If Julian Falls, Journalism Falls, Assange’s Father Warns La Jornada
go to original September 16, 2022

What is at stake in the U.S. government's court case against WikiLeaks editor and founder Julian Assange, who risks up to 175 years in maximum security prison for having revealed secret documents on war crimes, is freedom of expression. John Shipton, his father, sums it up: "If Julian goes down, journalism goes down. That's right."

Shipton and his son Gabriel, Assange's half-brother, have thrown themselves and a hundred lawyers, including Julian's wife, Stella Morris, into an uphill legal battle, now in its twelfth year, to stop the intention of two of the most powerful judicial apparatuses, the British and the American, to silence him forever.

For the past four days they have been in Mexico, with a busy schedule, at the invitation of President Andres Manuel Lopez Orador, "Amlou", as the two Australians familiarly call him. The Mexican is the first ruler in the world to openly pronounce himself in defense of Assange and to offer political asylum. He did so officially in June, in a letter, still unanswered, to President Joe Biden.

The Shiptons describe AMLO as an icebreaker. And they express their hope that his example will echo in other Latin American countries. They look with particular anticipation to Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Gabriel Boric in Chile. Both embark frequently - four times in the last two months alone - on grueling flights of more than 25 hours from Sydney to London, to be as close as possible to the journalist imprisoned in Belmarsh, Britain's maximum security prison. Now they have crossed the Atlantic to be heard in our country.

Read the rest at NoticiasPV

Related: WikiLeaks Founder's Family Brings Campaign to Mexico (Associated Press)

Related: Assange Family Accepts Keys to Mexico City (xxx)

This article was translated from Spanish using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.

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