For more than 10 years, Julian Assange has been deprived of his freedom for publishing human rights violations committed by the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq. This information of public interest had been relayed and exploited throughout the world.

The founder of Wikileaks is the only person prosecuted for these publications and has been imprisoned for more than three years in the high security prison of Belmarsh after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He has not been convicted or even tried on the charges against him.

For more than 10 years, he has lived under the constant threat of extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States, where he faces a sentence of 175 years in prison, a life sentence with no hope of release. He is also subject to a campaign of humiliation and discrediting. According to Nils Melzer, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, the accumulation of these elements amounts to psychological torture.

For more than 10 years, Julian Assange could have hoped that the democracies on which his fate depended would put an end to the undignified treatment he is undergoing. Nothing has happened. Sweden, Ecuador, and today the United Kingdom – the country of Habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights – have instead lent their support to the American prosecution.

This illegitimate situation is becoming more and more unacceptable.

Beyond that, it raises concerns about press freedom and the risk of discouraging investigative journalism, as highlighted last August by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The right to information is essential and deserves to be protected, as do those who exercise it.

That is why the International Julian Assange Defense Team is today appealing to those who have the power to stop the injustice:

• First to the British authorities, by releasing Julian Assange and refusing his extradition;
• Second, to the countries of the Council of Europe, especially France, by calling on the United Kingdom to respect the guarantees of the European Convention on Human Rights;
• Finally, and most importantly, to the US authorities by dropping their prosecution.

It is high time to act before Julian Assange pays the price of our freedoms with his life.

Signataires :

Sabrina PIGNODELI – Députée européenne, à l’initiative de la candidature de Julian Assange pour le Prix Sakharov 2022

Antoine VEY – Avocat aux Barreaux de Paris et de Genève et auprès de la Cour Pénale Internationale

Ai WEIWEI – Artiste, intellectuel et dissident chinois

Henri LECLERC – Avocat honoraire et ancien Président de la Ligue des Droits de l’Homme

Christophe MARCHAND – Avocat spécialiste des droits de l’Homme

Baltasar GARZON – Avocat et ancien juge 

Sören SCHOMBURG – Avocat

Dino GIARRUSSO – Député européen

Stelios KOULOGLOU – Député européen

Ivan Vilibor SINČIĆ – Député européen

Mario FURORE – Député européen

Milan UHRÍK – Député européen

Francesca DONATO – Députée européenne

Diana RIBA I GINER – Députée européenne

Rosa D’AMATO – Députée européenne

Piernicola PEDICINI – Député européen

Ignazio CORRAO – Député européen

Marco CAMPOMENOSI – Député européen

Patrick BREYER – Député européen

Ana MIRANDA – Députée européenne

Hervé JUVIN – Député européen

Tiziana BEGHIN – Députée européenne

Mick WALLACE – Député européen

Clare DALY – Députée européenne

Fabio Massimo CASTALDO – Député européen

Laura FERRARA – Députée européenne

Mikulas PEKSA – Député européen

Marc Johan BOTENGA – Député européen

Ivan DAVID – Député européen

Tatjana ŽDANOKA – Députée européenne

Martin BUSCHMANN – Député européen

Milan BRGLEZ – Député européen

João PIMENTA LOPES – Député européen

Sandra PEREIRA – Députée européenne

Mislav KOLAKUŠIĆ – Député européen

Kateřina KONEČNÁ – Députée européenne

Marcel KOLAJA – Député européen

Emmanuel MAUREL – Député européen