The activist group “Libertad Assange Argentina” is organizing a big event and art festival in defense of the Australian journalist Julian Assange on Tuesday 20 February, starting at 17:00. The event will take place in the emblematic Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.
The event will be attended by well-known artists, human rights defenders, journalists, and members of social movements, trade unions, and organizations.
Together they will insist on the demand for the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is being held in a high-security prison in the United Kingdom awaiting possible extradition to the United States, where he is being prosecuted for, among other things, disseminating content that proves war crimes and other crimes committed by that country.
Following the British government’s acquiescence to US interests, 20 and 21 February are key dates for Assange’s defense appeal to be accepted and extradition to be avoided. The activist’s health has been fragile for years and the hardship he will face in the United States will be his death sentence.
The fight for his freedom is the global resistance for the right to information, in defense of journalistic work and against planned disinformation.
The orchestration and construction of the case against Assange is an example of the disciplinary power and instilling of fear used by the powerful to keep their crimes hidden.
On 20 February, the voices of those demanding the release of Julian Assange will be heard: from the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo to the CTA Autónoma, the Buenos Aires Press Union, and the journalists Martín García, Santiago O’Donnell, Telma Luzzani and Profe Romero.
Among the artists who will share the stage are the band Arbolito, Juan Falú, Axel Milanés, Teatro por la Identidad, Patricia Malanca, and Daniela Tomé.
This initiative in Argentina joins the dozens of events that will take place in different parts of the world. From Assange’s native Australia to European countries, the United States itself, Brazil, and Mexico.
