"Europe, Justice & Press Freedom: The Case of Julian Assange"

The ´EU Free Assange Rally´ on the 23rd of April 2022 in Brussels is the major event this year to help #FreeAssange and to make clear that #JournalimsIsNotACrime.

The Rally will take place at central Place de la Monnaie and is organized by the activist organization ´Free Assange Wave´ and supported by major organizations such as ´Don´t Extradite Assange´, ´Reporters Sans Frontiers´, ´Amnesty International´ & the ´International Federation of Journalists´ who will be at the rally, together with speakers such as Stella Moris, Jeremy Corbyn, Ögmundur Jónasson (former Icelandic Minister of Justice and Human Rights), Joseph Farrell & Dr. Deepa Driver. They will take the floor to denounce how the cowardly silence about what is happening to Assange is nothing less than a betrayal of the values upon which modern Europe was built and that inspire Western democratic Constitutions. The world-famous ´Chicks on Speed´ Music Ensemble will give a free Open-Air Concert with songs composed for Julian Assange. The artist group ´Captain Borderline´ will be drawing a ´Collateral Crucifixion´. Also, in the evening there will be the screening of Clara Lopez and Juan Pancorbo's film 'Hacking Justice' on the story of Assange's decade-long struggle to avoid political persecution and deportation to the US in retaliation for his publishing activities, and the bookstore Tropismes will host a stall with Nils Melzer´s book ´The Trial of Julian Assange´ and several whistleblowers’ books.
The “EU Free Assange Rally” will be a massive event that European and American leaders will have to reckon with. In the end, it's about our right to know , which is the foundation of press freedom and democracy, so please join us in Brussels

We, the people, stand by Assange and believe the EU has both the power and the duty to also take a stand for him. If European leaders have mostly remained silent, we will make our voices heard.
Because despite not serving a sentence, the WikiLeaks founder remains incarcerated at Belmarsh, the UK max security prison known as “the British Guantanamo”, away from his partner and their two young children, while fighting extradition to a country whose intelligence agency drew plans to either kidnap or assassinate him after WikiLeaks published Vault 7, a set of documents showing how the CIA can target smartphones and turn them into spying devices.

Other memorable events will prepare the way for this Rally:
- On 24th March at 7.30 pm (CET) a webinar hosted by ´Don't Extradite Assange´ is going to give a taster with some of the speakers and artists for what to expect in this exciting people´s movement
- On Friday 22nd April at 7.30 pm (CET) the Free University Brussels (ULB) will host a lecture from Dr Deepa Driver and Chistophe Marchand to encourage the participation of students in the rally.

All of this is meant to be a call to action to all European citizens as well as a reminder that it is our leaders who are increasingly put on trial by this historical case. Their reaction to this international rally and to our demand for justice for Assange will tell what side of history our current leaders choose to be on. Because, in the end, "we are all Assange."