From Guantanamo to Belmarsh, the story of imprisonment
Moderated by filmmaker Suzie Gilbert, join Stella Moris, Julian Assange's partner and Mohamedou Ould Slahi, whose story of imprisonment in Guantanamo was recently told in the film The Mauritanian.
“Because crime is something relative; it’s something the government defines and re-defines whenever it pleases. The majority of people don’t know, really, where the line is that separates breaking the law from not breaking it.”
― Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Guantánamo Diary
"Julian Assange should be at home with his family. The prison guards know it, the prisoners know it, everyone tells him: 'You shouldn't be here. And the UK Government knows it. This is intolerable and it has to be brought to an end."
― Stella Moris, Julian Assange's partner
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
6:30pm BST
1:30pm EDT
Threats to the freedom of the press in 21st century
All major press freedom, civil liberties, and international human rights advocacy organizations oppose the prosecution of Julian Assange with concern that it poses a grave threat to press freedom both in the United States and abroad, saying that the 'indictment aims at the Heart of the First Amendment.'
As CJR said, 'if the UK grants the request to deliver Assange to the US, British prosecutors could make similar arguments in an effort to extradite a journalist in the US for violations of the UK’s Official Secrets Act, which explicitly criminalizes the publication of leaked military or intelligence information.'
Julian Assange faces 175 years in prison for the same reason he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, for the 2010 publications for which WikiLeaks won the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, and for which Assange won the Sydney Peace Prize.
Join this discussion on why the prosecution of Julian Assange is dangerous for investigative journalism and why we have to defend our rights to know.
On the panel:
Chamira Gamage - Amnesty International Australia;
Jen Robinson - Julian Assange's Lawyer;
Scott Ludlam - Former Australian Senator
Moderator:
Mary Kostakidis - Australian journalist
UK Time - Jul 2, 2021 11:00am BST
Aus Time - July 2, 2021 8:00pm AEST