“Then every journalist is a spy”: Julian Assange’s wife appeals to Switzerland “Then every journalist is a spy”: Julian Assange’s wife appeals to Switzerland

Her gaze is focused. Your voice confident. And when she talks, she gets straight to the point. No question. Stella Moris-Assange has a clear goal in mind: the release of her husband, whose extradition from the UK to the US is imminent. Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison for espionage in the United States. In 2010, the founder of the Wikileaks disclosure platform disclosed hundreds of thousands of sensitive US documents that also exposed human rights violations by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“My husband is a very strong person,” Stella Moris-Assange emphasized during a performance at the Swiss Press Club in Pregny-Chambésy (GE) on Monday. However, his health is deteriorating, as the 52-year-old has been “not a free man” since 2010. “Julian could have a catastrophic health incident at any time”warned his wife, who is allowed to visit him and their two children once or twice a week at Belmarsh Prison in England.

Julian Assange has been imprisoned there since April 2019. Before that, he had been given shelter in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for about seven years.

Decisive verdict expected soon

The legal saga surrounding Assange’s transfer to the United States is now coming to an end. In June, London’s High Court rejected an appeal against the UK Ministry of Justice’s extradition order. A request for a new trial is pending.

Stella Moris-Assange clarified that the soon-to-be-expected verdict was “the last chance” to stop extradition within the British justice system. Otherwise, there is only hope that an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights will have suspensory effect. Global political support is therefore more important than ever.

Stella Moris-Assange also sees Switzerland as a duty: the Federal Council can make a difference through discussions behind the scenes and “create the right climate for solutions”.

Geneva politicians – three national councilors and more than 30 cantonal parliamentarians from all parties – also wrote to Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in a letter calling for action. It will be shipped on Tuesday.

EDA focuses on detention conditions

The entire Federal Council had already taken a position on the Assange case in 2017. In the course of an initiative by SVP national councilor Jean-Luc Addor, he denied that the Wikileaks founder should be recognized as a human rights defender with special protection. Julian Assange is a “computer scientist, investigative journalist and political activist” who had no intention of advancing human rights through the abuses he exposed.

According to the State Department (EDA), nothing has changed in this position. When asked if any steps are planned to support Julian Assange, the FDFA stated: “Switzerland has been following Mr Assange’s case closely for years and has been alerting UK authorities to the importance of human rights compliant prison conditions.”

These unfavorable signals will not deter Stella Moris-Assange from continuing her fight. According to her, there is much more at stake than the fate of her husband. The prosecution is a message to the entire media landscape, she says. “If the public is seen as the enemy of the national interest, then every journalist is a spy.”