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Don’t shoot the messenger!
We are all Julian Assange!
The U.S. Justice department asked the UK for permission
to extradite Julian Assange to the U.S., for trial under the
Espionage
Act, for having revealed secret documents which
expose
U.S. war crimes (maximum sentence of 175 years
in prison). On December 10th 2021, the High Court granted
that permission. Julian's lawyers appealed to the UK
Supreme Court but on March 14th, 2022, it rejected the
appeal and on June 17 the UK Home Secretary signed
the extradition papers. Julian's legal team will file one last
appeal by August 28; around mid October the UK High Court
will decide whether this final appeal merits consideration.
NOTE: The
people who committed the war crimes, many of
whom officials and politicians, are not facing prosecution
and prison. Indeed,
their wrong-doing is not even being
investigated. Only the messenger faces penal prosecution.
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What can we do here in Italy
to support Julian Assange?
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1. Learn about the events we
have held so far to support Julian.
On October 26th 2021, in the Press Room of the lower house of the Italian Parliament, eight U.S., UK and Italian personalities discussed the Assange case and, in particular, how granting the extradition request would risk making the U.S. and the UK judicial
systems resemble the infamous Inquisition.
the RAI - TV anchor and investigative journalist Riccardo Iacona, click here.
To see the video of the entire event, click here.
Now you can see, alternatively, JUST the contributions in English, presented individually (so you can take your
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in piazza di Monte Citorio (outside Parliament), activists asked MPs to approve a motion that is currently stalled in a parliamentary commission and that grants Julian Assange political asylum in Italy. See the photos by clicking below or here.
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September 28, 2021, was the International Day for Universal Access to Information (or Right to Know Day) – #AccessToInfoDay, #RightToKnow.
That day in Rome, activists consigned a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, asking her to put pressure on the UK (and on the U.S.) to free Julian Assange, to reject (or withdraw) the request for his extradition, and to stop persecuting him. Otherwise the EU should consider sanctioning the U.S. and the UK, as it does other countries that persecute journalists, violating their human rights.
Read the letter to Ursula von der Leyen!
in
ENGLISH:
click
here
in
ITALIANO:
click
here
You can sign the letter to von der Leyen, too!
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2. In addition, we can:
(a.) Write a Letter to the editor of a newspaper of your choice, asking for Julian to be set free. Here is an example of what you could say in your own words in a letter to a media outlet: click here.
(b.) Join the U.S.-based Assange Defense Committee (co-chairs: Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Daniel Ellsberg); they will offer other suggestins for a letter and, in addition, indicate media to contact: see here.
(c.) Sign the petition asking Biden to drop the charges.
(d.) Make comments in support of Julian on social media, joining up with these groups on the web to create a buzz: Action4Assange, NYC Free Assange, Brits for Assange, Italiani per Assange, #DropTheCharges, FreeAssangeIT.
(e.) Here are even more initiatives you can take: Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign.
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3. Read this article:
PeaceLink using the talking points mentioned in point 2. a. above:
IN ENGLISH: The debacle in Afghanistan shows that Assange should have been listened to, not criminalized.
IN ITALIANO: La debacle in Afghanistan mostra che avrem- mo dovuto ascoltare, non criminalizzare, Julian Assange.
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For those of you who know Italian:
GIORNALISMO", RAI3 PresaDiretta con Riccardo Iacona, lunedì 30 agosto 21.20: "Se viene imprigionato chi rivela documenti segreti, scottanti per il potere, addio al nostro diritto all’informazione." (RaiPlay qui)
And
read the book behind it:
di Stefania Maurizi, giornalista (Repubblica). Dalla prefazione di Ken Loach: "Questo è un libro che dovrebbe farvi arrabbiare moltissimo. È la storia di un giornalista imprigionato e trattato con insostenibile crudeltà per aver rivelato i crimini di guerra in Afghanistan e Iraq – quelli di cui vediamo le consequenze oggi."
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Rachel Maddow (MSNB) and the conservative
And here is one of the second best explanations of the Assange case, a short audio commentary by the Australian journalist Caitlin Johnstone, read by Tim Foley:
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