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.