Wikileaks founder Assange wants Vivienne Westwood’s funeral protests against Netanyahu’s new government in Israel – US urges two-state solution

British Wikileaks founder Julian Assange hopes to be released to attend the funeral of his close friend Vivienne Westwood. The British fashion designer died on Thursday at the age of 81. Assange’s wife Stella told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper (Saturday edition): “Julian will ask for special permission to be there.”

Assange, 51, has been in a British prison since 2019 after years spent on the grounds of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The US wants to secure his extradition. They accuse him of espionage. If convicted, Assange faces many years in prison. Westwood was considered one of his staunchest supporters. She protested, among other things, at a sensational action in a huge cage in front of the courthouse in London in 2020.

“Vivienne is irreplaceable. She was a good friend and supporter. It’s a huge loss,” said Stella Assange. During her husband’s years in the Ecuadorian embassy, ​​Westwood visited him often. “Every few weeks she would come on her bicycle and spend some time with Julian. company and talked for hours about anything and everything.” Westwood also designed Stella Assange’s wedding dress earlier this year.

When Julian Assange learned of Westwood’s death, according to his wife, he said: “Vivienne was a lady and an anti-establishment mainstay, daring, creative, thoughtful and a good friend. The best Britain has to offer.”

The US accuses Assange, with the help of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, of stealing and publishing secret materials from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, endangering the lives of informants. Supporters, on the other hand, see him as a courageous journalist who exposed war crimes. (sda/dpa)