Assange campaign update
We repost below the latest Newsletter from the Assange Defence Campaign, 22 Sept 2023.
The good news is that the Australian government has thrown its weight behind the campaign, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese going on record saying that “enough is enough”.
A delegation to the United States made it clear to US officials that they speak for a majority of Australians who want Julian released immediately.
The Campaign asks: Will you help us uphold the right to a free press and the public’s right to know what governments do in their name?
Please donate to it.
The cross-party delegation of Australian Parliamentarians is turning up the heat on the Biden administration to #DropTheCharges, and they’re generating significant media coverage for the #FreeAssange message!
After years of patient diplomacy, the Aussies are tired of playing the waiting game. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has gone on record that “enough is enough,” the delegation made it clear to U.S. officials that they speak for a majority of Australians who want Julian released immediately.
Australian #FreeAssange delegation makes waves
The Australian delegation’s visit is having a major impactful, and we’re already seeing results! The parliamentarians met with administration officials and others, and were joined by #FreeAssange activists at several points. After meeting with the DOJ, Australian Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said they “had a fair hearing and…a productive discussion.”
Check out some of the coverage of the delegation from outlets like ABC News and Reuters.
Whish-Wilson also spoke with Democracy Now! earlier this week to discuss the visit.
The open letter signed by Whish-Wilson and 63 other Australian parliamentarians also ran as a full-page ad in the Washington Post! Check out #FreeAssange supporter Ben Cohen’s Tweet about the ad [click on it to bring it into better focus – JVL]
Make Your Voice Heard!
You can help the #FreeAssange movement without having a big platform or spending money! Our coalition continues to grow, thanks to activists tirelessly working to protect press freedom.
Want to help raise awareness? You can make your voice heard by using our LTE portal, where you can write and place a letter to the editor in a local paper!
What We’re Reading & Watching Today
Democracy Now! has coverage of Brazilian President Lula and Colombian President Petro calling for the United States to #DropTheCharges against Julian. Amy Goodman spoke directly with Petro, who called the case a “mockery of freedom of press!”
Emma Shortis has in-depth analysis of what the Australian delegation means for the U.S.-Australian alliance in The Guardian. Shortis writes of Julian:
“In his lonely challenge to American power, Assange loudly revealed that fundamental hypocrisy. He dared to challenge American power by exposing its willingness to breach its own apparently fundamental values – something admirers of that power cannot fathom doing. In this framing, it becomes entirely unsurprising that successive Australian governments would only reluctantly, if at all, support an Australian citizen subject to the exercise of that unaccountable power.”
Julian’s father unveiled Rue Julian Assange at the 2023 Fête de l’Humanité in Le Plessis-Pâté, northern France!
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Visit the Assange Defense Committee webpage
It baffles me that the Free Assange campaign in this country has not attracted the numbers it deserves to have. We should be out in our tens of thousands protesting Julian’s torture – yes torture -according to no less a person than Nils Melzer the then UN rapporteur on torture. As the banner in the photo says – ‘first they came for Assange, tomorrow they will come for you.’ I’m afraid tomorrow is already upon us. We need to speak up before they shut us up even more.
It would be good to believe that parliamentarians in the UK would stand up for Justice For Assange.
“Tomorrow they will come for us !!”
The UK MSM seem strangley very quiet on this. I listened to Radio 4 the other day fawning all over Murdoch and telling me I have a FREE PRESS in this country. It begs the obvious question – so why is Assange in prison????
Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever heard his name mentioned in the MSM, well not vey often and not in any depth at all.
I thought I’d just do a quick search re ‘julian assange’ to see how much media coverage he’s been getting recently and, as such, came across this very sympathetic article in The Hindu Times from August 1st entitled ‘The fight to free Julian Assange is a fight for press freedom and the right to know’:
https://frontline.thehindu.com/world-affairs/julian-assange-media-freedom-wikileaks-extradition-case/article67145272.ece
I also came across the 2021 documentary Julian Assange – The Price of Truth on youtube, posted on there a couple of weeks ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5F2LFEcSuQ