WikiLeaks founder Assange: “Four years of daily struggle”

Assange, a journalist accused of espionage, has been in a London jail since April 2019. In the United States, he faces imprisonment until the end of his life. Human rights activists continue to call for his release.

Julian Assange has been fighting extradition to the United States for years. He has to fight this fight from prison. Although the WikiLeaks founder has not been convicted, he is behind bars – and not in an ordinary correctional facility, but in the maximum security prison of Belmarsh.

“He’s usually always in his cell,” says Julian’s wife Stella, describing her husband’s everyday life. He also had to eat in his cell. It’s the norm at Belmarsh to be isolated in your cell, she says.

The list of security checks is long

Stella Assange feels what Belmarsh means to her when she wants to visit her husband: from the front gate to the interview room, where she is allowed to sit across from her husband at the table, she has to give her fingerprints four times and examine herself for drugs in a body search leave and much more.

How long this will continue is completely open. “It’s been four years now,” she says, referring to Julian’s imprisonment, “four years of daily struggle on all fronts.”

“Made a huge contribution to journalism”

Reporters Without Borders was to be given the opportunity to visit Assange in Belmarsh for the first time last week. Everything was registered, the visit was approved. At the last moment, however, Christophe Deloire and Rebecca Vincent – the general secretary and campaign director of “Reporters Without Borders” – were denied entry.

Assange supporters see this as arbitrary. Vincent then explained again why her organization is committed to Assange: “Julian Assange has made a huge contribution to journalism. The publication of the secret documents was in the public interest.”

Vincent said that no one should be in jail for even a single day for publishing information in the public interest. Within these prison walls, Assange has now become the most famous political prisoner in the world.

No release in sight

His wife Stella has repeatedly emphasized that Assange is a political prisoner. As a lawyer, she only works for one client: her husband. She fights against the fact that he is forgotten in prison and perishes there physically and mentally. With her travels and her interviews, she tries again and again to draw attention to the Assange case and freedom of the press:

The next stage in the legal tug-of-war over Assange could begin soon. The WikiLeaks founder seems a long way from being released. In the USA, where the authorities want to put him on trial for espionage, among other things, he faces imprisonment for the rest of his life.