tour, Wikileaks representatives Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor-in-Chief and Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks Ambassador were received by Bolivia President, Luis Arce and the Minister of the Presidency, Maria Nela Prada to discuss the case of WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange. The meeting took place on Saturday, December 17th, in the capital La Paz at the Casa Grande del Pueblo.

President Arce spoke frankly of the threat to press freedom and the necessity to uphold human rights and the right to information. The president was firm in his support of Julian Assange and the desire to see him a free man.

This follows previous meetings over the last month with President-elect Lula of Brazil, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia all of whom declared their support for the WikiLeaks publisher and called on authorities to cease their prosecution for the simple act of journalism.

Categories
Press Release

MSNBC’s Ari Melber warns against Assange prosecution

December 15, 2022 — Ari Melber, on his MSNBC show ‘The Beat’ on Thursday, warned that the prosecution of Julian Assange poses a major threat to democratic governance and accountability and that it will lead to more indictments against the press.

“Nobody knows how future administrations will use this power,” Melber said in the 12-minute segment, which was spurred by the recent letter from the New York Times and other major international newspapers to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for the charges against Assange to be dropped.

“You get a precedent jailing a publisher in one case,” Melber said, “it will be easier in the next case. And the one after that. I promise you that.”

Watch the full segment below:

Categories
Press Release

The Brazilian Senate Human Rights Commission receives Wikileaks and holds hearing on Freedom of Press, Opinion and Right to Information

Today, The Commission on Human Rights and Participative Legislation (CDH) of the Federal Senate of Brazil has held an interactive public hearing to shed light at the numerous cases of attacks and threats to the work of journalists in Brazil and around the world, including the Julian Assange case. The hearing was held at the initiative of Senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE), who presided over the Panel. It was convened as a part of Wikileaks Latin American tour. Wikileaks representatives Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell previously met with Presidents of Colombia, Brazil and Argentina, as well as with numerous legislators, policy makers and representatives of media freedom organizations.

“It is ironic that the accusers are precisely the ones who were unmasked,” said Carol Proner, a professor of international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Assange’s case itself brings to light the “crimes committed” by US security forces, said the lawyer during the hearing.

The editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, Kristinn Hrafnsson highlighted that the possible extradition of Assange “will send a signal that any journalist who ventures to expose the secrets of the powerful will be punished”.

The Commission has deliberated that it will produce a note to be sent to the US, UK and Australian Embassies and form a delegation to go to Washington. It also mentioned that the Brazilian President-elect Lula da Silva has endorsed WikiLeaks and stated that defending the freedom of Julian Assange will be part of government policy.

Categories
Past Events

Standing Up for Julian Assange during International Human Rights Day

International Human Rights Day brings activists together to speak out on behalf of Julain Assange and in defense of freedom of the press

By Vince DeStefano

December 14, 2022

To commemorate International Human Rights Day and in concert with actions across the United States and around the world, the Assange Defense Committee, CODEPINK, National Lawyers Guild, LA Progressive, the Pasadena-Foothill Chapter ACLU, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) and Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) presented a “Free Julian Assange—Defender of a Free Press” event at All Powers Books, located at 4857 W Adams Blvd. in Los Angeles, on Saturday, December 10th.

There was a capacity crowd at the event which was also live-streamed on CODEPINK’s Facebook page as well as All Power Books Instagram page. The Assange event was followed by a reading, video and book signing with Medea Benjamin and Nicholas Davies about their new book War in Ukraine.—Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict. Medea and Nicholas also spoke in defense of Julian and the necessity of a free and open press.

The focus of both events was protection of Freedom of The Press in a time of occupation and war. There was a banner that greeted attendees asking the question “Where is Julian Assange now that we need him?” With that question in mind the speakers highlighted the importance of WikiLeaks to ensuring the dissemination of fact-based information rather government manipulated propaganda.

Using the government’s own documents in collaboration with The New York Times, DER SPEGIEL. Le Monde, the Guardian and El Pais, WikiLeaks, under the direction of Julian Assange, exposed the lies and war crimes committed in our names and with our tax dollars that the US government never wished to be known or exposed.

There are many things to know about Julian and the journalism produced through WikiLeaks, the organization he helped to establish in 2006. The first is that they have released millions of documents provided by anonymous whistleblowers from across the globe. Those documents exposed the crimes and lies of many nations and organizations who never wished them to see the light of day. During its more than 16 years in existence, WikiLeaks has never had to issue a single retraction or an apology for anything they or their partners have published. That is because WikiLeaks used the government’s own words and documents that were always scrupulously vetted for accuracy and then carefully redacted to ensure no harm would come to individuals from their release.

Julian’s successful extradition to the US will, in a very real sense, spell the end of the kind of journalism Thomas Jefferson said was “the necessary predicate for a functioning democracy, an informed and well educated electorate”. Investigative journalism—the kind practiced by journalists such as Seymour Hersh, I .F. Stone, Carl Bernstein, David Halberstam, Jane Mayer, Susan Sontag or Ida B. Wells, to name but a few—would be silenced and the public’s right to know ended by a successful prosecution of Julian Assange.

Marcy Winograd
Marcy Winograd

With the consolidation of our media landscape to a mere six mega-corporations, it’s not The New York Times we need fear losing. Rather it is all the alternative outlets of news that are clearly in the crosshairs of the Assange prosecution. The successful extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange on the 17 counts under the 1917 Espionage Act will criminalize contact with classified documents in any fashion. These are the documents that are not only the foundation of investigative journalism but are also often released by government officials themselves to promote their own agendas.

The unprecedented use of the Espionage Act of 1917 in this case makes conviction a near certainty. That is because the law prevents the defense from arguing their case on the basis of compelling interest of the public’s right to know or a greater good argument. In addition, to all that Julian’s trial will end up in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. This court has an unbelievable 98.2% conviction rate. One of the reasons for this is that it sits in the hub of our intelligence community (the NSA and CIA) and its members make up the jury pool.

Daniel Hale, Chelsea Manning, Reality Winner, John Kiriakou, Jefferey Sterling, and many have others appeared before this court. All have been found guilty and all have been subjected to long and harsh sentences. Their crimes? Telling us the truth about what our government does in our names. However, the very organizations and individuals whose crimes they exposed walk free. In many cases those criminals appear ad nauseum in major media outlets to pontificate and propagandize with impunity while these heroes languished under harsh prison conditions and then upon release see that their lives have been shattered.

The event at All Power Books opened with statements by Marcy Winograd and myself. Following our remarks Tom English gave a moving acapella rendition of the 1970’s anti-war song “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” that was breathtaking in it pathos. Then there were selected readings from Wikileaks Afghan and Iraq War Logs and a panel reading of the headlines from 2021 to the present regarding the ongoing extradition trial of Julian Assange read by Marcy Winograd (CODEPINK), Carolfrances Likins (ICUJP), myself (Assange Defense), Dave Clennon (Actor) and Estee Chandler (Jewish Voice for Peace).

Tom English
Tom English

This was followed by Medea Benjamin talking about the media coverage and collaboration with WikiLeaks.

There was then a reenactment of conversations between Julian Assange and Richard Stengel, editor of TIME magazine by actors Dave Clennon and Ricco Ross, followed by a reading from the Iraq War Logs by Carolfrances Likins. More reenactments followed by the two actors.

Estee Chandler then took the stage to cover Cable Gate, the release of 251,000 documents regarding what the US State Department was doing and who they were surveilling including the heads of state of some of our closest allies. She focused on the impact that US actions in concert with some of the world’s most powerful corporations had on the oppression of the Palestinians by the US’s unquestioning support of the State of Israel.

Lastly Alan Minsky spoke on the Guantanamo Files. These are 771 documents that exposed one of the darkest stains in our national history . He covered the horrors where more than 150 innocent Afghans and Pakistanis were held for years without charges under torturous and unbelievably cruel conditions where many prisoner still languish in a moral limbo created by George W. Bush’s “War on Terror.”

Marcy Winograd as the emcee brought this event to a close and as always with any event involving CODEPINK there was a call for direct action. Marcy asked all attendees to write and call their representatives then and there. In addition to calls, attendees were directed to the QR code on the event flyers and the Assange Banner that directed individuals to the Assangedefense.org action page where they could also write directly to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Joe Biden to drop their misguided extradition of Julian Assange immediately and unconditionally, to return him to his family and loved ones and to protect the bedrock of our democracy: Freedom of the Press.

Jodie Evans, Rachel Brunke, Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd, at The Village Well (Photo: Buddy Gottlieb)
Jodie Evans, Rachel Brunke, Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd, at The Village Well (Photo: Buddy Gottlieb)

Once the Assange event concluded, Medea Benjamin took the stage to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine explored in the book she and Nicholas Davies wrote War in UkraineMaking Sense of a Senseless Conflict. Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Editor of The Nation, writes in the book’s preface “Shouldn’t the consequences and human, economic and strategic costs of this proxy war be a central topic of informed analysis, discussion and debate? This primer by Medea Benjamin and Nicholas Davies is a needed and accessible contribution. ” Medea then provided in a video presentation and in her own words that very contribution with an illuminating history lesson almost totally absent from our corporate media’s march to war painted in the most simplistic black and white terms.

There are no heroes or villains in Benjamin and Davis’s telling account of this crisis, just deep analytical assessment of the history and players. It is a compelling read that informs without propagandizing, a clear and concise history lesson going back to its beginnings. It is written to ensure that all of the necessary elements for an objective analysis of the causes and possible solutions that will bring the bloodshed to an end are presented. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone who wants to have the best source for the facts that have put the world closer to Armageddon. Where is Julian Assange when we need him to reveal the government’s secrets behind its role in this proxy war.

Gratitude to Steven Rohde and Carolfrances Likins for editing support. First published at the LA Progressive.

Categories
Press Release

Prominent free press and human rights groups send letter calling for US to drop charges against Julian Assange

December 8, 2022 — A coalition of 21 freedom of press and human rights organisations – including Committee to Protect Journalists, ACLU, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Index On Censorship, RSF, Freedom Of The Press Foundation – have written a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to abandon the persecution of Julian Assange.

The letter reads:

“We, the undersigned coalition of press freedom, civil liberties, and international human rights organizations, write to express grave concern about the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal and extradition proceedings relating to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, under the Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

“It is more than a year since our coalition sent a joint letter calling for the charges against Assange to be dropped. In June, then U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Assange’s extradition to the United States, a decision that Assange’s legal team is in the process of appealing. Today, we repeat those concerns, and urge you to heed our request. We believe that the prosecution of Assange in the U.S. would set a harmful legal precedent and deliver a damaging blow to press freedom by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers.

(…)

“It is time for the Biden administration to break from the Trump administration’s decision to indict Assange – a move that was hostile to the media and democracy itself. Correcting the course is essential to protect journalists’ ability to report freely on the United States without fear of retribution.

“We again urge you to protect democratic values and human rights norms, including freedom of the press, by abandoning this relentless pursuit of Assange.”

The groups wrote to the Biden DOJ back in February and October 2021 to warn of the dangers of the Assange prosecution, and here they reiterate how it threatens media freedom and the First Amendment and undermines the country’s ability to defend journalists against repression by authoritarian and other rights-abusing regimes abroad.

Read the full letter here.

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Press Release

Wikileaks representatives meet with the President of Argentina

After the meetings with President of Colombia Gustavo Petro and President-elect of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Wikileaks Editor-In-Chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, and Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks Ambassador were received by President of Argentina Alberto Fernández.

They discussed Julian Assange’s plight and the ongoing extradition battle. After the meeting Hrafnsson stated that “the President told us that he would support our mission”, adding that “it is extremely positive to receive such a clear signal of support from the country’s highest authority”.

Hrafnsson stressed that “it is not just about a man or a life, it is about a much greater interest: it is the freedom of the press in the world that is at stake” and concluded by saying: “That is the position of the main human rights organizations in the world that have taken an interest in the case and for this reason the leaders have joined so strongly”.

Hrafnsson and Farrell also met with the Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. “In these meetings we have seen absolute support,” Hrafnsson said, adding that “this is revenge against an individual, an award-winning journalist, for exposing the dark secrets of the empire.”

Categories
Press Release

Wikileaks delegation meets with President-elect of Brazil

Continuing their Latin American tour, Wikileaks representatives Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell met with President-elect of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss the freedom of Julian Assange.

President-elect of Brazil Lula da Silva ⁦expressed his ongoing support for Julian Assange and the demand to end his persecution, understanding it can damage press freedom worldwide.

Kristinn Hrafnnson, Editor-in-Chief of Wikileaks, and Joseph Farrell, Wikileaks Ambassador “briefed me on the health situation and the fight for the freedom of Julian Assange,” Lula tweeted, “I asked them to send my solidarity. May Assange be released from his unjust imprisonment,” he added.

In Brasilia, Hrafnnson and Farrell were received by Humberto Costa, President of the Brazilian Senat’s Commission for Human Rights and Maria do Rosario, Member of Federal Parliament and former Minister for Human Rights.

At the same time, Brazilian lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution urging the US authorities to drop the charges against Julian Assange. The resolution will be filed at the American Embassy and addressed to US President Biden and the US Congress.

Categories
Press Release

NYT, The Guardian, major media outlets urge U.S. to drop Julian Assange charges

November 28, 2022 — Marking the 12th anniversary since they worked with WikiLeaks to publish the State Department Cables, the Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and The New York Times come together to oppose the U.S. prosecution of Julian Assange.

The five media organizations that first helped WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange publish leaked diplomatic cables have penned an open letter telling the U.S. government it must drop his prosecution because it is undermining press freedom.

The letter reads:

“Cablegate”, a set of 251,000 confidential cables from the US state department, disclosed corruption, diplomatic scandals and spy affairs on an international scale.

For Julian Assange, publisher of WikLeaks, the publication of “Cablegate” and several other related leaks had the most severe consequences. On April 12th 2019, Assange was arrested in London on a US arrest warrant, and has now been held for three and a half years in a high-security British prison usually used for terrorists and members of organised crime groups. He faces extradition to the US and a sentence of up to 175 years in an American maximum-security prison.

This indictment sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s first amendment and the freedom of the press.

Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists. If that work is criminalised, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.

Twelve years after the publication of “Cablegate”, it is time for the US government to end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets.

Publishing is not a crime.

More coverage

Forbes | ‘White House Asked Point Blank About New York Times Urging US To Drop Charges Against Julian Assange

The Nation | ‘A United Front Is Needed to Fight the Threat to Journalism Posed by the Assange Prosecution

“…at this critical juncture there should be no lack of clarity regarding the extradition charges against Assange. That’s why it is important that the message of the IFJ’s “Journalism is Not a Crime” campaign be amplified—not just by media outlets and journalists but also by civil rights and civil liberties groups. Last year, the ACLU, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch warned the Justice Department that “a precedent created by prosecuting Assange could be used against publishers and journalists alike, chilling their work and undermining freedom of the press.”

Truthdig | ‘Journalists Push Biden to Free Julian Assange

“The conduct for which Assange is accused of breaking the law is exactly what the new DOJ regulation defines as protected “news gathering”; namely “the process by which a member of the news media collects, pursues or obtains information or records for purposes of producing content intended for public dissemination,” including “classified information” from confidential sources. The Justice Department is also said to have removed “espionage” from a list of criminal activities excluded from protected news gathering.

If the Biden administration means what it says, it should immediately reverse one of the worst legal excesses of Donald Trump’s term. The indictment of Assange is the first time in the 230-year history of the First Amendment that a media organization is being prosecuted for publishing or disseminating classified information disclosed by a whistleblower. Since founding Wikileaks, Assange has been in the business of gathering and publishing newsworthy information and documents, activities clearly protected by the First Amendment.”

Categories
Press Release

Wikileaks delegation touring Latin America to raise support for Julian Assange

WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks Ambassador are touring Latin America, meeting with seven heads of state to discuss Julian Assange’s extradition battle and raise support for his release.

On November 21st Hrafnsson and Farrell met with the President of Colombia Gustavo Petro and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Álvaro Leyva Duran in Bogota. President Petro promised to help “put pressure on the Biden government” to drop the charges against Julian Assange, expressed his commitment to fight for his freedom, and encouraged political leaders around the world to do the same.

“They’ve shown a clear commitment to support the fight for Julian Assange’s freedom, and strongly recognized the implications for press freedom worldwide that his extradition would set”, Hrafnsson said in a statement after the meeting.

After their meeting with President Petro, Hrafnsson and Farrell attended an event with Colombian NGO’s where they discussed Julian Assange, human rights and how to defend freedom of the press.

On November 22nd, WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson took part in the event “Assange, Wikileaks and journalism: freedom of expression imprisoned” at the National University of Colombia together with representatives of academia and freedom of expression organisations.

Categories
Press Release

Assange doc Ithaka makes North American premiere 

November 14, 2022Ithaka, the new documentary recounting the efforts of John Shipton, Julian Assange’s father, to campaign for his son’s freedom around the world, has made its North American premiere at the DOCNYC film festival in New York City on Sunday. 

The film was produced by Julian’s brother Gabriel Shipton and directed by Ben Lawrence, who participated in a Q&A session following the film screening. 

Ithaka is currently available for limited streaming online until November 27. Filmgoers reacted to the screening outside of SVA Theatre following the premiere:

Vote for Ithaka for the Audience Award!

Here’s how:

Can a lawsuit against the CIA affect the U.S. attempt to extradite Julian Assange?

November 13, 2022 @ 10:00 am 12:00 pm CST

Featuring Deborah Hrbek, partner at HRBEKKunstler & Marjorie Cohn, former president of National Lawyers Guild

Deborah Hrbek will discuss the July lawsuit against the CIA, Mike Pompeo, and UC Global filed in August by Hrbek, her law partner Margaret Ratner Kunstler, and two American journalists, whose constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by the US government were violated when they visited Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Hrbek will discuss the implications of that lawsuit on the Assange extradition matter, while Marjorie Cohn will unpack the extradition request and indictment. Both will discuss why press freedom and government accountability is at stake if the Department of Justice continues to prosecute Julian Assange and seek his extradition.

Roundtable: Julian Assange and Freedom of the Press

November 11, 2022 @ 7:30 am 9:30 am PST

Why is President Biden actively pursuing the prosecution of Julian Assange brought by President Trump and rejected by President Obama, which poses a grave danger to the freedom of the press? Learn the latest about the international movement to end the prosecution of Assange and what you can do about it.

Join the conversation with our speakers:

Vincent De Stefano

Vincent De Stefano is founding member of Assange Defense in Southern California. He also sits on the National steering committee and is their National Organizing Coordinator. He currently serves as President of the Pasadena/Foothill chapter of the ACLU and sits on the ACLU Affiliate board and the Executive Committee. He has been involved with Amnesty International for more than four decades and was the recipient of Amnesty’s 2019 Urgent Action Hero award.

Jim Lafferty

Jim Lafferty is the Executive Director Emeritus of the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles, co-host of The Lawyers Guild Show on KPFK, and co-host of the national public affairs show, Law & Disorder. He is a board member of the ACLU of Southern California, a fellow of The Institute for the Humanities at the University of Southern California, and a founding member of the national Julian Assange Defense Committee and its Los Angeles affiliate.

Marjorie Cohn

Marjorie Cohn is a retired criminal defense attorney, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and member of the advisory board of Assange Defense and the bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Marjorie is a legal and political analyst who writes a regular column for Truthout, does frequent media commentary, and has published several books. She is co-host of the nationally broadcast radio show “Law and Disorder.”

Carey Shenkman

Carey Shenkman is a lawyer, author, and litigator focusing on freedom of speech. He testified in the Assange extradition proceedings, and is co-author of the book A Century of Repression: the Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press.

Stephen Rohde

Stephen Rohde is a lecturer, writer, political activist, and retired constitutional lawyer. In addition to his role as a founder and Chair of ICUJP, he is a past Chair of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, past Chair and board member of Death Penalty Focus, and Chair Emeritus of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice. Steve authored the books American Words of Freedom and Freedom of Assembly and is co-author of Foundations of Freedom, published by the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

Schedule:

  • 7:30 – 7:35  Log in and socialize
  • 7:35 – 7:45  Welcome and introductions
  • 7:45 – 7:50  Reflection (5 min. maximum)
  • 7:50 – 9:15  Program and Q&A
  • 9:15 – 9:20  Announcements
  • 9:20 – 9:30  Closing circle and prayer

Start your morning with us!

  • Reflection: Dick Bunce
  • Facilitator: Phil Way
  • Zoom host: Carolfrances Likins

** Meetings begin promptly at 7:30 am Pacific. **

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Past Events Press Release

VIDEO: Oct. 8 DOJ rally to Free Assange

Video credit: Joe Friendly // October 8, 2022, at the Department of Justice

Speeches by Jill Stein, Chip Gibbons, Rev. Annie Chambers, Ben Cohen, Chris Hedges, and dozens more followed a march around the DOJ.

Protests around the country to free Assange

Categories
Press Release

Critically acclaimed Assange film ‘Ithaka’ gets North American premiere at DOC NYC

★★★Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
★★★★ Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
★★★★★ Margaret Pomeranz

Ithaka, director Ben Lawrence’s feature documentary about the determined public advocacy by Julian’s father, John Shipton, in the face of legal battles and media glare, will have its North American premiere at DOC NYC on November 13.

The film’s US premiere at this prestigious documentary festival comes as Assange continues to be incarcerated in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Prison as he fights extradition from Britain to the US.

Assange married his partner Stella Moris in Belmarsh earlier this year in a ceremony attended by their two children, Assange’s father John Shipton and his brother Gabriel Shipton, who is producer of Ithaka.

Ithaka film still: John Shipton, Julian Assange’s father

Gabriel Shipton and Ben Lawrence will attend the New York City screening.

Ithaka is Writer/Director Ben Lawrence’s return to documentary after the success of his earlier film Ghosthunter.

Ithaka was previously selected to screen at the Sydney Film Festival, SheffieldDoc/Fest and Doc Edge NZ, has been shortlisted for a Walkley Award, nominated for an AWG Award and nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Documentary.

Producer Gabriel Shipton said: “At a time when the space for documentaries that challenge the political status quo is harder and harder to find, we applaud DOC NYC for programming Ithaka. The story of my brother’s fight for freedom against the might of the US Government and our family’s continued efforts to secure his release is a wake-up call for people of the world to defend their democratic rights and to insist on the freedom of the press.

“It’s also a timely call to documentary filmmakers to agitate for their art form, before it is lost.”

The film begins on April 11th 2019, when images of Julian Assange being arrested from the Ecuadorian embassy in London are beamed across the world.  Since that moment Julian has been silenced and into the void have stepped lawyers, advocates, and supporters. Standing unique among them is Julian’s wife, Stella Moris and 76-year-old father, John Shipton – a self-taught builder from Sydney.  Using Julian’s extradition hearing as a framework, this intimate story of a family’s crisis traces moments from the trial and its aftermath, underscoring how Julian’s story is emblematic of a decade of uncertainty and volatility.

With this period of upheaval as a backdrop, the film frames John and Stella’s campaign and Julian’s motivations as an echo to the disquiet taking place across this increasingly partisan world – and explores this global cry for justice through the story of a family at the centre of the fight.

Music is by Brian Eno.

Ithaka film still
Categories
Press Release

Assange shortlisted for prestigious European parliament Freedom of Thought award

This was originally published by the European Parliament

MEPs have shortlisted WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, the Ukrainian people and their representatives and the Colombian Truth Commission for the 2022 Sakharov Prize.

On Thursday 13 October, MEPs on the Foreign Affairs and Development committees held a joint vote to choose the finalists for the European Parliament’s 2022 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. They selected:

  • Julian Assange, Imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher;
  • The brave people of Ukraine, represented by their president, elected leaders, and civil society;
  • Colombia’s Truth Commission.

Read more about all the nominees here.

Next steps

The European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (President and political groups’ leaders) will select the winning laureate on Wednesday 19 October. They will receive the prize itself at a ceremony in the European Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg on 14 December.

Background

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honour individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named in honour of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov and the prize money is 50,000 euros.

Last year, Parliament awarded the prize to Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny.

Categories
Commentary Press Release

Alice Walker pens Kansas City Star op-ed: Biden must end Trump’s war on the press. Drop the Julian Assange case

October 10, 2022 — Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple and Assange Defense co-chair Alice Walker has written a new opinion piece on the importance of freeing Julian Assange, published in the Kansas City Star on Sunday, October 9.

Walker takes aim at the contrast between the Biden Administration’s rhetoric of major changes from the Trump Administration and the continuation of Assange’s prosecution.

What did Assange do to provoke the Trump administration’s ire? In 2010 and 2011, he embarrassed the U.S. government by exposing truths about civilian casualties, war crimes and abuses in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. The Obama-Biden administration was in power then, and set its sights on Assange. But officials had the wisdom and restraint to conclude that prosecuting Assange would create a dangerous precedent called “The New York Times problem.” Simply put, there is no way to prosecute Assange without criminalizing the same newsgathering and publishing practices used at The Times, The Kansas City Star and every other news outlet.

Surely, reasonable leaders such as Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland would not allow the prosecution — condemned by journalism and human rights groups around the world — to go forward. Right?

The Biden team inherited this debacle. Instead of abandoning Trump’s war on journalism, they have continued it. They have chosen the politics of “nothing will fundamentally change,” instead of correcting the injustices of a rogue administration.”

Read the full piece here.

Minneapolis: Oct. 8th Assange rally

October 8, 2022 @ 4:00 pm 6:00 pm CDT

SF Bay Area: Oct. 8th Assange rally

October 8, 2022 @ 12:00 pm

Bay Area Action to Free Assange

Here in the Bay Area please join us as we participate in this worldwide solidarity event of the Surround Parliament human chain. We will meet at noon on October 8th at Harry Bridges Plaza in San Francisco. Bring #YellowRibbons4Assange, signs, your family & friends, or just yourself. We will form a human chain of yellow ribbons, come rain or shine. If you can’t make it to San Francisco, create a chain or stand alone in your city and let us and/or @Candles4Assange know about it.

Categories
Past Events Press Release

Oct. 8th Assange rallies across the U.S.

On October 8, 2022, supporters of Julian Assange in London, where Assange is imprisoned, are forming a human chain to surround Parliament in a demonstration of mass support for the jailed journalist. Supporters around the world are holding rallies locally in solidarity with the London action. See this thread from @Candles4Assange for more actions outside the U.S.

In Washington D.C., Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, EPA whistleblower Marsha Coleman-Adepayo, and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou are among dozens of speakers who will call for an end to the persecution of Julian Assange.

Seattle: Oct. 8th Assange rally

October 8, 2022 @ 11:30 am 2:00 pm PDT

Classic Pianos

1332 South Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80210 United States
+ Google Map

Tulsa: Oct. 8th Assange rally