Julian Assange continues to languish in torture-like conditions in Britain's notorious Belmarsh prison, pending appeals and despite having long past his sentence for trying to escape deportation to Sweden for charges that have long since been dropped. The alternative of extraditing him to America to face espionage charges is probably worse.
Journalists across the world have banded together, including some of the largest media organizations, to denounce the treatment of Assange, realizing that if Assange is prosecuted, they could be next. Below is an update from one of the foremost of the organizations dedicated to freeing Assange.
Dear friends and colleagues,
E xactly three years ago, after concerns that journalists weren't paying enough attention to the case of Julian Assange, th e #JournalistsSpeakUpForAssange initiative was born.
From small beginnings, it has grown to over 2,100 names in three years.
After launch ing the international journalists' statement in 2019 , it was turned into a successful video on YouTube and Twitter the following year . Since then , while updat ing signatories with news and resources on the ongoing legal case, we' ve arranged newspaper ads publicising our collective disagreement to the prosecution, as well as sent a letter of opposition alongside a copy of our signatory list to former UK home secretary Priti Patel ahead of her decision on extradition.
Additionally, w e feel that we - collectively - have helped shift the needle in making it acceptable for other journalists to publicly voice their defence of Assange. While it may have its flaws (see here and here ) , the joint letter from The New York Times , The Guardian , Der Spiegel , Le Monde and El Pa às last week was a long overdue admission that they too could be prosecuted for obtaining and publishing the same secrets as Assange. It's a step in the right direction.
Also, please find the following updates that you might've missed - three of which come from Matt Kennard and the team at Declassified UK. W e're very thankful for the work they're doing:
There was also the encouraging and widely reported remarks by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that he has raised th e Assange case "personally with representatives of the United States government." (See: Guardian , Reuters , Sky News Australia )
Additionally, there was Friday's important development, reported by Reuters , that Assange and his team have submitted an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, though a date has yet to be confirmed, Assange's UK appeal is expected to start early in the New Year.
Between now and then, we encourage you as always to continue investigating, scrutini s ing and placing public attention on the Assange case. As ever, we'd be delighted to receive examples of your work at contact@speak-up-for-assange.org and highlighting noteworthy developments here.
We look forward to being in touch again soon.
Best wishes,
Serena, Nicky and Tareq
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International journalists' statement in defence of Julian Assange:
https://speak-up-for-assange.org/
Signatory list:
#JournalistsSpeakUpForAssange
