“It’s hard not to draw a line between the U.S. government crossing the Rubicon and the current cold climate for free expression.” Washington as Julius Caesar. Just as the Roman general crossed the river, forever changing the history of what would later become an empire, so the United States has crossed that symbolic border which would establish its desire to “criminalize journalism on an international level”.
It’s the j’accuse launched by Julian Assange who today, October 1st, spoke at the Council of Europe. Today was the first public outing of the founder of WikiLeaks, after 14 years of detention and isolation which the activist served first in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as a political refugee and then as a prisoner in the British high security Belmarsh prison awaiting of extradition to the USA.
Assange, who is the activist who has pilloried the United States
Assange had been accused by the US government of conspiracy, following the release of secret military documents regarding war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The long judicial dispute ended with a plea bargain and his guilty plea, but since the sentence imposed coincided with the prison time Assange had already served, he was freed again in June.
For free journalism in Europe
The testimony that Assange reported before the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Commission of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (which, let us remember, is not an EU institution) is linked to the report prepared by the Icelandic socialist Thorhildur Sunna Aevarsdottir, which the assembly will discuss and will vote tomorrow, on his detention and conviction and the deterrent and self-censoring effect it has had on all journalists, editors and others reporting on matters essential to the functioning of a democratic society.
“If Europe wants to have a future in which freedom of speech and the freedom to publish the truth are not privileges reserved for the few but rights guaranteed to all, then it must act so that what happened in my case never happens to anyone else”, underlined Assange, asking everyone to do their part “to ensure that the light of freedom never fades, that the search for truth lives on and that the voices of many are not silenced by interests of a few”.
In his speech, Assange argued that Europeans would be forced to “obey US espionage law.” His case, the Australian activist explained, opened the door to the possibility that any large state could prosecute journalists in Europe. “Freedom of expression and all that goes with it are at a dark crossroads. I fear that unless standard-setting institutions like the Council of Europe wake up to the gravity of the situation, it will be too late,” he said. then warned.
The attack on Washington
“I chose freedom over the impossibility of obtaining justice. I want to be totally clear. I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today because after years in prison I pleaded guilty to journalism, guilty to seeking information, guilty to obtained information and I pleaded guilty to informing the public,” he added. For Assange the fundamental issue is simple: “Journalists should not be prosecuted for carrying out their work. Journalism is not a crime. It is a pillar of a free and informed society.”
