Why Julian Assange Must be Freed
“Who am I? I fought for liberty and was deprived of all liberty. I fought for freedom of speech and was denied all speech. I fought for the truth and became the subject of a thousand lies.”
Who Is Julian Assange?
He is an award-winning Australian journalist and publisher who because of those activities is behind bars in a high-security prison in England awaiting a final decision on his extradition to the United States, a country whose jurisdiction he has never been under, but where he has been charged with espionage and faces a 175-year prison sentence.
Julian’s crime?
To have revealed war crimes, crimes against humanity, transgressions of governments—to have practiced journalism. Because of a revolutionary method he invented that allows whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning to anonymously and securely send information to be published by WikiLeaks, truths have been revealed that have toppled governments, helped end wars, stopped illegal and inhumane practices.
Julian is paying dearly for this, and for his irrepressible courage. In April of 2019 he was illegally dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he had been granted asylum and transferred to an isolated cell in Belmarsh Prison, known as Britain’s Guantanamo. There, according to the United Nations, he has been subjected to the equivalent of physical and psychological torture. Julian suffered a mini stroke when he was only 49, and his health has been seriously deteriorating.
Julian has published 10 million documents detailing atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan, routine torture in Guantanamo, mass government surveillance, CIA crimes that are all available for free to billions of people around the world.
He has been supported by hundreds of thousands of parliamentarians, human rights authorities, medical doctors, religious leaders, artists, teachers, trade unionists, legal professionals, journalists, students, writers all over the world, who publicly demand his immediate release. This support is growing every day as more and more people see the immense value of Julian’s work, and the crucial need for him to continue.
Why the world needs Julian?
“I am unbroken, albeit literally surrounded by murderers, but the days when I could read and speak and organize to defend myself, my ideals, and my people are over until I am free! Everyone else must take my place.”
Were it not for the Collateral Murder video, people would not have seen the assassination of civilians, including two journalists, in cold blood from a U.S. helicopter in Baghdad, a powerful, graphic example of the true extent of US war crimes.
In incriminating Julian, the message is that it is the messenger who speaks the truth who is to be punished whilst the real criminals, those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, enjoy impunity.
We have learned so much from Julian about how governments, politicians, corporations, the military, and the press truly operate that if he were still publishing, some of the insanity of today’s world might have been avoided.
If Julian can be imprisoned in a country where he has committed no crime but for revealing truths that are “uncomfortable” to the U.S., then anyone can be snatched anywhere by the U.S. and imprisoned for doing the same.
Julian is being set up as an example to other journalists and publishers and the whistleblowers who provide them with essential information—publish (the truth) and perish.
Analytic and prophetic, Julian is an indefatigable fighter for justice, peace, freedom of expression, accountability—with his brilliant voice having been silenced, we are deprived of a leading advocate for these essential ideals.
Julian created the “rebel library of Alexandria,” the more than 10 million WikiLeaks documents that include the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, Cablegate, the Guantanamo Files, the Spy Files, and Vault 7, that are an invaluable resource for journalists, historians, scholars, human rights activists, governments, individuals.
Julian has received many prestigious journalism and other awards and has been nominated 9 times for the Nobel Peace Prize, yet the media completely ignore him—his situation, his contributions, his importance—or lie about it.
If Julian can be imprisoned for having gathered and published revelations provided by whistleblowers, then journalists and editors from, for example, Le Monde, the New York Times, die Welt, who also published those documents, can also be, essentially denying freedom of expression.
How Julian is being denied his legal and human rights?
The United States and Britain plotted to kidnap Julian when he was in the Ecuadorian embassy, even to assassinate him, so their “assurances” that he will be treated fairly in a U.S. courtroom or supermax prison aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
Gross injustices have subverted Julian’s legal case—discussions with his lawyers were recorded, confidential information from his lawyers’ phones and laptops was stolen, Julian’s own papers that would have enabled him to prepare for his court appearances were confiscated, during the hearings he was separated from his lawyers, making it impossible to communicate with them.
Julian is a political prisoner who is being persecuted for being a truth-teller, and will never have a fair trial, whether in Britain or the U.S.
The charges against Julian are based on lies—that he collaborated with Russia to give the election to Donald Trump, that he hacked into classified documents, that he endangered lives.
The principal evidence against Julian was supplied by a diagnosed sociopath who subsequently withdrew his accusations, saying he had been bribed by the U.S.
How you can support Julian?
“People often ask, ‘What can I do?’ The answer is not so difficult. Learn how the world works. Challenge the statements, actions, and intentions of those who seek to control us behind the facades of democracy and monarchy. Unite in common purpose and common principle to design, build, document, finance, and defend. Learn. Challenge. Act. Now.”
Join groups that support Julian
Follow their sites, blogs, statements, tweets
Participate in actions they organize
Pass on the information that they transmit
Become informed through reading books about Julian
Guilty of Journalism—The Political Case Against Julian Assange, by Kevin Gosztola, The Censored Press, Seven Stories Press
In Defense of Julian Assange, edited by Tariq Ali and Margaret Kunstler, OR Books
Julian Assange in His Own Words, Edited by Karen Sharpe, OR Books
Secret Power: WikiLeaks and its Enemies, by Stefania Maurizi, Pluto Press
The Trial of Julian Assange—A Story of Persecution, by Nils Melzer, with Oliver Kobold, Verso
A Century of Repression-The Espionage Act and Freedom of The Press by Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman, University of Illinois Press
In French:
Julian Assange et WikiLeaks—Le combat du siècle pour la liberté d’informer, édition établie par Olivier Azam et Laurent Dauré, Les Mutins de Pangée
Julian Assange parle, by Karen Sharpe, Investig’Action
Proclaim loudly at every opportunity that Julian must be freed
Write to your government representatives
Write to your local news sources