Category: Expressions of Support

Yarra City Council joins Darebin Council in offering support to Julian Assange

Refer to full Council Meeting Minutes

12.2 Notice of Motion No. 2 of 2020 – Australian Citizen Julian Assange

Reference: D20/6065
Authoriser: Group Manager Chief Executive’s Office

Public Submissions
The following people addressed Council on the matter:
Camillo De Luca;
Walter Mellado; and
Travis Davies.

COUNCIL RESOLUTION
Moved: Councillor Jolly 
Seconded: Councillor O’Brien
1. That Council

• (a) note that Julian Assange is in very poor health and currently facing extradition from the UK to the US in an unprecedented Espionage Act prosecution for engaging in journalistic activity and that if convicted, he faces 175 years imprisonment and therefore needs urgent Consular support to help him prepare his defence;
• (b)  notes that Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe, Massimo Moratti has said that the UK must not extradite Julian Assange to the USA and further stated:
  • (i)  “The British authorities must acknowledge the real risks of serious human rightsviolations Julian Assange would face if sent to the USA and reject the extraditionrequest. The UK must comply with the commitment it’s already made that hewould not be sent anywhere he could face torture or other ill-treatment.”; and
  • (ii)  “The UK must abide by its obligations under international human rights law thatforbids the transfer of individuals to another country where they would face serious human rights violations. Were Julian Assange to be extradited or subjected to any other transfer to the USA, Britain would be in breach of these obligations.”
• (c)  notes that UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer said that:
  • (i)  “My most urgent concern is that, in the United States, Mr Assange would beexposed to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of torture andother cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment…”; and
  • (ii)  “In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution he has never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law”.
• (d)  notes that in an interview on RN Breakfast by the leading torture expert, Nils Melzer warned that Mr Assange could die in prison before getting his day in court and confirmed that the British Government’s handling of the extradition case is in blatant contravention of international Human rights Law;
• (e) writes to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs urging the Australian government to immediately step in to urge the British authorities address his poor health condition and to uphold the Human Rights of an Australian citizen just as they would if Mr Assange was being held in Iran, Egypt, Cambodia or Indonesia and not turn a blind eye to the violation of any Australian’s human rights, occurring in the West. The letter should also reference the points made above.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Berlin, 31 January 2020. Members of the German Bundestag write

Dear Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,

We wish to nominate Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, in honour of their unparalleled contributions to the pursuit of peace, and their immense personal sacrifices to promote peace for all.

. . .

Full document defend WikiLeaks web site

RELEASE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW!

From a reposting on Facebook . . .

Greetings world. We are anonymous.
When governments violate human ́ s rights, rebellion is a fundamental duty, a citizen act.
Also, we are United, Anonymous, Whistleblowers, Yellow Vests and Resistants to alert the world to the fate of Julian ASSANGE, a great journalist who has won many awards.
Global surveillance and liberticide laws are ubiquitous. We are increasingly watched by the powerfullest people of the world, but who is watching them? Journalism is the last sentinel of peoples.

A man, Julian Assange rose to denounce their crimes by creating the WIKILEAKS platform which allows the deposit and dissemination of confidential documents.
WIKILEAKS has been operating since 2006 and has brought to light the abuses committed by the American army in 2007 in Iraq.

Let us also mention the MACRONLEAKS, documents denouncing the lies of the MACRON mafia and in particular the scandal of the carbon tax diverted in favor of the biggest enterprises. Since then, the people manifests every week to denounce this corrupted system .
Since his revelations on Iraq – COLLATERAL MURDER video showing the assassination of civilians by the US army – Julian Assange has been chased. He is currently illegally detained in a high security prison in England. A trial for his extradition is scheduled for late February, if he is still alive. He is kept in solitary confinement and tortured. The alerts from the UN and more than 60 doctors do not change anything.

No more mainstream media talks about him although they have profusely benefited of his work. It only remains us, the people, as the only bulwark!
The United States cannot destroy the message, so they wants to kill the messenger, in order to send a strong signal to all journalists and whistleblowers to dissuade them from exposing the truth.

Open your eyes, inform yourselves, resist , telling the truth is not a crime, it is the journalist’s first duty.

We demand his immediate releaseJulian Assange .
Remember who we are. Corruption fears us.
We are anonymous. We are legion.
We are fighting for the truth. We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us!

#FreeAssangeNow

#FreePRESS #Unity4J #JulianASSANGEfree #NoUsExtradition
#DontExtraditeAssange #FreeASSANGE #SaveJulianAssange #NoExtradition
#BringJulianHome #BringAssangeHome #YouCanResist #HandsOffAssange
TF1 BFMTV Le Monde HM Prison Belmarsh Emmanuel Macron President Donald J. Trump Donald J. Trump
source : https://peertube.slat.org/videos/watch/59b7522e-b616-4f9b-992c-202b4c2cf261

From the April 2019 Issue of the Indicter a Swedish article by Ms Anne Ramberg headed “Assange – en bisarr historia – som kräver svenskt agerande“ and translated by Professor Marcello Ferrada de Noli
MONTHLY EUROPEAN REVIEW ON GEOPOLITICAL & HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

In “Assange –a bizarre story– which demands Swedish response”, the Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association, Ms Anne Ramberg, criticizes prosecutor’s deeds in the pre-investigation of the case, and says that Sweden has a great responsibility for the situation that has arisen.

“My knowledge about this matter, now an almost unique one, is not entirely in-depth.  It is a matter featured by everything from prodigal conspiracy theories deprived of any reality support, to a deplorable legal handling from both Swedish and British side.

The right to a fair trial within a reasonable time is established both in the Swedish legal system [Regeringsformen, 2 kap. 11 § andra stycket 1) and in the European Convention (Article 6). This legal right also applies during the preliminary investigation stage. To this has to be added the so-labelled presumption of innocence. It may well be questioned whether the result of the Swedish managing [of the case] was done in accordance with the principle of proportionality. I have previously stated that I find it remarkable that the Prosecutor did not implement the preliminary investigation forward at the pace and with the care one could have demanded. In this context, the courts have a very great responsibility. They could have put tougher demands on the prosecutor, to move the preliminary investigation forward. The conclusions that the prosecutor had as ground to dismiss the case [the pre-investigation], should also have been communicated considerably earlier than what happened. This leads to the conclusion that Sweden has a great responsibility for the situation that has arisen. Now the question is whether Sweden should resume the preliminary investigation that prompted Assange’s asylum request to Ecuador –and his subsequent involuntary lock-in–, and demand his extradition to Sweden.

I fear that the treatment of Assange has damaged the reputation of the Swedish judicial system, even though Assange did not actively contribute to participate to any significant extent. That being said, I have sympathy for Assange’s concern that Sweden would acquiesce with the United States in the event of a request for his extradition. One can only speculate on this. I am of the personal opinion that the Supreme Court would not extradite Assange to the United States. If my assumption is correct, a Supreme Court review [of the extradition case] would result in that Assange could not be extradited,  even if the government so wished.

Let us not forget that whatever we may think of Assange or the deeds he is suspected of, this is about much more. It is about freedom of speech and the rule of law principles. It is ultimately about the right and the moral obligation to expose war crimes. Assange and Wikileaks did it. The revelations about US abuse were necessary and particularly important. Should we extradite to Germany’s Hitler someone who has revealed the existence of concentration camps and genocide, regardless to how that information was obtained?  I don’t think so.”

Reported 10 December 2010

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticised the arrest of the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange as “an attack on freedom of expression”. 

Former President Lula said the internet publication of secret US cables had “exposed a diplomacy that appeared untouchable”.

He also criticised other governments for failing to condemn the arrest.

Read article in BBC News

Editors Note: Is there need for a WorldLeaders4Assange group?

Germany’s largest Journalist Union’s statement
(Machine translation) 

The German Association of Journalists opposes the extradition of whistleblower and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from Great Britain to the USA. Assange, whose health is said to have deteriorated rapidly, is currently serving a prison sentence in the UK for violating probationary conditions. The US authorities then demand his extradition to charge him with publishing secret government documents. “Assange’s stay at the London embassy in Ecuador was in fact already several years in prison,” says DJV Federal Chairman Frank Überall. The world public owes the whistleblower comprehensive information and insights into government machinations that would otherwise never have come to light. The surveillance of journalists in the London Embassy of Ecuador, where Julian Assange had been a refuge for years, was also scandalous. According to NDR information, three of the station’s journalists were spied on when they visited Assange at the embassy. The station has filed a complaint. “The journalists concerned have the right to know what information was siphoned off and with what justification this happened,”

Read original article [in German] at DEUTSCHER JOURNALISTEN-VERBAND

Former 7.30 host Kerry O’Brien has called for journalists to unite to protect press freedoms in a powerful opening speech for the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

• O’Brien warned about the dangers of restricted press, saying it could lead to fascism
• He said journalists need to call out any abuses of power
• O’Brien also called on the Government to work to bring Julian Assange back to Australia

The Walkley Foundation presented WikiLeaks, with Assange is its editor, an award for its outstanding contribution to journalism in 2011.

Judges said Assange used new technology to “penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup”.

WikiLeaks in 2010 published classified military and diplomatic files about US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kerry O’Brien said “As we sit here tonight, Julian Assange is mouldering in a British prison awaiting extradition to the United States, where he may pay for their severe embarrassment with a life in prison,” O’Brien said. 

“This Government could demonstrate its commitment to a free press by using its significant influence with its closest ally to gain his return to Australia.”

Read full article in ABC News

Rob Harris writes 26th November 2019

Kevin Rudd says Julian Assange would pay an “unacceptable” and “disproportionate” price if he is extradited to the United States, arguing the WikiLeaks founder should not take the fall for Washington’s failures to secure its own classified documents.

In a significant intervention into Mr Assange’s extradition fight, the former Australian prime minister said US prosecutors had not made any specific allegations that anyone was seriously harmed as a consequence of the release of highly classified documents relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2010.

A newly established cross-party group of federal MPs met in Canberra for the first time on Monday [25/11/2019], agreeing to pressure for the US’s extradition request to be dropped and for Mr Assange to be allowed to return to Australia.

. . .

The group’s co-chairs, independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Nationals MP George Christensen, are seeking to lead a parliamentary delegation visit Mr Assange in Belmarsh prison in coming months.

The group was briefed by barrister Jen Robinson, a member of Mr Assange’s London legal team, as well as Greg Barns from the Australian Assange Campaign and human rights and due process advocate Aloysia Brooks.

Read full article in The Sydney Morning Herald

More than 60 doctors from United States, Australia, Britain, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Sri Lanka, Poland have written to Priti Patel, the UK’s Home Secretary.

“We write this open letter, as medical doctors, to express our serious concerns about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.
Mr Assange requires urgent expert medical assessment of both his physical and psychological state of health.
We have real concerns, on the evidence currently available, that Mr Assange could die in prison. The medical situation is thereby urgent. There is no time to lose.”

The doctors are calling for Julian Assange to be moved from Belmarsh prison in London to a university teaching hospital

Read articles in The Guardian and ABC News

Read about previous medical warnings Julian Assange’s health in ‘dangerous’ condition, say doctors

Darebin Council will write to Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne requesting the Australian Federal Government immediately step in to ensure Julian Assange’s human rights are being upheld by British authorities while he is being held in the United Kingdom.

…

It has also been reported Mr Assange is in very poor health, and Darebin Council is requesting the Foreign Affairs Minister ensure British authorities are taking the necessary steps to address his health issues.

“As Mr Assange is an Australian citizen, the Federal Government must ensure that his rights are being upheld and respected,” Darebin Mayor Susan Rennie said.

Darebin notes Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe, Massimo Moratti, has said the United Kingdom would be in breach of its obligations to protect human rights should Mr Assange be extradited to the United States.

Read full media release