The Academy of Arts in Berlin awards the Konrad Wolf Prize 2023 to the journalist, publicist and publisher Julian Assange.

“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.“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 Jury said

Julian Assange has been incarcerated in Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison in London for four years. The US is demanding his extradition for the charges with espionage act for which he faces 175 years in prison.

This year’s jury was made up of Thomas Heise and Nele Hertling, both members of the Senate of the Academy of Arts, together with screenwriter Thomas Wendrich. The award ceremony for the Konrad Wolf Prize will take place at the Akademie der Künste on Friday, 20 October 2023.

Stella Assange traveled first time in Australia where she addressed The National Press Club in Canberra with Jenifer Robinson, Australian Human Rights Lawyer and Barrister. You can watch the full press conference here: https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1661495776109895684

In her first visit to the country she has met with cross-party Free Assange Parliamentary group alongside Julian’s brother Gabriel, father John Shipton and lawyer Jen Robinson to brief the politicians on Assange’s case. You can read Stella’s full speech here: https://dontextraditeassange.com/post/stella-assanges-speech-at-the-australian-national-press-club/

“Julian Assange is facing the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars in a United States prison unable to witness his two young boys, Gabriel and Max, growing up just for exposing the truth,” said Andrew Wilkie, an Independent member of Federal Parliament. “This political persecution of Julian strikes at the very heart of media freedom, as his extradition would set a frightening precedent for all journalists that they too are at risk of being locked up, just for doing their job.

She then joined the protest in Sydney alongside Julian Assange’s father John and brother Gabriel Shipton. “What I feel intensely is a concerted effort to bring Julian home from the Australian politicians, obviously from the government and also from the Australian population,” Stella said. She has called on the prime minister to help free her husband and she also appeared on Australia’s The Project where she explained how Julian’s health is deteriorating since during his time in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy and his incarcerations in Belmarsh Prison.

You can listen to Stella speaking at ABC Radio National where she discussed the push to secure her partner’s release. She also believes they are closer than ever to a resolution in Assange’s long-running case, securing Julian’s release from prison is a matter of life and death. Watch Stella’s full interview on ABC’s 730: https://twitter.com/abc730/status/1660585011412627456

“Julian is in a 3x2m single cell. He’s in his cell for over 22 hours a day and he only gets to see his family once or twice a week for little more than one hour at a time“, Stella explained to Sky News Australia.

Julian Assange’s lawyer Jen Robinson was invited to Australia’s QandA show where she also spoke about Julian’s case and said that the US is “prosecuting journalism” in its bid to extradite the jailed Wikileaks founder and that it “diminishes our ability to raise free speech concerns internationally”. https://twitter.com/QandA/status/1663389459893846016

National Press Club, 22 May 2023

It is a great pleasure to join you here today. I would like to thank the National Press Club for inviting me to speak here with you.

Since I touched down at the airport in Sydney I have been greeted with enormous warmth, and although it is my first time coming to Australia, I do not feel like a stranger to these shores. Julian’s stories have acquired a sharper resolution in my mind, and I can better understand why he misses home so much.

The truth is that I have mixed emotions about being here, because I always imagined my first visit to be with Julian and the children. I could not bring them because I am here to speak to you today and to join the rally in Sydney on Wednesday before I return to London.

My visit here was originally prompted by the official visit of President Biden and the Quad summit. After it was cancelled I decided to come anyway, I did not want to lose the opportunity to speak to you. Because we are now in the endgame. Julian needs his freedom urgently and Australia plays a crucial role in securing his release.

I recognise many faces in the room today who have played a crucial role in the fight for the freedom of my husband.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Julian Assange, who have created a political environment in which support for Julian goes beyond party-political affiliation.

That show of unity has made it possible for the leadership to take a position. I wish to thank the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as well as the leader of the opposition Peter Dutton for putting that position on the record, that Julian should be released so that he can come home. Home to his family, home to Australia.

I want to thank the Australian press for keeping Julian’s case alive in the minds of the Australian public.

But above all I would like to thank the overwhelming dedication of the Australian people, who have brought about a sea change in awareness and solidarity for Julian’s plight. This unity in support for my husband is a source of enormous encouragement for our family. It nurtures Julian’s ability to continue on.

The reality is that to regain his freedom, Julian needs the support of his home country. This is a political case, and it needs a political solution.

–

I often am asked what Julian’s day-to-day is like, and what we talk about. Yes, we spend time talking about the intricacies of the legal arguments or the political developments that influence the case, but most of the time we talk about the past and about our future together.

His past, is here.

He tells our children how he would catch yabbies and go fishing for flathead and black fish in the Sandon river with his grandfather Warren.

Or how he reared a fledgling rainbow lorikeet when he lived on Magnetic Island when he was thirteen. He fed the lorikeet on mangos until it was strong enough to rejoin the wild.

He tells the children about Tilly, the chestnut coated mare which he would ride when he stayed in the Northern Rivers. Or how he surfed in Byron Bay as a teenager. He tells them about his beekeeping in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria.

That’s how I imagine Julian when he is free. Not behind the cold blue glare of a computer screen, but cycling through Melbourne like he used to, or feeling his bare feet sink into the cool sand, like I did yesterday on Bondi beach.

Today, Julian’s feet only ever feel the hard, dull, even cement on the prison floor. When he goes to the yard for exercise, there is no grass, no sand. Just the bitumen pavement surrounded by cameras and layers of razor wire overhead.

I can tell you exactly what Julian is doing right now. It is 3 a.m. in London. Julian is lying in his cell, probably awake and struggling to fall asleep. It’s where he spends twenty-two hours a day, every day.

Julian’s cell is about three by two meters. He uses some of his books to block out the unpleasant draft coming from the window in the cold winter nights. There are pictures on the walls. Pictures of the children, pictures of us, together. A large colourful poster of a nebula taken by NASA’s James Webb Telescope.

A chart showing the distance between London and European cities, so that he can make the distance to Brussels, Vienna and Lisbon, pacing up and down the length of his cell. He has warn out two pairs of sneakers walking the European continent in his cell.

He reads to keep his mind busy, to fight the crushing sense of isolation and of time wasting away.

He has spent 1502 days in a prison cell, with no end in sight, and no way of knowing how many days to count down to a release. Julian will be in that cell indefinitely unless he is released.

If Julian is extradited, he will be buried in the deepest, darkest hole of the US prison system, isolated forever. That is what is done to defendants in so-called national security cases, even before trial.

A 175 year sentence is a living death sentence. A prospect so desperate that the English court found that it would drive him to take his own life, rather than live forever in hell.

We must do everything we can to ensure that Julian never, ever, sets foot in a US prison. Extradition in this case is a matter of life and death.

–

Julian counts the days until our next visit.

When the children and I get to Belmarsh, usually on a weekend, we leave our belongings in a locker. We check in with the prison authorities in the visitor’s centre building, my finger print is scanned, and we get a stamp on the back of our hands. Then we head to the entrance of His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh.

The only thing we are allowed to have in our hands is a V.O., or visitors’ order. It lists the people who are authorised to visit Julian on that day.

We stand in endless queues. Max, who recently turned four, used to call the prison, “the queue”. “When are we seeing daddy in the queue, mama?”. Now he is coming to better understand what a prison is, but not quite. When I travel he asks me, “when are you coming back from work prison mama?”.

Gabriel, who just turned six, knows it’s a prison. Prisons feature in his dreams and his nightmares. I tell him that his father is no ordinary prisoner, he is a hero, and millions of people around the world want him to come back home to us.

My finger prints are scanned three more times as we make our way through the airlocks. After the first airlock our shoes and jackets are put through an X-ray machine.

A prison officer scans us each in turn with a magnetic wand, front and back, and under our feet. Then a second prison officer pats us down, front and back, under our feet again. They check our hair, in our mouths and behind our ears. Then we go into a second airlock, which lets us out onto a cement yard.

We cross the yard and queue up once more to get into the interior building and a third airlock, after which we are let through to the dog search. We stand on a square, the children are told to stand still and be quiet while the dog jumps up to sniff us, front and back. Then, finally, we are through to the large visitor hall, where Julian is sitting at one of forty tables.

Julian sits on a red chair, opposite three blue chairs. A heavy table is between us. The children race to him shrieking gleefully, while the prison officer complains that the children should remain quietly by my side until my finger print has been scanned once more.

At the table, Julian and I are allowed to embrace hello and goodbye. I am allowed to hold his hand across the table. The children climb on him and he reads them stories.

All our children’s memories with their father are in this one large, echoey visitors’ hall—with the one exception of our wedding last year, which was in a bare room in a different building inside the prison. For an hour and a half, once or twice a week, we are together as a family.

–

There is now near universal recognition of the enormous implications that this case has for press freedom and the future of democracy.

For most people, Julian is a symbol. A symbol of staggering injustice, because he is in prison on trumped up charges for exposing the crimes of others. A symbol because he faces a bewildering 175 year sentence for publishing the truth. A symbol of a sophisticated form of state violence dressed up in complexity and indirection that not even Franz Kafka could have imagined.

For the press and the public Julian’s case is the most brutal attack on press freedom that the Western world has seen in the last 70 years. A foreign government is using the political offences in its statute books to indict a foreign national abroad, because of what he or she published in a different country.

Accurate, damning publications exposing their war crimes. If sovereignty is to mean anything, if jurisdiction is a proper legal and political reality, the case against Julian cannot be understood as anything other than an absurdity.

A stupifying decision of egregious overreach.

The case is the worst, and most enduring legacy of the Trump administration. It is not just outlandish but extremely pernicious.

Julian is being used as a deterrent to bully journalists into submission. The case against him sends the message that each of you in this room is fair game. It is a show of contempt for democratic accountability and of the rights of victims of government wrongdoing. For all the talk of press freedom as necessary in a democratic society, the case against Julian provides a gaping hole through which any country can legitimise the imprisonment of journalists and dissidents, including other Australian journalists. And use it they do.

Russia’s charges against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich mirror the charges the US has brought against Julian. Russia had not used the Espionage Act against a foreign journalist since 1987. For almost fourty years, Russia had expelled foreign journalists, but now it puts them on trial for “espionage”.

America’s case against Julian has created a new race to the bottom, a new normal, which makes it easier to get away with imprisoning journalists.

Enough is enough. There is no time left to lose. Julian needs to come home to us, home to all of us. Please help bring us back together. Thank you.

5 May 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

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8 and 9 March 2023, Greece

The screening of “Ithaca – The battle for the release of Julian Assange” kicked off at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival ini crowded room, including the Secretary of MeRA25 Yanis Varoufakis.

Following the screening at the documentary festival Amnesty International awarded the film as the best documentary in the “Human Rights” section, with the aim of highlighting human rights violations, as well as raising awareness of the public and its participation in its work and action for a better world with justice and without discrimination.

“Ithaka: A Fight to Free Julian Assange by Ben Lawrence is an attempt to amplify the voices and stories of Assange’s loved ones who live without the ability to communicate with him, as he is held in the maximum-security prison of Belmarsh by the British authorities.”

The Trianon cinema in Athens was packed for the screening of Ithaka documentary, organized by MeRA25 in collaboration with meta and DiEM25 with the presence of its secretary Yanis Varoufakis and Assange’s partner, Stella Assange.

Yanis addressed the audience stressing that there is no greater fighter for truth, transparency and non-disguise than Julian Assange, who is being pushed to his death every day by the American intelligence services.

Stella pointed out that those who govern use the laws to control society, but in no way intend to respect them themselves. “The mistake Julian made was to believe that the rules and laws apply to everyone.”

With special thanks for organizing – https://metacpc.org/en/

7 March 2023 Rome, Italy

The Faculty of Political Science of the Sapienza University of Rome was packed with students addressed by Stella Assange, MEP Sabrina Pignedoli, Prof. Maria Cristina Marchetti and Prof. Alessandro Guerra.

Chaired by journalist Riccardo Iacona, who hosts the popular TV series Presa Diretta, emphasized how much the Assange case “touches us all, touches the core of European values”. Julian’s extradition would be “a setback for our democracy; indeed, it would call it into question.”

Stella pointed out to the political science students, “this detention, now lasting four years, is completely arbitrary, as were arbitrary the previous seven years of forced confinement in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London – and this is not my opinion, but the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.”

Read the whole article here.

The second meeting in the Parliamentary Groups Hall was packed to hear Stella explain how Julian’s relentless judicial persecution is, in fact, “an attack on freedom of the press.“

“Is a political case, not a legal one; the solution therefore must be political. The UK has got Julian; the US wants to get him; between the two, Europe must intervene to say enough is enough and to save him. Each of you opinion makers can contribute to his release by making your voices heard… now.”

Promoted by the European Parliamentarian Sabrina Pignedoli with the collaboration of the Italian Parliamentarian Stefania Ascari it brought together, alongside Stella, the President of the National Order of Journalists, Carlo Bartoli, the popular journalist and former Parliamentarian Alessandro Di Battista, and Maddalena Oliva, deputy editor of the widely-read daily Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Read the whole article here.

Later on Stella Assange attended an event in Sala Borsa in Bologna on freedom of information alongside Sabrina Pignedoli, Steania Ascari moderated by journalist Luca Ponzi.

The latest expression of support for Assange was the 2,000 strong Night Carnival protest in London. The carnival was led by Lady Justice followed by artists and campaigners dressed in costumes carrying lanterns, placards, flags including samba bands marching along the crowd.

Symbolically it began at Lincoln’s Inn Field. Famously, this is the place where Charles Dickens novel Bleak House pictured the legal fog which kept cases going for years being at its thickest and most lethal.

The carnival aimed to shine a lot through this fog and illuminate Julian Assange’s case. Its slogan was ‘Light into Darkness’, using the age-old subversive nature of carnival to shine a light on this very dark corner of the political and legal system.

The carnival concluded with an indoor rally at the Emanuel Centre with various speakers supporting Assange. Ben Westwood, son of legendary fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, opened the rally expressing the importance of facts for a functioning democracy with words “The world needs Julian.” Ben brought a scarf made by Vivienne Westwood, the text bulletpoints the violations and injustices against Julian.

Jeremy Corbyn spoke second at the rally explaining the work and importance of campaigning for Assange: “Julian spoke out for the innocent victims all around the world of unaccountable military power”

“It’s a reminder that in the midst of all that cruelty, there is a world of kindness that does believe in justice” We heard an incredibly moving story from Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was reunited with her family after six years in detention in Iranian jail.

Kristinn Hrafnsson was one of the many speakers at The Emmanuel Centre where people rallied together in defence of the freedom of Julian Assange.

“So much for this to just be a legal case. It’s a political persecution! You have it in black and white. You have it admitted by the former Secretary of State”

Kristinn Hrafnsson

Julian Assange’s wife Stella Assange ended the rally speaking about the unjust imprisonment and incarceration of her husband.

“Julian’s imprisonment is an attempt to punish the messenger for uncomfortable truths”

Stella Assange

In other news, Andrew Cockburn has written a feature piece ‘Alternative Facts’ stating how the media ignored or misrepresented “key information about Julian Assange’s plight”.

You can read the whole article in Harpers: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/03/alternative-facts-how-the-media-failed-julian-assange/

The Belmarsh Tribunal will convene in Sydney, Australia on 4 March with range of expert witnesses – from constitutional lawyers, to acclaimed journalists, parliamentarians and human rights defenders. The Sydney chapter of the Tribunal will add a uniquely Australian voice to the global demand to free Julian Assange.

Some of appearing will include Stella Assange, John Kiriakou, Jennifer Robinson, Yanis Varoufakis, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Mary Kostakidis and many more hosted by the Progressive International.

To find out more follow this link: https://act.progressive.international/belmarsh-tribunal-sydney/

Théâtre National de Strasbourg and the TJP – Centre Dramatique National de Strasbourg Grand-Est brought together the Assange Odysseia, created by Sahra Datoussaid and Sarah Siré.

Inspired by the narrative form of Homer’s Odyssey, Assange Odysseia tells the story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and, with the help of witnesses, experts as well as political and cultural figures, sheds light on facts and events that are little known by the general public.

“It is a challenge to go beyond the strictly political and/or legal framework in order to do artistic work which is, moreover, in phase with current events. The difficulty is to deal with a situation that is taking place in the present time and whose political and judicial outcome is not yet known. Creating a Forum for Theatre seemed to us the most obvious
solution.”

Through this forum the play reconstructs the last twelve years’ journey: from the journalistic and political project of WikiLeaks with Collateral Murder to the judicial persecution of its editor Julian Assange, via the denunciation of the psychological torture of Assange by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, to the observation of amalaise in our democracies.

“At the crossroads of documentary theatre and the Court of Opinion, our Forum attempts to open a public debate through a device where witnesses and experts are invited to share their expertise and testimony with the public, who are invited to actively participate in the process of rigorous investigation”

The performer of the play: Stella Assange, wife of Julian Assange, Françoise Tulkens, judge at the European Court of Human Rights from 1998 to 2012, Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017, Denis Robert, Laurent Dauré and Stefania Maurizi, investigative journalists, Jennifer Robinson and Baltasar Garzon, lawyers for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, Geoffroy de Lagasnerie, philosopher and sociologist, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, author of The Guantanamo Diaries, lawyers Julien Pieret, Annemie Schaus and Diane Bernard, philosopher of law.

Watch in English

Watch in French

Julian Assange’s wife Stella was speaking at the European Parliament Press Seminar on the Sakharov Prize on Tuesday 14 December for which the publisher was nominated as a finalist.

Julian Assange was selected as one of three finalists for the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded each year by the European Union Parliament. More than 40 MEPs nominated Julian Assange for this year’s Sakharov Prize long list. Julian Assange’s wife Stella Assange addressed a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, October 11th, in which she made the case for Julian Assange winning the award.

MEP Sabrina Pignedoli and the 5 Star Movement officially presented the candidacy in the first phase of the selection for the Sakharov Prize, the highest recognition awarded by the Eurochamber to those who stand out in the battle for respect for human rights.

The President of the International Federation of Journalists and other MEPs have called on the President of the EU Parliament to work to ensure that Julian Assange can attend the Sakharov Prize ceremony as a nominee.

However Belmarsh prison authorities have refused permission for Assange to participate via video link in meetings and press conferences during the plenary of the European Parliament. Julian Assange’s wife, Stella, attended the European Union’s Sakharov Prize ceremony on his behalf, following an invitation by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Members of the European Parliament and press freedom groups co-signed an open letter to the US President Joe Biden asking him to pardon Julian Assange.

“For over a decade, Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have been at the forefront of investigative journalism, publishing information that has revealed significant abuses of power and corruption at the highest levels of powerful institutions. In doing so, he has been part of the institution of a free press essential to any democracy.”

Press Conference With Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s Wife on 13 December the European Parliament in Strasbourg

The 5 Star delegation’s press conference “The Julian Assange case: Publishing is not a crime” took place on Tuesday December 13 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Daphne Caruana Galizia room.

Joint press conference by:

Moderated by Davide D’Antoni, 5 Star press officer

Tiziana Beghin, head of the 5 Star delegation in the EP
Sabrina Pignedoli, 5 Star MEP, promotor of Assange’s candidature at the Sakharov Prize.
Virginie Lemarié, Julian Assange’s lawyer
Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s wife

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.

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.”

The Almudena Grandes Award for freedom of expression was collected by the imprisoned journalist’s wife, Stella Assange, and was delivered by the director of El País, Pepa Bueno. “Julian is a political prisoner. The right to truth is a fundamental right. The United States has turned journalism into a criminal activity,” she stressed about Washington’s obsession with extraditing her husband to stand trial there. She celebrated, in any case, that Julian Assange is “surrounded by friends who do not stop fighting for him until he is free.”

Poet Luis García Montero, director of the Cervantes Institute and columnist for infoLibre, spoke on a large screen that dominated the stage. “We live in a world in which it is increasingly essential to defend the independence of journalism. We cannot commit ourselves to being in possession of the truth, but we can commit ourselves not to lie,” concluded and thanked the Almudena Grandes Award for the defense of the right to information, awarded to Julian Assange.

The infoLibre Awards celebrate the pride of journalism without fear in the face of noise and uncertainty.

“You cannot send anyone to a country that has planned their assassination” – Álvaro Sánchez’s interview with Stella Assange. Read it here.

Lugano’s Plan ₿ Forum is the premier Bitcoin conference hosted by Tether Operations Limited and the City of Lugano in Switzerland.

The Forum featured blockchain industry leaders along with influential experts in global financial markets and the Bitcoin ecosystem at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano on October 28th and 29th 2022

The list of speakers to discuss how Bitcoin is disrupting the world on both social and economic levels as well as the important topic of individual freedoms was also joined by Stella Assange, lawyer and wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; Gabriel Shipton, film producer and brother of Julian Assange and John Shipton, father of Julian.

They participated in a fireside chat with journalist and podcast host Peter McCormack, a leading voice in the Bitcoin community, and share their experiences advocating for free speech.

The Attack on Julian Assange is an Attack on Freedom of Speech

In addition, participants could look forward to a unique virtual reality experience following the footsteps of Julian Assange and an opportunity to reflect on freedom of speech. Participants could virtually navigate the places where Assange has lived for the past 10 years: from Ecuador’s embassy in the United Kingdom, to the Belmarsh maximum security prison in London where Assange is currently detained.

Thanks to the Assange family, the attendees of the conference could also watch the documentary film that Shipton produced. Titled Ithaka, an intimate portrait of the struggle of Julian’s father, John, to free his son.

22 October 2022 Berlin, Germany

Julian Assange received this year’s Weizenbaum Prize for Peace and Social Responsibility for his work as an “outstanding journalist”, for his “creative use of technology” and for his merits and courage. His wife, Stella Assange, accepted the award on Saturday, October 22 on his behalf.

The prize is named after Joseph Weizenbaum. The influential computer scientist and peace activist, who would have turned 100 next year, publicly refused to work on the development of electronic elements for weapon systems during the Vietnam War.

The award ceremony took place as part of this year’s FIfF (Forum Computer Scientists for Peace and Social Responsibility) conference FIfFKon22, which has a technical and a political focus: “Our goal is nothing less than world peace,” says the announcement of the event.

Stella Assange accepting the Weizenbaum Prize for Peace and Social Responsibility

Julian Assange receives the Order of Italian Journalists Card

28 October 2022 Turin, Italy

The journalist’s card was delivered by President Carlo Bartoli of the Order of Italian Journalists accepted by Julian Assange’s father John Shipton. The ceremony took place in Turin as part of the Morrione Prize in Italy.

“Assange has carried out a work in defense of journalism, suffering a very serious attack on the right of the press and it is clear that the stakes are between knowing and not knowing and the dividing line is between democracy and dictatorship.”

“These are the battles that we have a duty to fight, to leave our children and grandchildren a democratic system to which we must never abdicate,” Carlo Bartoli.

Among the speakers of the debate, coordinated by Vincenzo Vita, were Stefania Maurizi journalist and writer, Gian Giacomo Migone professor and former president of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and John Shipton, father of Julian Assange.

“I am particularly happy – said Bartoli – to be able to hand over the card to Julian Assange’s father in the name of the entire National Council of the Order and of the colleagues who are members of it, who, if he wishes, can use it to prove that he has completed “Acts” of journalism.

Some of the more than 80 videos of testimony for the freedom of the founder of WikiLeaks collected by the “My voice for Assange” Committee, coordinated by the Sapienza professor Grazia Tuzi were screened. “Articolo21” will continue the campaign with incessant determination.

Skram, Litteraturhuset in Oslo, 25 November 2022

Musical performance by Lars Klevstand.

In the panel:

– Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (2009-2019), former prime minister of Norway, former minister of foreign affairs.

– Sofie Marhaug, member of the Norwegian Parliament (MP), initiator of the support group for Julian Assange in the Parliament.

– Gisle Selnes, professor of Literature (Bergen, UiB), co-author of the book “The Persecution of Julian Assange” (2022).

The event and the panel will be moderated by Rune Ottosen, professor of journalism, journalist and head of the Assange-committee of Norwegian PEN.

The event is hosted by Agnete G. Haaland, who is vice-president of Norwegian PEN.

Originally published in Norsk PEN.

The fifth Human Rights Film Festival Berlin presented 41 films on the current state of human rights in the world from 13 to 23 October 2022. The festival’s opening film was ITHAKA: a powerful portrait of the family of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reveals the personal consequences of his fight for the truth. 

The film celebrated its German premiere on 13 October in the historic hall of the Berlin Colosseum cinema.

“An impressive family: wife, father and brother of Julian Assange. In the film Ithaca, they take us on their fight against the blatant injustice against Julian Assange. approachable. Vulnerable. A visit to the Human Rights Film Festival in Berlin is worthwhile,” said Derya Türk-Nachbaur, Member of the German Bundestag and a member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)

The film has been also shortlisted for the Australian 2022 Walkley Documentary Award. The film has already made its debut in Australia and the UK and has also been screened at the Sydney Film Festival 2021, Capricorn Film Festival 2022, docedge Film Festival 2022 and Sheffield Docfest 2022.

“Ithaka shows how far the richest and most powerful nations in the history of the world go to hide their crimes. Ithaka gets to the heart of how freedom of the press and our right to communicate are slowly being dismantled before our very eyes.” – Gabriel Shipton, brother of Julian Assange and producer of the documentary

At Bitcoin Amsterdam, Stella Assange advocated for her husband Julian’s freedom, drawing parallels between Bitcoin and WikiLeaks.

Stella Assange, wife of Julian Assange, the founder of classified document publisher WikiLeaks who has been confined to a London prison since 2019, took the stage at the Bitcoin Amsterdam event today in a keynote presentation titled “Free Assange.” She described the parallels between Bitcoin as a permissionless form of value transaction and WikiLeaks’ mission to disseminate vital information to the public, outlining that Julian’s battle for freedom is one that should resonate with adopters of Bitcoin.

“I was thinking about how to talk about freeing Julian here, and Julian told me, he explained Bitcoin to me back in 2011,” Stella Assange began, adding that Julian had been moved to solitary confinement last weekend after testing positive for COVID-19. “He explained the technology behind it, but he also gave me a big picture understanding of the significance of Bitcoin… I think (that explanation) is also a pathway to understanding the kind of parallel tracks of WikiLeaks and Bitcoin, and the future of Bitcoin and how that’s tied to what’s being done to Julian.”

Stella went on to recount the most infamous publications from WikiLeaks, including the “Spy Files” and files related to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay from 2011. She outlined the role that Julian and the publishing platform played in spurring the Occupy Wall Street movement, and said that Julian called Bitcoin “the real Occupy Wall Street.” In 2013, WikiLeaks helped former NSA contractor Edward Snowden release mass surveillance disclosures, with Snowden himself going on to advocate for Bitcoin as a freedom tool.

She underscored the groundbreaking changes that WikiLeaks brought to the field of journalism in the age of the internet through its ability to protect anonymous sources online and its decisions to publish large amounts of information quickly and freely.

“In that sense, Bitcoin and Bitcoin technology are trying to fight censorship in a very similar way to how WikiLeaks has fought censorship using cryptography,” she explained. “(Julian) was an incredible pioneer and changed the way journalism is done. And he did that because Julian of course was a Cypherpunk, he’s a cryptographer and he understood that the major newsrooms had no idea how to protect their sources when they were operating on the internet.”

Stella also outlined the role that Bitcoin played in supporting WikiLeaks as centralized financial institutions attempted to silence it following its major document releases in 2011.

“Overnight practically, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, they just shut off WikiLeaks from 97% of its revenue which came through (donations via the platforms),” she recalled. “And how was it done? It was done completely extralegally. It was a phone call from a few senators in the U.S. to these companies, and they just shut it off.”

She added that, by enabling freedom of information, Bitcoin is one of the emerging tools that can safeguard against eroding freedom of information in the digital age.

“Bitcoin breaks Orwell’s dictome, ‘He who controls the present, controls the past. And he who controls the past, controls the future,’” she said.

Finally, in an appeal for support in Julian’s ongoing legal fight, Stella argued that the U.S. is relying on vague and outdated language from the Espionage Act of 1917 to pursue a 175-year sentence were he extradited there. She suggested that those who similarly challenge authority with a permissionless monetary system like Bitcoin could one day face similar fates.

“What’s being done to Julian is not a legitimate use of the legal system,” she said. “It is bending the rules, it is corrupting the rules in order to keep him there and, in so doing, it is corrupting the whole system… Anyone that challenges the hegemonic order with innovation is up against that level.”

Originally published in Bitcoinmagazine.com

BRUSSELS, 11 October 2022

MEP Sabrina Pignedoli and the 5 Star Movement officially presented the candidacy in the first phase of the selection for the Sakharov Prize, the highest recognition awarded by the Eurochamber to those who stand out in the battle for respect for human rights.

“My husband’s is a political case, Julian is a political prisoner, awards such as the Sakharov Prize act as political protection and in his case this prize could save his life. Winning this award would certainly change things,” says Mrs Assange.

“We wanted to promote Assange’s candidacy for the Sakharov Prize because Assange is paying dearly for telling the truth, so we believe he is the best candidate,” Sabrina Pignedoli.

“This candidacy is recognition of Julian’s work, who has fought all his life for freedom of expression and to ensure that this was a reality and that human rights violations could be made public so that we could ask governments to account for it before justice.

“Because this is a political case, he is a political prisoner, persecuted for publicizing the crimes of a truly powerful government, and this recognition could save his life.”

The fact that Julian Assange is in prison “is instead a clear message, which tells us that governments can commit crimes with impunity and be imprisoned even in the West, that the struggle for human rights no longer has any value and that indeed those who carry on this fight can be punished,” Stella Assange concluded.

The first meeting of the Wired Next Fest 2022 in Milan talked about Wikileaks and Julian Assange: a case that goes to the heart of the freedom of the press of the democracy of the future.

Stella Assange, first guest of the Wired Next Fest Milan 2022 said that “Julian’s case represents the destiny of our future”. In a room packed with people at the new Milanese edition of the Wired Next Fest 2022, hosted in the spaces of the Fabbrica del Vapor, the legal consultant and wife of the well-known journalist and activist defined the story of the Wikileaks case as “political” and Assange as a “political prisoner” . In 2010, about 600,000 documents relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were published on the WikiLeaks site he created, including videos revealing real war crimes committed by the US military.

For this reason Julian Assange is persecuted by the American government and has been hosted by the Ecuadorian embassy in London for years. At the moment he is in the British prison of Belmarsh, a maximum security prison in the English capital nicknamed the “British Guantanamo” following allegations of ill-treatment of the detainees. Regarding the condition of her husband, whom she sees twice a week with her children, Stella Assange tells of a very bad physical and mental state that has lasted since 11 April 2019, the day of her arrival in the British prison.

The key difference between the Assange case and the Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning cases, says Stella Assange, is that the latter “were whistleblowers and not editors of a news site.” In order to be able to try him, former US President Barack Obama had in fact spoken of the need for a precedent. “Julian is not American, he was not working for the United States and had no contractual obligations,” Assange continues, pointing out how the US government actually extended its jurisdiction outside the country, persecuting a journalist and a publisher for the mere fact that he has done his job.

“What happened after Julian’s case is quite the opposite of what he expected: the relationship between citizens and governments has become even more blurred, it joins the surveillance capabilities of the states and the increasing compression of our rights” says Stella Assange also referring to the fact that democracies like the United States contradict their own ideals of transparency.

Original article was published in Wired Italia.

https://www.wired.it/video/watch/stella-assange-wired-next-fest-2022

The Head of Government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, named Julian Assange a Distinguished Guest and delivered the Keys to the City to the family of the founder of WikiLeaks, who is in Mexico at the invitation of the Presidency to the celebrations for the anniversary of the independence.

“Julian Assange represents the truth, he represents freedom of expression and never, anywhere in the world, can that be persecuted,” Sheinbaum said. John Shipton and Gabriel Shipton, father and brother of Julian Assange, attended the ceremony on Wednesday.

“Today, in this national month, we endorse Independence and because we always endorse freedom of expression, Julian Assange will be welcomed, through his family, to Mexico City.”

Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, general coordinator of Social Communication and Spokesman for the Government of the Republic, pointed out that Julian Assange could be considered a “21st century liberator.”

“We hand over the Keys to the City to the family of Julian Assange. For us, Julian represents the truth, freedom of expression. We are a progressive City that has always defended the great freedoms and the right to free access to information.” Claudia Sheinbaum, Head of Government of Mexico City

The Former Minister of National Defence of Ecuador Ricardo Patino was able to deliver to the father and brother of Julian Assange, the national journalism award given to the founder of Wikileaks by the Journalists Club of Mexico in 2018.

On Monday 5 September 2022 Julian Assange has been a awarded the honorary card of the Order of Italian Journalists. President Carlo Bartoli with the secretary Paola Spadari Venice officially delivered the card to Stefania Maurizi, a close collaborator, with the Casa degli Autori on the Lido of Venice, where the event was held.

The occasion was promoted by the Audiovisual Archive of the Labor and Democratic Movement and by the Articolo21 association, in collaboration with the National Federation of the Italian Press and the Order of Journalists.

“Defending Assange means defending the right of the press, freedom of information and the safety of whistleblowers,” – said the president of the Order Carlo Bartoli showing the honorary card for Assange at the authors’ house in Venice.

“This is why we decided to enroll Julian Assange in the Order of Italian Journalists. If an English court decides to extradite him to the US, in England – which was the cradle of press freedom, will become the funeral of freedom of information.”

Present were Carlo Bartoli and Paola Spadari, president and secretary of the National Council of the Order of Journalists, together with the Venetian colleagues Gianluca Amadori, member of the executive and Maurizio Paglialunga, coordinator of the CTS, with them also Giuliano Gargano President of the Veneto regional order . The meeting was also attended by Giorgio Gosetti, general delegate of the Authors’ Days; Giuseppe Giulietti, President of the Fnsi; Vincenzo Vita, president of Aamod. Contributions also include those of Monica Andolfatto, secretary of the Veneto Journalists Union; Tina Marinari, campaign coordinator of Amnesty International Italia; Manuela Piovano, vice president of the National Association of Authors and of the actress Ottavia Piccolo.

Originally published in Ordine dei Giornalisti.

The same time Assange was awarded honorary citizenship of Pescara in Italy. For the proposal of the councilors of the 5 Star Movement Erika Alessandrini, Massimo Di Renzo and Paolo Sola, the municipal council of the Adriatic city approved the motion with recognition proposed to the Wikileaks founder.

“Pescara joins the chorus of those who, all over the world, reiterate the defense of the right to freedom of the press which Julian Assange represents,” declared the councilor after the vote in the civic assembly. The recognition of honorary citizenship has a symbolic value but, the three councilors underline to “keep attention on the matter” and signify how “even the Pescara community feels it has to give its own contribution in defense of ideals such as the right to information and transparency”.

“The journalist, activist and founder of the WikiLeaks rose to the headlines in the international news in 2010 for revealing US war crimes, abuses and violence of the American armed forces during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The arrest by the British police and the extradition request by the United States where he faces up to 175 years in prison for publication of information in the public interest is a capital punishment. An event that sparked a great international protest and raised numerous appeals for the release of the journalist from public opinion and various human rights organizations.”

“For his reporting activity, Julian Assange has received, over the years, numerous commendations and awards, as well as having been repeatedly proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize for revealing the horrors of Western wars.”

Originally published in Pressenza.

Earlier Assange was also awarded honorary citizenship by the City Council of Lucera, in the province of Foggia. Lucera is the first municipality in Italy to officially confer citizenship to Julian Assange.

As Julian Assange turns 51 his legal defence team has lodged an appeal to prevent his extradition to the US.

Last month, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Assange’s extradition, with her office saying British courts had concluded his extradition would not be incompatible with his human rights, and that he would be treated appropriately.

Supporters of Assange held protests ahead of his 51st birthday, including one in an open-top double-decker London tour bus that passed by British government buildings in Westminster on Friday.

Assange’s wife, Stella, was among dozens of people who demonstrated outside Britain’s interior ministry to demand his release.

At the invitation of the Geneva Press Club/Club suisse de la presse, Swiss and international organizations of journalists and editors call with one voice for the release of Julian Assange in the name of press freedom on June 22 at the Swiss Press Club in Geneva at 11:00 am CEST. A broad-based coalition of journalists and media outlets has been formed after the British government authorized the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the United States on June 17, where he faces 175 years in prison. This Geneva-based coalition, which has been joined by journalistic organizations from many other countries, is calling directly on the British and American authorities. It also asks the Swiss authorities, in the name of freedom of the press and human rights, to intervene to ensure Julian Assange a refuge in Switzerland or elsewhere.

For all citizens: 

For journalists only: 

“We are demanding that Julian Assange be freed, returned to his family, and finally permitted to live a normal life,” said Dominique Pradalie, head of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

“Democracy is being taken hostage. This attempt at criminalising journalism is a serious threat,” warned Pierre Ruetschi, the head of the Swiss Press Club who hosted the event.

“If Julian Assange can be threatened with prosecution as a spy, what might that mean for other journalists?” Tim Dawson, from the National Union of Journalists added.

With the participation of 

• Edgar Bloch, Co-President, impressum, Swiss journalists
• Daniel Hammer, General Secretary, Swiss Media
• Denis Masmejan, Secretary General, Reporters Without Borders Switzerland
• Dominique Pradalié, President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Syndicat national des journalistes (SNJ) France
• Marc Meschenmoser, Co-president of Investigativ.ch
• Jean-Philippe Ceppi, Producer of Temps présent (RTS) and member investigativ.ch
• Nicole Lamon, Deputy editor-in-chief, Matin Dimanche
• Frédéric Julliard, Editor-in-chief, Tribune de Genève
• Philippe Bach, Editor-in-Chief, Le Courrier
• Serge Michel, Editor-in-Chief, heidi.news
• Tim Dawson, National Union of Journalists, Great Britain (zoom)
• Karen Percy, Media President of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Australia
• Mika Beuster, National deputy director, Deutscher Journalisten Verband (Germany)
• Jean Musy, President, Association of foreign press in Switzerland (APES)
• Agustin Yanel, Secretary general, Federation of the unions of spanish journalists, Spain
• Pierre Ruetschi, Executive Director, Geneva Press Club and President of the Dumur Award

Ten other Swiss editors-in-chief support the Appeal and other international Journalists organization are joining.

Originally published at the Geneva Press Club.

BBC HARDtalk: Will Julian Assange be extradited to the US?

Stephen Sackur spoke to lawyer Stella Moris, wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and mother of two of his children. Watch full interview for UK only on BBC iPlayer. You can listen to the interview on BBC UK Sounds.

The full video is also available to watch here.

Double Down News: The CIA Plot to Kill My Husband Julian Assange

Julian Assange’s wife, Stella Assange spoke on Double Down News on the CIA plot to kill her husband in revenge for exposing war crimes and fight to save his life. She asks for your help to free Julian and to take any action to bring him home.

Progressive International: Special appeal from Stella Assange

“How can the UK even contemplate extraditing a journalist to the country that plotted to kill him for his groundbreaking journalism?”

The Project: Stella Assange On Julian Assange’s Last-Ditch Legal Bid To The UK

After a decade-long legal battle, the fate of Julian Assange now rests in the hands of Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel after his legal team handed in its final submission.

“The case is purely political and we hope there will be a poitical resolution…the UK could at any time stop this extradition.”