Julian Assange protest: Pink Floyd singer & Vivienne Westwood demand Wikileaks chief freed
HUNDREDS of Julian Assange supporters have gathered outside the Australia High Commission in London protesting against the extradition and demanding that he be released.
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Amongst the crowds of protesters outside Australia House were people of all ages holding signs such as "Don't extradite Assange - journalism is not a crime". Crowds of Assange's supporters chanted "Boris Johnson shame on you", outside Downing Street. Media students have also joined the protest with some holding banners saying "journalism is not a crime", while others have brandished posters mocking the Prime Minister.
The demonstration halted traffic in Westminster with speeches by prominent supporters held this afternoon.
Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood is one of them, along with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor in chief of WikiLeaks, also addressed the crowds and said they were all opposing a "dark force".
The demonstration has halted traffic in Westminster with speeches by prominent supporters still to come.
Vivienne Westwood is one of them, along with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor in chief of WikiLeaks, also addressed the crowds and said they were all opposing a "dark force".
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He said: "We must stop this force. This is not about left or right in politics, we can unite on this, it is a dark force against (those) who want justice transparency and truth."
Mr Hrafnsson urged the crowd to tell "everybody to fight for Assange."
A spokesman from the National Union of Journalists said: "This is beginning to feel like a movement.
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"I am here today representing the NUJ in Britain and Ireland...Our need to speak out is because of the profound danger to free speech."
Speaking after the NUJ spokesman, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood arrived on stage wearing a halo with Assange's name on it, and said: "I am the angel of democracy".
She added his supporters should "break the wall for justice" and demanded Assange be freed.
Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters up now and says Julian Assange is a “name to be carved with pride into any monument of human progress” adds the crowd here are part of a new “global enlightenment”. pic.twitter.com/Ne4oj9BlCo
— Rob Powell (@robpowellnews) February 22, 2020
Sinthia Surace, 22, whose family fled the Sri Lanka civil war, said: "It took a lot of brave people to expose all the crimes impacting my community directly. That's why I care about voices like Julian.
"I don't believe we should be punishing him for the wrong doings of the US government. He always says privacy for the citizen but transparency for the government, especially when it comes to human lives."
Ms Surace said she believes "all the protesting and banging on HMP Belmarsh's doors" will make a difference for Assange.
It comes as US President Donald Trump offered to pardon Assange if he said Russia had nothing to do with the publication of Democratic Party emails in 2016, a court has heard.
Assange appeared by videolink from Belmarsh Prison in south London as lawyers discussed next week’s hearing to decide whether he should be extradited to the US to face spying and cybercrime charges.
His barrister Edward Fitzgerald claimed former Republican US Representative Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange in 2017, saying he had been sent by the president to offer a pardon.
Mr Rohrabacher rejected this.
The pardon would come on the condition that Assange testify the Russians were not involved in the email leak that damaged Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016 against Trump, according to Mr Rohrabacher’s statement.
White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham denied the offer was ever made.
Assange, 48, who spent seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy before he was dragged out last April, is wanted in the US on 18 counts including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law.
He could spend decades behind bars if convicted.
The full extradition hearing will be split in two parts with the second half delayed until May.