Rally to Demand Britain Free Julian Assange
Tuesday April 16, 4:30-6 pm
625 N. Michigan, outside British Consulate
“Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love.” Julian Assange
Demand Britain free Assange.
We condemn the recent detention of both Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning as a continued effort to cover up the war crimes of the United States.
On April 11th, 2019, Julian Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Having sought refuge for more than seven years in the embassy, he is now slated for extradition to the United States, where he will face a lifetime in prison for publishing and exposing U.S. crimes in Iraq, Latin America, and elsewhere.
On March 8th, Chelsea Manning was seized and is being held indefinitely in contempt of court for refusing to testify to a grand jury. Given Assange’s arrest, it seems clear that she was expected to testify against WikiLeaks, an organization that made headlines by exposing US war crimes in Iraq and elsewhere.
The most recent attacks against Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange are motivated by their courageously exposing Pentagon war crimes.
Julian Assange’s jailing sends a powerful message to all journalists – toe the line, or else.
Chelsea Manning’s most recent detention sends a powerful message to all whistleblowers – keep your mouth shut, or face a lifetime of harassment and imprisonment.
Countless courageous people have actively helped spread the information that has broken through because of WikiLeaks. Chelsea Manning offered all the material she finally sent to WikiLeaks first to the Washington Post and the New York Times. They weren’t interested in the story until the whole world knew of it because of WikiLeaks.
US government is trying to put the truth in chains. It won’t work.
Endorsers: Chicago ALBA Solidarity, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Chicago Anti-War Coalition, Albany Park, North Park, Mayfair Neighbors for Peace and Justice; the March 19th Anti-War Coalition. others
Free Julian Assange!
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s arrest by British authorities on behalf of the US is an attempt by the Pentagon war machine and the national security establishment to silence one of their most prominent critics.
The arrest of Assange not only puts any free press in the US at risk, it also threatens any reporters who expose US crimes in the world. Assange is not a US citizen, he’s an Australian. WikiLeaks is not a US-based media organization. If the US government gets Assange extradited, prosecuted and incarcerated, it will legitimize its right to go after anyone, anywhere, anytime.
The Assange prosecution requires us to build a global movement to not only free Julian Assange, but to protect the world from the crimes and corruption of the United States and other governments. The reality is that Freedom of Press for the 21st Century is on trial.
It is this whistleblowing into illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale, that has put Julian Assange in the crosshairs of the US administration.
Since its founding in 2006, Wikileaks has infuriated U.S. warmakers by helping leak information that had world significance. The “collateral murder” video that showed a U.S. helicopter crew callously gunning down Iraqi civilians in 2007. In July 2010, Wikileaks released 92,000 documents from the years 2004-2009 regarding the war in Afghanistan, “ the Afghan war logs”. In 2010 Wikileaks published hundreds of thousands of U.S. “diplomatic” communications, exposing the actions of officials charged with ensuring US hegemony over the globe.
Corporate media outlets were happy to use the information released by Wikileaks as material for their own reporting. However, many of these very same outlets now slander Julian Assange as a criminal and a spy, once again echoing the talking points of the Pentagon.
The extradition case against Julian Assange is not about computer hacking, as the US is trying to present it, it is about exposing war crimes, corporate corruption of US foreign policy and other violations of law by the US and its allies.
The Assange prosecution is about the criminalization of journalism. The Committee to Protect Journalists writes the Assange prosecution is about “criminalizing normal journalistic activities.” This obvious truth will become more evident as the case proceeds and the movement educates the public and mobilizes support to free Assange.
Contact the British embassy and tell them Britain should free Julian Assange:
625 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 2200 Chicago, IL 60611
Phone:+1-312-970-3800
Fax:+1-312-9703852
ChicagoALBASolidarity@gmail.com
Chicago ALBA Solidarity 