2012-06-07 Renewed call to support Julian Assange

On May 30, the UK Supreme Court ruled in favor of Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden, five to two. But Mr Assange's lawyer Dinah Rose QC - as an act of quick thinking which earned her The Guardian's "star of the week" - raised a point which was able to delay his extradition and potentially reopen the case as a whole. Since the decision was based on interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties - something not brought up during the February proceedings - Ms Rose argued that the defence hadn't the chance to properly contest the point.

Mr Assange's legal team has until June 13 to make an application on this matter. The Supreme Court will then decide whether or not to reopen the case. If reopened, the court will accept more submissions, either in document form or via further hearings. If not, the ruling will stand and Mr Assange will be extradited to Sweden within 10 days.

Julian Assange has spent over 550 days in detainment without charge. Sweden wishes to extradite him solely for the purpose of questioning, yet denies all offers to question him in the UK, despite it being completely legal to do so.

His battle is far from over and people around the world must continue to stand up and support him.

For further reading see Per E Samuelson's "Julian Assange's concerns are justified" (English translation here) and WSWS's "Defend Julian Assange".

How you can help:

Join Friends of WikiLeaks, the social networking website designed to bring people who share the missions and values of WikiLeaks.

Donate:

jadonate

Julian Assange is faced with hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Alongside the unlawful financial blockade of WikiLeaks, his own personal bank accounts have been frozen. Donating to his legal fund is simple and can be done in a variety of ways:

  • PayPal
  • Credit Card
  • Cash/Cheque
  • Bank Transfer

Spread the facts:

After all this time, many newspapers still fail to grasp the basic facts of Julian Assange's case. Mr Assange made a submission to the Leveson Inquiry solely based on the innumerable times newspapers have falsely stated he has been charged.

SomersetBean has created many high-quality posters with facts and information about the case against Julian Assange, which are all available at his blog. Print them out and hang them in your city, or use them as placards during rallies.

There are many good sources for the hard facts of the case:

Justice for Assange
UK Supreme Court Agreed Facts of the Assange Case
Jennifer Robinson's Briefing to Canberra MPs re Julian Assange
Christine Assange's Talking Points
Common Misconceptions of the Assange Case

Contact your politicians:

For UK citizens, it is vital to contact your MPs, as they could potentially stop the extradition of Julian Assange if the Supreme Court upholds its ruling. Justice for Assange has posted a form letter addressing PM David Cameron regarding extradition reform, which they encourage supporters to send.

For Australian citizens, OzWikiWatch ranks politicians' support of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange based on public statements they have made. Those who have spoken favorably should be encouraged to go further and bring the matter to their colleagues.

Justice for Assange has further information on action that can be taken by citizens around the world.

Organize events:

Rallies took place worldwide after the Supreme Court handed down the verdict in Julian Assange's case. Australia saw speakers like former Guantanamo prisoner David Hicks coming out to support Mr Assange.

Rallies are a great way to bring supporters together and spread a message to the unaware.

To organize a rally, think about contacting a local Occupy movement or getting in touch with your Friends of WikiLeaks group, which span over 20 countries.

Supporters in the UK are planning a support event on June 13.

Get creative:

Every supporter has their own unique skills. Take your specialty and think how it can be applied to support Julian Assange.

The possibilities are endless!

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