December 10th is approaching and events are being prepared all over the world to demand the release of Julian Assange, to oppose his extradition to the United States and to denounce the extremely serious human rights violations he has suffered for years. As repeated everywhere, it is not only the life of a journalist persecuted for revealing terrible war crimes that is at stake, but also the freedom of the press and our right as citizens to be informed about the actions of governments.
As in the case of the marathon on 15 October, the activists’ call for creativity gave rise to very different events, but linked by a common thread: the desire not only to protest, but also to send warmth, gratitude, closeness and solidarity to a man who has been imprisoned for years in a tiny cell. And with him to all political prisoners around the world.
It was precisely from this that Team Assange Sydney came up with the idea of adding to the usual presidium in front of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office a moment to reflect, meditate, pray and send positive thoughts of well-being, strength and freedom to Julian. In the same spirit in London the solidarity vigil in front of Belmarsh Prison will be enriched with yellow ribbons and 40 small paper lanterns to light up the darkness and express warmth and closeness to Assange. Lanterns that will also be lit in Hamburg. At the Park of Study and Reflection in Attigliano a wellbeing ceremony will be held for Assange and all political prisoners around the world and a torchlight march will take place in Trieste.
In Manchester the artistic vein of activists already manifested on 15 October will result in a street action in the central Market Street with music and speeches. There will be music also in Ulm, while in New York Countdown to Freedom and NYC Free Assange will organize a rally in front of the British Consulate. In Tenochtitlan the Coalición Vida y Libertad Julian Assange rally in front of the UK embassy will continue with a march to the US embassy. A march will also be held in Nuremberg and assemblies will be organized in Brisbane.
A form of protest that will be repeated in many places is the ‘Bring your chair’ flash mob: we will see it, organized in many cases by Free Assange Wave, in Barcelona, Girona, Mar del Plata, Paris, Vienna, Cologne, Brussels, Namur, Adelaide, Magnetic Island, Viseu, Reggio Emilia and Perugia, in some cities, such as Como, Milan and Rome, in the Stand4Truth version.
In Rome, in front of the UK embassy at Porta Pia, Free Assange Italia activists will build a pile of Christmas gift-boxes, reading the relevant labels from the microphone, each of which will mention a WikiLeaks revelation and the corresponding human right that was thus protected, as a thank you to Assange for defending our rights. In Reggio Emilia the flash mob will be followed by a meeting with various interventions and a political-musical space.
The map of initiatives, which is constantly being updated, can be consulted on the website https://www.24hassange.org . New events can be added until the last minute by writing to the email 24hAssange@proton.me.
Events are currently planned in Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Portugal, United Kingdom, Mexico, Argentina, United States and Australia.
As stated on 15 October, the initiatives for Julian Assange continue and will continue. Only the pressure of world public opinion will achieve his release.
