When I recently spoke to Christine Assange, I realised how passionate she is about truth, justice and a fair go for all. Her son is the Robin Hood of our times, taking information from the rich and giving it to the poor (from the 1% to the 99%).
Award-winning journalist and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange has long been a member of the Australian journalist union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).
The union has supported WikiLeaks’ right to publish leaked information. In December 2010, the MEAA’s Louise O’Conor said: “WikiLeaks is not the leaker of these cables, nor is it a whistleblower, it is an online publisher representing the new media.”
Christine Assange is well informed about the machinations afoot to stop Julian’s work as a facilitator of real information news. WikiLeaks started in 2006, releasing documents sent by whistleblowers from around the world.
WikiLeaks is the perfect framework for such truths to become known by everyone. Julian has been in the right place at the right time, brave enough and smart enough to do the work.
Despite the ongoing attempts from the US government to persecute him, Julian Assange has won many awards for journalism and peace.
Christine told me that one particular award Julian has received is not widely known. “In 2010 he was given The Sam Adams Award for Integrity, given annually by the Sam Adams Associates (retired CIA officers & senior US military) to an intelligence professional who has taken a stand for integrity and ethics. The award was given unanimously.”
She said she has been frustrated with many of her media interviews, which have focused on the story that she “fears for my son’s life and such like, with out any real reporting on the real facts of the case at hand”.
She said there are a “few notable exceptions, [such as] Green Left Weekly recently (in November) and a couple of other [interviews] elsewhere since”.
She told me there is one website, justice4assange.com, that she wants “every journalist to look at and read, as it offers plenty of extradition facts, background issues and resources.
“For example, the media keep saying ‘Julian faces charges in Sweden’, yet the facts are that Julian has never been charged with anything.
“The European Arrest Warrant was issued for questioning only, despite the fact that while in Sweden, prosecutor Marianne Ny refused all Julian’s offers to be interviewed and gave him permission to leave the country on September 15, then refused his offer to fly back on October 10.
“For the 14 months he’s been under house arrest. [Ny] has refused all his offers to be interviewed by phone or skype, or in person at either the Swedish embassy in London or Scotland Yard. Many believe this is because the Swedish case is merely a holding case for US extradition.”
She also said there are many ways people can support Julian.
“You may think you are only one person and powerless to help Julian, however your federal MP wants your one vote more than anything else in the world. That is a lot of personal power. Together we are strong.
Get informed
“I’m asking people to read Jennifer Robinsons’s legal brief to Canberra MPs, which is a on the background of the extradition case. It’s an easy-to-read, politically intriguing, concise, factual narrative. It gives a good grasp of my grave concerns for Julian.”
Contact your federal MP
“Armed with the facts from Robinson’s brief, write a short letter voicing your concerns using the points raised and provide the link. Make an appointment with your federal MP to discuss your concerns and give them your letter. Ask for a non-form letter reply with their response regarding Robinson’s brief, as it advises the government on what it should do regarding Julian and protecting him from extradition.
“Let them know your vote depends on their support for Julian and a free press. Let them know their reply will be sent to http://ozwikiwatch.blogspot.com.au/ (the link also has all Federal contact details). Send copies of your letter to your MPs, party leaders and the Attorney General.”
Spread the word
“Having understood the facts, counteract media smear and political spin with facts: call talkback radio, write letters to the editor, make comments on articles, use social media, get talking to friends, family and work colleagues.”
Donate for Justice
“Julian Assange’s defence fund has many product options http://wikileaks.org/ or just donate. Every dollar counts as Julian’s court cases are very expensive.”
Contact others
“Contact a WikiLeaks or Julian Assange support group in your area (some of which are listed at http://wikileaks.org/).
“I am really frustrated and furious that the media keep getting it wrong, now is the time to change all that by telling everybody the truth. Please share, email and twitter this article below to everyone you can. With spectre of a US extradition looming … this is now D-Day for Julian as he could be in a US prison with in six weeks.”
Some other resources
• Follow Christine on twitter sites @AssangeC. Also follow the hashtags #assangeFACTS and the profiles @WL_Central_Live and @wikileaksnews.
• Read the leaked US embassy cable on Julia Gillard
www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09CANBERRA545&q=gillard
• Former Australian diplomat Tony Kevin: “Julian is in clear and present danger”
www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=29449
• Karl Rove, the disgraced former adviser to George W Bush, is an advisor to Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kreig/rove-suspected-in-swedish_b_798737.html and www.counterpunch.org/2002/11/01/exposing-karl-rove/
• Naomi Wolf, well known US feminist writes on the sexual assault allegations in the Assange case. Visit www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/jaccuse-sweden-britain-an_b_795899.html and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/post_1435_b_797188.html
• Also visit John Pilger’s site http://johnpilger.com/articles (type Assange in
search box) and http://wlcentral.org/search/node/assange.
What happens to Julian Assange has great ramifications for us all. It is not only in his best interests that he is allowed to live his own life freely. If he can't then none of us can, because we will have fully moved into an Orwellian world of Newspeak, Doublethink and Thoughtcrime.
[Ian Rose is a member of the Support Assange & WikiLeaks Coalition in Sydney. Christine Assange will speak at a February 17 public forum in Sydney titled WikiLeaks, Assange and Democracy. See details below or visit the event Facebook page.]
Public Forum: WikiLeaks, Assange and Democracy
Mary Kostakidis, Chair
Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens Senator
Christine Assange, Mother of Julian Assange
Humphrey McQueen, Historian Australian National University
Friday 17 February, 6:00pm for 6.30 start
University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney
Building 2 (via tower Bldg) Entrance Level 4, Room 13
Entry by Donation
For more information: Anne 0404 090 710 / Helen 0413 381 408
