Voices grow louder: 'Free Julian Assange!'
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Australian journalist Julian Assange continues to face threats of extradition from U.S. officials, as he languishes inside the walls of the Belmarsh Prison in London. He has been confined there since 2019 and is facing charges under the Espionage Act. As founder of Wikileaks, Assange helped e

Among Assange’s diverse crowd of defenders are Amnesty International, Pope Francis and representatives of the People’s Republic of China. At a daily press conference in Beijing in 2022, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson publicly stated that Assange should not “stand trial for telling people the truth.” (The Guardian, Sept. 5) Julian’s spouse Stella Moris Assange and his father John Shipton have also been actively lobbying for his release.

During the events at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September, Presidents Luiz Ignacio “Lula” da Silva of Brazil and Xiomara Castro of Honduras spoke out for Assange, calling on the U.S. and the West to stop the persecution of Assange and permit him to get back to his family, which includes two sons he has been unable to help bring up.

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On Sept. 20, a cross-party delegation of Australian lawmakers traveled to the United States to urge the Biden administration to drop charges against Assange. Earlier that month, 63 members of Australia’s House of Representatives and Senate signed a letter insisting the U.S. drop charges. (The Guardian, Sept. 13)