2012-05-25 Stand up for Julian Assange before it's too late

On May 23, Julian Assange attended a screening of "Shadows of Liberty" wearing a kevlar Guy Fawkes mask.

"This may be my last time in public, so I thought I should start with a situation where you won't be able to see me anymore."

The UK Supreme Court will decide whether or not Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden on May 30, at 9:15AM. The proceedings will be open to the public and will also be live-streamed via the Sky website. The judgment is expected to last around 10 minutes.

If the court rules to extradite Mr Assange, he will be sent to Sweden within 10 days. He can appeal further to the European Court of Human Rights, though this will not stop his extradition.

Julian Assange has not been charged with any crime in any country, yet he will have spent 540 days detained—10 in solitary confinement, and 530 under house arrest—by the time the verdict is handed down. Sweden is trying to extradite him for the purpose of questioning, but they have refused all offers to question him via telephone or video call, despite it being a completely legal method under Swedish law.

If extradited to Sweden, Mr Assange will be immediately placed in prison, incommunicado. He will be held in solitary confinement, which the UN Rapporteur on Torture stated amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in excess of 15 days. Since Sweden does not have a bail system, he will be held for an indefinite period of time. If charged, the following trial would be held in secret.

Julian Assange also faces the risk of being further extradited to the United States. Sweden has a "temporary surrender" mechanism in their extradition treaty with the U.S. which sidesteps traditional extradition safeguards. Sweden has not refused an extradition request by the U.S. since 2000.

It must be noted that Mr Assange is still at risk for U.S. extradition even if he is not sent to Sweden. Emails from the intelligence company Stratfor revealed that the U.S. has a sealed indictment against Julian Assange, and a secret grand jury on WikiLeaks has been active in the U.S. since September 2010. Both the UK and Sweden have refused to guarantee they will not extradite him to the U.S.

WikiLeaks is a non-profit organization created to help the people. As stated on their website, "Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public." Julian Assange's work with WikiLeaks has always been for the benefit of the people, not himself. It is time for the people to stand up for him.

"I think all of us are at our best when we are pursuing an ideal that we find to be important to ourselves and important to others. I feel that I have made my days count, so I certainly would not want to exchange days that can be counted for days that cannot." - Julian Assange

How You Can Help:

Donate

Julian Assange is faced with hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, despite never having faced any charges. There are many ways you can donate to his legal fund:

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

Rally

Supporters will be at the UK Supreme Court on May 30, starting at 8:00AM (set up at 7:30AM). You can find out more about this event at the Veterans for Peace UK website.

Rallies are planned all over the world to support Julian Assange on May 30 and 31. See our list of rallies and attend one near you. If there isn't one in your area, establish your own and contact us with the information so we can add it to the main list. If you are near an Occupy movement, it is a good place to find people who can assist in organizing a support event.

Many of the rallies are planned at Australian Embassies and consulates around the world, a list of which is available at the DFAT website.

Build Community

Join Friends of WikiLeaks, a social network created to help build connections between people with similar causes.

There are many Friends of WikiLeaks groups around the world, which are organized by supporters who are ready and willing to assist you. Contact your local FoWL group for information on how you can help support WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. If there isn't a FoWL for your area, think about creating one yourself.

Spread the Facts

People must be informed about the injustices Julian Assange has faced, and the ones he could potentially face in the future. It is vital to spread the facts to the public.

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.

Contact your local news agency and implore them to do an interview with you or a story on the case.

Ask your political representatives to speak out for Mr Assange. For Australians, there is a list of politicians, ranking them on their overall support for WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. For those in the UK, there is an excellent open letter you can send to your MP. This is one method that could actually prevent the extradition of Mr Assange, as many UK MPs are fighting hard for extradition reform.

There are many good sources for the hard faces 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

Be Creative

The possibilities are endless. Everyone has their own unique skills and abilities. Think of how you can apply your personal expertise to help Julian Assange.