the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson
the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland QC
the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Dominic Raab
the Home Secretary Priti Patel
March 2021
Dear Prime Minister,
Dear Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice,
Dear Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
Dear Home Secretary,
After countless demonstrations of solidarity with Julian Assange, a diversity of communiqués expressing outrage, concern, dismay at the dangerous and illegal extradition trial that took place against him in London, which his final verdict was will be public on January 4, 2021; we want to resume the words of June 8, 2020 that Minister of State Ahmad of Wimbledon pronounced in response to a question at the House of Lords, about of journalist protection and freedom of expression in Britain:
′′ Freedom of the press is vital for open societies. Journalists must be able to investigate and report without any undue interference «.
We, the undersigned, subscribe to this judgment and express our collective concern about violations of fundamental human, civil and political rights against Mr Julian Assange, who has been a tireless journalist, essential editor and important intellectual who has given to humanity a priceless job to promote global justice.
Wikileaks has been a banner of inspiration for social movements fighting for truth and justice throughout the orb, as the information it has spread shows only one point of the injustices that the powerful have violated against the weakest and most unprotected all over the planet, it has revealed the countless misdeeds of multiple governments, from money laundering to corruption cases in countries like Iceland, Mexico or Namibia, to mention a few randomly. Although Julian Assange has been internationally awarded and awarded for defending human rights, it was only until Wikileaks revealed crimes committed by the US government of North America that began to be treated as a criminal and terrorist.
The US government has accused Mr Assange on 18 legal counts for obtaining, possessing, conspiring to publish and publishing classified information. This is the first time charges have been filed for the publication of reliable information in the public interest, which represents a dangerous precedent for criminalizing journalistic sources of communication and the publication of classified information, despite the journalistic interest in information and its complete indifference to public law thereof. In June 2020, the DOJ issued a second indictment replacement against Assange, expanding conspiracy charges for committing computational intrusion. This selective accusation employs a misleading narrative in trying to show the actions of Mr. Julian Assange as vile and conspirators, instead of the general interest we all know led him to publish such classified documents.
The charges of him bring with him a possible maximum sentence of 175 years in prison, so sending him to the United States of America is equal to a death sentence. Faced with this bleak scenario, we call for action in accordance with international, human rights and the rule of law laws to end the extradition procedure and finally assure Mr Assange his long delay of his inalienable right to freedom.
Potential extradition to North America has high degrees of illegality as it risks being put to an unfair trial as it would face the Eastern District of Virginia ′′Espionage Court′′ which until now no national defender has been successful, as it would face a secret procedure before a jury chosen from among a population selected for work or being linked to the CIA, NSA, DOOD or DOS. Similarly, the legal right of Mr. Julian Assange, enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and long recognized under the English Common Law, has been severely violated by constant audio and video surveillance of the Ecuadorian embassy conducted by a Spanish security firm, UC Global, which has recorded all the talks and meetings of Mr Assange, including those with his lawyers.
These recordings can be used to charge him with a possible extradition, which would represent a serious breach of fundamental rights to a fair trial, guaranteed under Article 6 ECHR and the right to due process under the US Constitution from North America. The United Nations Model Extradition Treaty prohibits extradition if the person has not received, or would not receive, minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings as enshrined in Article 14 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.
Likewise, the political nature of the crime prohibits extradition, as charges charged in the US. USA. are underpinned by the Espionage Act 1917, which alone reveals the outdated and political nature of the charges. Furthermore, if we take into account the Treaty on Extradition between the United Kingdom and the United States of North America, which states that the requirements for a request for extradition specifically prohibits political offenses in Article 4, combined with the international consensus that political crime does not they must be the basis for extradition, as stated in Article 3 of the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 3 (a) of the Model Treaty of Extradition, Interpol Constitution, and all the treaties ratified by the United States of North America for more than a century.
It is important to mention the report of the United Nations Special Session on Torture, Professor Nils Melzer, that on 9 and 10 May 2019, together with two medical experts specialized in examining potential victims of torture and ill-treatment , visited Mr. Julian Assange at Belmarsh Prison finding him with ′′ all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic anxiety and intense psychological trauma «, the report concluded that ′′ Mr. Assange has been deliberately exposed, for a period of several years, to persistent and progressively severe forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment…», and the speaker condemned ′′ in the strongest terms, the deliberate, concerted and sustained nature of the abuse inflicted».
In short, Mr Julian Assange has been subject to an arbitrary detention, oppressive isolation, harassment and surveillance, since 2012 when he was with asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London until January 1, 2021 in prison from Belmarsh. More so, being in this prison amid the coronavirus pandemic, knowing that a prisoner has died and that contagion among prisoners has spread, his life is put in grave danger by his weak physical condition exacerbated by so many years of lockdown and lung problems.
For all the reasons outlined above, we respectfully request that the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland stop the extradition process against Mr. Julian Assange and secure his immediate release.
“Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love.» – Julian Assange –
Yours Sincerely,
Eva García Moreno. Biologist, Alicante, Spain.
Michael Roberts. Economist, Southampton, UK.
Ana Gracián. Teacher, Mexico City.
Víctor M. Toledo. Biologist and Former Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources of México.
Helea Gimeno. Musician, Manchester, UK.
Julio Boltvinik. Doctor of Social Sciences/ CES of El Colegio de México´s research Professor.
Viridiana Martínez Mérida. Political Science Bachelor, Mexico City.
Abelardo Mariña Flores. Doctor in Economics, Mexico City.
Elena Kahn. Mexico
Luis Dapelo. Director of the “Collection Amériques” at Editions Delga, Paris, France.
Omega Vázquez. Journalist and Activist, Morelia, Mexico.
Reginaldo Sandoval Flores. Parliamentary Coordinator of the PT in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies.
Judith Urgeles. Catalonia, Spain.
Gerardo Fernández Noroña. Congressman for the Labor Party in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies.
Stella Maris Vélez Fitzgerald. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Walter M. Arellano Torres. Doctor, Master and Professor of Law at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Karen Reissmann. Member of National Executive Council of UNISON, Manchester, UK
Marcos Ubeda. Valladolid, Spain.
Jesús Bello. Researcher of Ancient cultures in Mexico, Apizaco, Mexico.
Rosemary Stephenson. St. Albans, UK
Narciso Barrera Bassols. Querétaro, Mexico.
Serpil Kilic. Manchester, UK.
Angus Moore. Musician, Leeds, UK.
Paola Mompala, Psychologist, Mexico City.
Paul Sewell. Musician, Manchester, UK.
Alejandra Mompala, Mexico City.
Matteo Debernardi. Writer, Milán, Italy.
Kamran Nayeri. California, US
Julio César Bello Mérida. Lawyer Student, Michoacán, Mexico.
Maria Warren. London, UK
Luis Eduardo Sánchez Toscano. Anthropologist, Mexico City.
Bety Tenho. Mexico City.
Kenneth Syme. Cheltenham, UK.
Graciela Canop. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
José Sandoval. Mexico City.
Susana Iriarte-Feller. Paris, France.
Christian Martínez. Journalist, Manchester, UK.
Tamara Campodonico. Argentina.
Jabso Sori. Guadalajara, México.
Blanca Carreño. Argentina.
José Infante, Philosophy student, Mexico City
Rosalva Ascencio Navarro. Zapopan, México.
Juan Toledo, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Roxana Travi. Argentina.
Benjamín Ortíz Espejel. Puebla, Mexico.
Sushovan Dhar. Kolkata, India.
Cristian Ulises Bello Mérida. Economics student, Mexico City.
Penélope Avalos. Mexico.
Terry Obeng-Boateng. Islington, UK.
Rachel Allen. Bournemouth, UK.
Pantiantares Arrigo. Quilmes, Argentina.
Stella Sanderson. Bath, UK.
Luis Roisman. Argentina.
Maggie Stead. Leeds, UK.
Adrián Martínez. Mexico City.
Rita Pirouet. Summerhill, UK.
John Sinclair. UK.
Saeeda James. UK.
Henry Shepherd. Cambridge, UK.
Angela Hedley. Dunsford, UK.
Marc Antony. Ilford, UK.
Janet Bennet. Liverpool, UK.
Kieran Kearns. Derry, UK.
Patricia Palestino. Mexico City.
Neil Ruckman. Barnet, UK.
Theresa Rodway. Bournemouth, UK.
Jeff Moore. Stevenage, UK.
Cath Ford. London, UK.
Trevor Prismall. Great Bedwyn, UK.
Martha Torres. Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Coleen Thomas. London, UK.
Beatriz Funes. Argentina.
Eric Hart. Ilkeston, UK.
María Laura Melocchi. Argentina.
C. Sturgess. Canonbie, UK.
Clarisa Pallaro. Argentina.
Mark Jones. Farnborough, UK.
Graciela Olivieri. Argentina.
José Oscar Ricarte. Argentina.
Lilia Rangel. Zapopan, Mexico.
Peter Finn. Stockport, UK.
Syed Ashraf Hussain Hussain. Barking, UK.
Roberto Peñaloza Rodriguez. Mexico City.
Michael Clark. South Shields, UK.
John Francis. Porstmouth, UK.
Ivor Moody. Shefield, UK.
Steve Hogarth. Evenley, UK.
Paul Muskett. UK.
Esteban Garnica. Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Cesar Angeles. Mexico City.
Nigel Huish. London, UK.
Robert McIver. Glasgow, UK.
Manuel Patiño. Argentina.
Juan Rincón. Guadalupe, Mexico.
Angel Dibi. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ricardo Eluo. La Matanza, Argentina.
Jordan Styles. London, UK.
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