Petition

Public Campaign to support Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London on May 1, 2019, before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. - A British judge on Wednesday sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. Assange took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden and was only arrested last month after Ecuador withdrew his asylum status. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)
© Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP

„I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It“ Voltaire – French philosopher of enlightenment

It has been 30 years ago, here in Leipzig a spark ignited which spread throughout the country for protest movement. Against suppression and for liberty. A claim for an open society in which anybody is allowed to express her and his opinion.

Today Mr. Julian Assange is detained in a British maximum security prison, since he is accused by the United States for espionage and breach of secrecy. But is it really about that, if there could’nt be shown neither any evidence nor proof for this indictment? Or is it more likely of trying to make an exempel on him, to send a warning to prevent followers?

The video “Collateral Murder”, which was published by Assange, is spread all around the world. It shows an US-Apache combat helicopter in the last Iraq invasion, firing deadly shots at unarmed civilians and eventually at people rushing to help them. Among the the dead were two journalists from Reuters. This publication became his downfall.

We can not look the other way

In cooperation with the Federation of German Journalist (djv.de) we claim liberty for Julian Assange in an open letter adressed to the British Government. Support this action, by signing our petition!
The Australian journalist has to be released immediately and by no means extradited to the United States. There he is likely threatened of more suffering and even death penalty.

Act now, break the silence!

Raise your voice to express your disagreement, that a hero is reduced to be silent by torture. But its more than that. We become spectators of how free journalism is pilloried. This deprives us of the right to free information and us normal citizens of our maturity.

Raise your voice! Julian is a brave pioneer.

Julian Assange is behind bars because with Wikileaks he has created a platform for all of us for the first time on which everyone can publish secret information anonymously. With this he made enemies who want to make a public example of him.

Leipzig was the starting point for a peaceful revolution 30 years ago. The GDR citizens fought for the right to maturity and free information – that is, for the foundations of a free press.

Do you want to give away these hard-won rights? No? Then sign our petition to the British Government here!

“Those who sleep in a democracy wake up in a dictatorship.”

Freedom for Julian Assange now!

Dear Mrs Patel,

we, the citizens, are petitioning the British Government for the immediate release of Julian Assange. We point out the inhumane conditions under which Mr. Assange is detained. International experts speak of torture. 60 doctors rate his health as critical and are concerned that as a result, Mr. Assange could die in his cell. This is a clear violation of Article 5 of the United Nations Charter on Human Rights, which "prohibits any form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights! This is inconsistent with Western values ​​such as democracy and the rule of law.
Julian Assange's publications were of great service to journalism. This has informed the global public about war crimes committed in the last Iraq invasion. This would not have been possible without his courageous commitment. The protection of journalism and whistleblowers applies.
Mr Assange can therefore not be criticized for anything. As an Australian, he is imprisoned in a British high security prison without having been charged against him or against any other European country. For these reasons, we call on the British Government to end this break of law immediately.

**ihre Unterschrift**



(Mrs. Patel is the Home Secretary and head of Home Office of the British Government)