Julian Assange is back!

Julian Assange testified to the Council of Europe which has investigated his unjust imprisonment's effect on human rights, journalists and whistleblowers.

In the morning of October 1, Julian Assange testified to a hearing of the Council of Europe. This was his first statement since his release from Belmarsh Prison.

He looked much healthier but unnaturally older.

He was accompanied by Stella Assange, his wonderfully impossible-to-subdue wife.

JULIAN ASSANGE’S TESTIMONY

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The Council of Europe is not part of the EU. It is responsible for the European Court of Human Rights which judges infringements of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It is not a policing body but can pursue legal action using the national laws of its 46 member states.

Assange’s testimony is prelude to tomorrow’s debate by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Thereafter, there will be a vote on the draft resolution which was submitted despite the UK dissenting.

Summarising the draft, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights states that it:

“…observed that Mr Assange was punished, essentially, for engaging in acts of journalism.

It expressed its concern that this disproportionately harsh treatment creates a dangerous chilling effect and a climate of self-censorship affecting all journalists, publishers and others reporting matters essential for the functioning of a democratic society.

The committee proposed several measures to reverse this trend. These include a call for reform of the US Espionage Act and offering better protection to whistle-blowers.

I previously stated that:

The persecution of Julian Assange is a visceral example of the length monsters will go to scare or destroy one of us who refuses to be servant to corrupt power.

We cannot live in a world where most of us think that the only option is to turn the other cheek or bury our eyes in the sand of the false reality created for us.

If you share that belief, then realise that the terrible things done to Julian are happening to us, and are war crimes against our better future.

We are all Julian Assange!

COUNCIL OF EUROPE PRESS STATEMENT

Julian Assange is taking part in a parliamentary hearing in Strasbourg on Tuesday 1 October 2024 on his detention and conviction and their chilling effect on human rights, ahead of a full plenary debate on the subject by the Parliamentary Assembly the following day. Both events will be broadcast live.

The hearing is organised by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in the framework of a report on this topic by Thorhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC). In a recent draft resolution, based on her report, the committee expressed deep concern at Mr Assange’s harsh treatment, warned of its “chilling effect” and called on the United States, a Council of Europe observer state, to investigate the alleged war crimes and human rights violations disclosed by him and Wikileaks.

The committee said it considers that the “disproportionately severe charges” brought against him by the US authorities, as well as the heavy penalties foreseen under the Espionage Act for engaging in acts of journalism, fall within the requirements set out in a 2012 Assembly resolution on the definition of a political prisoner.