“Dead Man’s Switch”
Artist threatens to destroy works worth millions if Julian Assange dies in prison
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in 2020
© Dominic Lipinski / PA Wire / DPA
If whistleblower Julian Assange dies in prison, a Russian artist is threatening to take drastic measures: He wants to destroy works by Picasso, Rembrandt and Warhol with acid.
According to media reports, a Russian artist wants to destroy works of art worth more than 45 million US dollars (around 42 million euros), according to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange dies in prison. In order to destroy the 16 works – including those by Picasso, Rembrandt and Warhol – Andrej Molodkin is said to have laced a safe in his studio in southern France with acid and a kind of time detonator, according to several consistent media reports. The works of art will be locked there on Friday.
With the project, which is titled “Dead Man’s Switch,” Molodkin says he wants to draw attention to “the fact that destroying art is a bigger taboo than destroying a person’s life,” Sky News quoted the Russian as saying. According to reports, the works were made available to him by wealthy collectors. However, he did not reveal exactly which works they were. If the Wikileaks founder is released, the owners should get them back.
Final court appearance against Julian Assange in London
Assange expects what may be his last court appearance in Great Britain next week before possible extradition to the USA. The 52-year-old has been in a legal tug-of-war with the British government for years. He has been held in London’s HMP Belmarsh maximum security prison since April 2019. He had previously evaded law enforcement authorities for several years in the Ecuadorian embassy in the British capital.
The US justice system wants to put him on trial on espionage charges. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison. Assange is accused of having, together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, stolen and published secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. Supporters see Assange as a journalist who exposed war crimes.
His wife, Stella Assange, who has been fighting for her husband’s freedom for years, posted several reports about Molodkin’s actions on X (formerly Twitter). She told the New Yorker that her husband knew about the project and supported it. It is a kind of “artistic shield” for him.