Tag: IALANA Germany

IALANA Germany demands immediate release of Julian Assange

17 August 2023
Joint Appeal from IPPNW and IALANA*

Julian Assange is now facing deportation every day! We demand his immediate release. The German government must speak plainly to President Biden.

In the process by which the US is demanding the extradition of Julian Assange to stand trial under the Espionage Act, legal recourse in the British courts is almost exhausted. The High Court’s de­ci­s­ion on the appeal in the final instance is immi­nent. Should Assange fail here as well, the way would be clear for the British Home Secretary Suella Braverman to fly Assange out to the USA immediately.

Assange’s lawyers can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, but this has no suspensive effect. However, if an additional app­lication for provisional measures under Article 39 of the ECtHR’s Rules of Procedure is success­ful, the ECtHR can provisionally suspend Assan­ge’s extradition to the US in order to ensure effec­tive legal protection through the main proceedings.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Brit­ish government would comply with an order by the ECtHR to suspend the deportation. This is becau­se Minister Bravermann is act­ing in favour of Brit­ain’s withdrawal from the ECHR.

For more than a decade, Assange has sought to avoid extradition to the US, where he faces an un­fair trial, a virtual life sentence and indefinite soli­tary confinement. According to medical examina­tions, Assange shows all the signs of psychologi­cal torture and suffers particularly from solitary con­finement in Belmarsh. If deportation were to oc­cur, there would be an increased risk of suicide. The prospect of never being released and dying in detention would rob Assange of any hope, even if the prison authorities waive additional “supermax standards” and “Special Administrative Measures” (SAMS), which they only promised on appeal on the condition that Assange’s behaviour would not make such measures necessary after all.

The international peace movement and civil soci­ety owe Assange a debt of gratitude: his revela­tions about war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, supported the pressure on the US government to end the war. Assange’s motto: “If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth.”

Great danger also exists for the freedom of the investigative press, should the proceedings agai­n­st Assange continue. While he was vice-presi­dent under Obama, Biden rejected steps against Assange and WikiLeaks because otherwise, in addition to WikiLeaks, five international newspa­pers, including the New York Times, which had also published the secret material leaked by Chel­sea Manning, would also have had to be charged. In November 2022, the five jointly called on the US government to stop prosecuting Assange in an open letter. They stressed: never before had the anti-espionage law been used to put publish­ers or journalists on trial. ” This indictment sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press. Holding governments accountable is part of the core mission of a free press in a demo­cracy. Obtaining and disclosing sensitive informa­tion when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists. If that work is criminalised, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.” 

Despite widespread international protests from human rights groups and journalist organisations, most recently including the Australian government, the US government under President Biden is showing itself intransigent and continuing Trump’s line.

Annalena Baerbock is now particularly in the spotlight, as she demanded the immediate release of Assange before the change of government, citing “serious violations” of “fundamental freedoms under the European Convention on Human Rights”. Where is her usual strong protest against this massive attack on press freedom?

We call on the German government, for the sake of press freedom and to save the journalist Assange, who was unjustly prosecuted for publishing information leaked to him, to protest in clear terms to US President Biden against the threatened extradition and to demand the end of the criminal proceedings against Assange.

*The appeal is supported by the German chapters of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW Germany) and International Association Of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA Germany).

IALANA Germany Signatory Appeal: Join the TPNW – Stop Germany’s Nuclear Armament

 
We hereby address you and all members of the Federal Government as well as the members of the German Bundestag with an urgent appeal: 
 
Sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons! 
 
Stop the deployment of the new US American B 61-12 atomic bombs at the German Air Force base in Büchel and the resulting new dangerous nuclear armament on German soil! 
 
Refrain from the planned acquisition of 45 US American F 18 fighter jets as nuclear weapon carriers for the Tactical Air Force Wing 33 of the Bundeswehr!
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