Free Assange! End the Wars! Public Meeting 9 July
sub | 27.06.2011 08:04 | Anti-militarism | Repression | Terror War
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, is appealing against a ruling that he should be extradited to Sweden over alleged sexual offences, where he would face a secret trial held behind closed doors. Once there, he would likely be extradited to the US to face charges in relation to his WikiLeaks activities. In a letter to the Guardian on the subject of Sweden's extradition request, Katrin Axelsson of Women Against Rape wrote: "There is a long tradition of the use of rape and sexual assault for political agendas that have nothing to do with women's safety... Women don't take kindly to our demand for safety being misused, while rape continues to be neglected at best or protected at worst" [The Guardian, 8 December 2010].
See also this article which examines the coverage of the story in the Swedish media:
http://ferrada-noli.blogspot.com/2011/02/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html
Back in the US, a Grand Jury has been convened around the WikiLeaks disclosures and is busy issuing subpoenas which require witnesses to answer the Jury's questions or face jail themselves. Bradley Manning still languishes in a US military jail, held in detention for over a year, for most of that time under conditions of torture, and facing charges which could carry the Death Penalty.
Persecuting and attempting to silence whistle-blowers is nothing new, witness Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers) and Mordechai Vanunu (Israel's nuclear weapons programme) for example.
PUBLIC MEETING
Saturday 9 July from 2pm
Giuseppe Conlon House
49 Mattison Road, Harringay, London N4 1BG
For more info, contact ciaronx[at]yahoo.com or call 079 392 90576
FREE ENTRY. ALL WELCOME.
Public Meeting 3pm.
BYO drinks and food to share from 2pm.
Stay afterwards for networking and socialising until 7pm.
Free Assange!
Free Manning!
End the Wars!
See also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhOYVuhM8oA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGb9pqcz3_Y
sub
e-mail:
wiseupforbm[at]yahoo.com