Organised by Greg Hadfield the well attended event took place on Thursday, February 6, at the Rialto Theatre, Brighton. John Shipton and Joseph Farrell informed the audience of Julian Assange’s struggle for freedom, the importance of WikiLeaks in Press Freedom in the UK and what we can do to help. The news of the event were spread by Alison Mason and WikiLeaks supporters and long campaigners for Julian Assange’s freedom travelled from London to Brighton, distributed flyers and brought their beautiful banners.
A handful of places remain for tonight: https://t.co/9njdFML65m. Register now to be sure of a seat, to hear Julian Assange's father John Shipton and Wikileaks ambassador Joseph Farrell, at 7.30pm at @Rialto_Brighton. Free admission; doors open at 7pm. #FreeSpeech #FreeAssange pic.twitter.com/ls0IFx8tYA
— Greg Hadfield (@GregHadfield) February 6, 2020
From the event’s EventBrite invite:
Julian Assange is languishing in solitary confinement in HM Prison Belmarsh, a Category A prison known as the British version of Guantanamo Bay when – in 2001 and 2002 – it was used to detain a number of people indefinitely without charge or trial under antiterrorism legislation.
Julian was due to be released in September last year, after completing his sentence for breach of bail conditions. But a judge ordered his status in jail should change – “from a serving prisoner to a person facing extradition.”
Amnesty International UK has warned there are “real risks of serious human rights violations” if he is extradited.
The charges brought against him in the US include “computer misuse” and the “unauthorised disclosure of national defence information”.
In truth, his gravest offence was to expose the truth about American war crimes and appalling abuses of state and corporate power. He should be celebrated, not incarcerated.
Instead, Julian faces a sentence of up to 175 years in captivity.
Jeremy Corbyn has said any attempt to extradite Julian should be opposed by the British government.
Meanwhile, veteran journalist John Pilger has described the conditions in which Julian is held in Belmarsh as “barbaric”.
Many thanks for all who attended and here is a photo from the event curtesy of Wendy Higazy.