Global Carnival for Assange: a day of masks, marches, flash mobs, music and dancing

After the marathon on October 15th and the demonstrations on December 10th , International Human Rights Day, the Global Carnival for Assange, the third initiative organized by 24hAssange, took up the whole day on Saturday February 11th , in a crescendo of street connections, videos and interviews. The total number of events was around fifty, although many were unable to organize a connection due to technical or time constraints. One example is Mexico City, where a march reached the US and UK embassies. In many cities, activists staged the ‘Bring your chair‘ flash mob conceived by artist Davide Dormino, climbing onto chairs and holding up placards with the words ‘Learn, Challenge, Act, Now’, the words launched by Julian Assange in a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The live broadcast started with Beppe Giulietti, president of the National Federation of the Italian Press, who recalled the press card awarded to Assange, in the face of those who contemptuously denied him the title of journalist and the importance of being committed to an issue that does not only concern a single persecuted prisoner, but the freedom of us all. A concept that ran through the whole day, declined in many ways, but always present.

Then the connections with the squares began, starting with Faenza; in Catalonia, a total of 22 events were organized, combining the defense of Assange with the deeply felt issue of independence and the denunciation of the persecution suffered by so many activists.

In addition to Bologna, Como, Liège and Namur, the highlight of the early afternoon was Naples with its Parade for Assange, a very well attended march that marched through the streets of the Pignasecca market to the musical accompaniment of the Banda Basaglia. Masks, music, dancing and three stops during which the three figures identified as responsible for the persecution and detention of Assange were called to the stand by a judge in a white wig: Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo, former director of the CIA, portrayed on large placards. The judge read out the charges and sentenced them to the mockery of the crowd, all in the inert and silent presence of King Charles of England.

Another intense and amusing moment was the rally in Rome in front of the Australian embassy, where the protesters handed a letter to the silhouette of the ‘Invisible Man’, i.e. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, accused of not having done anything substantial for Assange, despite the bombastic promises of contacts and pressure on the US authorities.

After the webinar organised by Laura Tussi and Fabrizio Cracolici, with the participation of Giorgio Cremaschi, Maurizio Acerbo and Paolo Ferrero, the event moved on to London, where a colorful and creative procession took place, in some ways similar to the one in Naples. Among the participants were people from other countries, some of whom were stopped at the airport with absurd excuses: apparently their orange jumpsuits were interpreted as a dangerous terrorist symbol. The procession then ended in a packed hall, where Jeremy Corbyn and Stella Assange, among others, spoke.

It was then the turn of Cagliari, with a presidium on the striking Scalinata Bastione Saint Remy, and from there it was on to Argentina, Madrid and Barcelona.

The day ended with interviews with Deepa Driver, who followed Assange’s trial as a legal observer, and radio host, comedian and activist Randy Credico, who summed up Assange’s situation very effectively: Julian locked up in a cell is like Beethoven without a piano.

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