PT Note: Freedom for Julian Assange
We defend Julian Assange for our deep commitment to the defense of freedom of information and the press, essential principles of democracy itself.
Julian Assange’s political arrest in the United Kingdom is the result of heavy pressure from the Trump administration and an act by Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, which runs counter to international conventions on the protection of asylum and refugees and the Ecuadorian Constitution itself. Moreover, it is configured as an authoritarian act that undermines freedom of information.
Through WikiLeaks, Assange has shed light on cases of war crimes, violation of international rights, and espionage by the United States government.
Brazil appears in the messages, including spying on President Dilma Roussef. WikiLeaks also revealed spying on strategic intelligence involving the discovery of huge oil reserves and the technology developed by Petrobras for deep exploration in the pre-salt layer.
Other US diplomacy documents, revealed by WikiLeaks, demonstrate the US government’s responsibility to destabilize regimes and governments, violating the sovereignty of national states.
The consequences of these acts of espionage on the sovereignty of nations, the violation of international rights, and the democratic rule of law itself are still evident in many countries, especially in Latin America.
The espionage and illegal action of foreign governments, as well as the use of new technologies for the purposes of manipulation and political influence, such as the spread of fake news, harms and corrupts democracies. That is why the Workers Party is associated with the progressive and democratic forces, which are denouncing the injustices and arbitrariness committed against Julian Assange.
We defend the demands for his immediate freedom as a means of restoring international law on the protection of political asylum and refugees. We defend Julian Assange for our deep commitment to defending freedom of information and the press, essential principles of democracy itself.
Workers Party, 6 January 2006