Hundreds demonstrate in support of Julian Assange in Brussels

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated this weekend, outside the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in support of Julian Assange. 

The demonstrators called on the United Kingdom to come back on its decision to extradite Assange to the United States, where he could face a 175-year prison term.

“What is happening to Julian Assange is an attack against freedom of the press,” Marie-France Deprez of the Comité Free Assange Belgium said.

Assange is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. It came to international attention in 2010 when Wikileaks published a series of secret documents provided by an U.S. Army intelligence analyst on Iraq and Afghanistan wars. 

US authorities consider Assange responsible for the deaths of informers for the US Armed Forces.

“We wish to press the European Union and European countries into taking action in support of Julian Assange,” Deprez said. She argued that if US President Joe Biden is sincere when he says he wants to defend press freedom, he needs to stop the case against Assange.

“If journalists like Julian Assange highlight abuses, it’s the abuses that should be on trial, not the journalists,” she stressed.

Deprez said the supporters are not losing hope. "The British Home Secretary has not yet signed the extradition order and Julian Assange's lawyers are still preparing an appeal," she remarked.

(VIV)

© BELGA PHOTO (JOHN THYS / AFP) Demonstration in support of Assange in Brussels on April 23, 2022.