Rally On Julian’s Birthday To Free Julian Assange & IFJ Journalist Mumia Abu-jamal

NWU and IFJ raise our voices for jailed journalists Assange & Mumia at UN World Press Freedom Day

https://nwu.org/nwu-and-ifj-raise-our-voices-for-jailed-journalists-at-un-world-press-freedom-day/

by Edward Hasbrouck, May 12, 2023


NWU members Despina Afentouli (photo above) and Edward Hasbrouck, along with members of other affiliates of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), represented the NWU and IFJ at an all-day symposium held in the General Assembly chamber at United Nations headquarters in New York on World Press Freedom Day, May 2, 2023.

We distributed a statement from IFJ noting the lack of progress on protection of journalists 30 years after the first annual World Press Freedom Day. In this statement, IFJ renewed its call for a new binding international treaty, a U.N. convention to protect journalists, “that will strengthen press freedom by forcing governments to investigate and respond to attacks against the media.”

Since this event was being held in the U.S., we also took the opportunity, the first time that questions were taken from the floor, to raise our voice in the U.N. chamber on behalf of journalist members of the NWU and other IFJ affiliates who have been criminalized and imprisoned by the U.S. government:

[click image above or click here for video clip of NWU & IFJ representative Edward Hasbrouck]

I represent the International Federation of Journalists and the National Writers Union, one of its affiliates here in the United States.

Since we’re naming names, I want to call the attention of this body to Julian Assange, who the U.S. is attempting to criminalize for publishing truthful information about U.S. war crimes, and the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalistand a member of our organization who has been imprisoned for decades in the United States.

My question is:

Since you are speaking of accountability, while it’s easy to speak of accountability for individual actors or to criticize small states in the global South, what are the means of accountability that can hold accountable the government of a great power such as the United States, in the global North, when its government attempts to criminalize journalism?

A delegation including NWU President Larry Goldbetter and representatives of other IFJ affiliates visited Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison in March 2023 to express solidarity with him as journalists.

U.N. human rights experts have spoken out against the treatment of Mumia Abu-Jamal, although not specifically about the violation of his human rights as a journalist.

Throughout his imprisonment since 1981, Mumia has been undeterred in continuing to practice journalism, writing books and articles and producing radio commentaries from prison. Mumia recently began contributing articles to this NWU blog. We are proud to have Mumia as an NWU member, and we will continue to work for his freedom as a wrongly imprisoned journalist.

European unions and associations of journalists, join the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in calling

on the US government to drop all charges against Julian Assange and allow him to return home to his wife and children.

Free Julian Assange, member of our organisations

https://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2023/04/27/free-julian-assange-member-of-our-organisations/


Picture credits: FNSI.
News 27-04-2023
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Our Italian FNSI affiliates were visited today in Rome by Julian Assange‘s wife, Stella Morris. The Italian journalists’ union, at the initiative of its Campania branch, presented Julian Assange with an FNSI membership card. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) passed on the initiative to its affiliates in Europe: 19 of them decided to follow the Italian example and grant Julian Assange membership (or honorary membership) of their organisations. The EFJ and its affiliates once again call on the UK authorities to release Julian Assange.

Here is the joint appeal delivered to Stella Morris in Rome this morning:

We, the undersigned European unions and associations of journalists, join the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in calling on the US government to drop all charges against Julian Assange and allow him to return home to his wife and children.

We are gravely concerned about the impact of Assange’s continued detention on media freedom and the rights of all journalists globally. We urge European governments to actively work to secure Julian Assange’s release.

To show our solidarity, we declare Julian Assange a full member, an honorary member or a free member of our organisations.

Signed:

Maja Sever, EFJ President and TUCJ President, Croatia
Fabrizio Cappella, SUGC-FNSI Secretary, Italy
Satik Seyranyan, UJA President, Armenia
Borka Rudić, BHJA General Secretary, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Snezhana Todorova, UBJ President, Bulgaria
Hrvoje Zovko, HND President, Croatia
Emmanuel Poupard, SNJ First General Secretary, France
Emmanuel Vire, General secretary SNJ-CGT, France
Tina Groll, dju in ver.di President, Germany
Maria Antoniadou, JUADN President, Greece
Laszlo M. Lengyel, HPU Executive President, Hungary
Pavle Belovski, SSNM President, North Macedonia
Luís Filipe Simões, SJ President, Portugal
Darko Šper, GS Kum President, Serbia
Dragana Čabarkapa, Sinos President, Serbia
Zeljko Bodrozic, IJAS President, Serbia
Petra Lesjak Tušek, DNS President, Slovenia
Miguel Angel Noceda, FAPE President, Spain
Urs Thalmann, impressum Director, Switzerland
Tim Dawson, NUJ, United Kingdom
Julian Assange FNSI-EFJ Joint Declaration


Additional Info:

Join IFJ Campaign

Free Assange now!

https://www.ifj.org/actions/ifj-campaigns/free-assange-now.html

Assange: IFJ and EFJ co-sign open letter to US President Biden

https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/assange-ifj-and-efj-co-sign-open-letter-to-us-president.html
Julian Assange and the New York Times Problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=389q5lhCCU4

Tlaib Leads Letter to DOJ to Drop Charges Against Julian Assange; Defends Freedom of Press

https://tlaib.house.gov/posts/tlaib-leads-letter-to-doj-to-drop-charges-against-julian-assange-defends-freedom-of-press

Journalists Speak Up For Assange
https://speak-up-for-assange.org/sign/
SF Trade Unionists & SFLC Delegates Speak Out On The Case Of Julian Assange
https://youtu.be/mujVU2Y5PAo
SF Protest At KQED On Mumia To Stop Censorship & To For Truthful Programming
https://youtu.be/vdzR2WNsAc0
KQED censorship of Mumia Abu-Jamal in new documentary ‘Philly D.A.’
https://sfbayview.com/2021/04/protest-kqed-censorship-of-mumia-abu-jamal-in-new-documentary-philly-d-a/
Letter To KQED
http://www.laboractionmumia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Letter-to-Independent-Lens.pdf
USA: Shackling of aged inmate, Mumia Abu-Jamal, is deplorable - UN experts
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27011&LangID=E
Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia
Labor, The Fight For CWA NABET Journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal & The Trade Union Bureaucracy
https://youtu.be/mcPRiRcww6s
Free Mumia Now! ILWU 10, Labor & Community March & Rally On February 16, 2023
https://youtu.be/0l1V0fwu8N4
ILWU Local 10 Stops Work & Rallies For Mumia With Tyre Nichols Family In San Francisco
https://youtu.be/NMspxldilv4
Angela Davis Speaks For The Freedom of Mumia & ILWU Local 10 Stop Work Action To Free Him On 2/16/23
https://youtu.be/JduNi7JW0Lg
Danny Glover Joins ILWU 10 In Supporting Freedom For Mumia on February 16, 2023
https://youtu.be/j0qJX4zDf9s
LWU Local 10 Press Conference On 2/16/23 Bay Area Port Shutdown & Rally To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
https://youtu.be/ckj9zNQfkhM
ILWU10 To Shutdown Bay Area Ports On 2/16/23 To Free CWA-NABET Journalist & Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
https://youtu.be/XXwCXQ-4fmc
02/04/19 Resolution in Support of the Journalist & WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
https://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2011/01/san-francisco-labor-council-resolution.html
Australian Unions Support Julian Assange
http://global-labour.info/en/2010/12/24/australian-unions-support-julian-assange-2010/
Leaked Wikileaks Doc Reveals US Military Use of IMF, World Bank as “Unconventional” Weapons
https://www.mintpressnews.com/leaked-wikileaks-doc-reveals-how-us-military-uses-of-imf-world-bank-as-unconventional-weapons/254708/?fbclid=IwAR0q4aXLMco2D_b_3p7z3qygYD1SxHfZ0DDpKBog2_tYCqh4wDED73xLCjI#.XF49-vT0atU.facebook
UN experts urge UK to honour rights obligations and let Mr. Julian Assange leave Ecuador embassy in London freely
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24042&LangID=E
German Parliamentarians Call For Julian Assange's Freedom
https://soundcloud.com/kpfa-fm-94-1-berkeley/german-parliamentarians-visit-julian-assange-and-join-the-un-in-calling-for-his-freedom

Tlaib Leads Letter to DOJ to Drop Charges Against Julian Assange; Defends Freedom of Press

https://tlaib.house.gov/posts/tlaib-leads-letter-to-doj-to-drop-charges-against-julian-assange-defends-freedom-of-press
Apr 12, 2023

Justice for All

Press
DETROIT — Today, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) led Congressmembers Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), Greg Casar (TX-35), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the Department of Justice to uphold the First Amendment’s protections for the freedom of the press by dropping the Trump-era charges against Australian publisher Julian Assange and withdrawing the American extradition request currently pending with the British government.

“Press freedom, civil liberty, and human rights groups have been emphatic that the charges against Mr. Assange pose a grave and unprecedented threat to everyday, constitutionally protected journalistic activity, and that a conviction would represent a landmark setback for the First Amendment,” the lawmakers wrote.

Julian Assange faces 17 charges under the Espionage Act and one charge for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. The Espionage Act charges stem from Mr. Assange’s role in publishing information about the U.S. State Department, Guantanamo Bay, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Assange has been detained on remand in London for more than three years, as he awaits the outcome of extradition proceedings against him.

“The prosecution of Julian Assange for carrying out journalistic activities greatly diminishes America’s credibility as a defender of these values, undermining the United States’ moral standing on the world stage, and effectively granting cover to authoritarian governments who can (and do) point to Assange’s prosecution to reject evidence-based criticisms of their human rights records and as a precedent that justifies the criminalization of reporting on their activities. Leaders of democracies, major international bodies, and parliamentarians around the globe stand opposed to the prosecution of Assange,” the lawmakers continued.

Leading global newspapers The New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde,and Der Spiegelhave taken the extraordinary step of publishing a joint statement in opposition to the indictment, warning that it “sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press.”

Similarly, the ACLU, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Defending Rights and Dissent, and Human Rights Watch, among others, have written to Attorney General Merrick Garland three times to express these concerns. In one of the letters, they wrote:

“The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely—and that they must engage in in order to do the work the public needs them to do. Journalists at major news publications regularly speak with sources, ask for clarification or more documentation, and receive and publish documents the government considers secret. In our view, such a precedent in this case could effectively criminalize these common journalistic practices.”

“The prosecution of Mr. Assange marks the first time in U.S. history that a publisher of truthful information has been indicted under the Espionage Act. The prosecution of Mr. Assange, if successful, not only sets a legal precedent whereby journalists or publishers can be prosecuted, but a political one as well… We urge you to immediately drop these Trump-era charges against Mr. Assange and halt this dangerous prosecution,” the lawmakers concluded.

The following organizations and world leaders have also spoken out against the Assange prosecution and its danger to the First Amendment and the freedom of the press:

News Media: The New York Times; The Guardian; The Sydney Morning Herald; El Pais; Le Monde; Der Spiegel; The Nation; The Intercept. The Executive Editors of The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and USA Today.
Organizations: Human Rights Watch, the ACLU; Defending Rights and Dissent; Amnesty International; Reporters Without Borders; the Committee to Protect Journalists; Center for Constitutional Rights; Demand Progress; First Amendment Coalition; Free Press; Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University; National Coalition Against Censorship; Project on Government Oversight (POGO); the Brennan Center; and PEN America.
World Leaders/Political Figures: Australian PM Albanese; Mexican President Obrador; Brazilian President Lula da Silva; Argentinian President Fernández; Bolivian President Arce; Colombian President Petro; Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer; Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic; Sign on Letters from Legislators from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Brazil.
“Defending Rights & Dissent applauds Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s courageous defense of the First Amendment,” said Chip Gibbons, Policy Director, Defending Rights & Dissent. “Defending the Bill of Rights is the responsibility of every branch of government and we are proud to stand with those members of Congress who are joining with nearly every press freedom group and newspapers such as The New York Times, in calling on the Department of Justice to end its prosecution of Julian Assange. When the Trump Administration brought unprecedented Espionage Act charges against Julian Assange for doing what journalists do every day, they put the First Amendment in peril. To turn the page, the Biden Administration must heed the call of these members of Congress, human rights and press freedom groups, and halt this press freedom endangering prosecution.”

“As Julian Assange marks four years in Belmarsh prison and faces possible imminent extradition to the United States, it’s more crucial for Members of Congress to speak up now than ever before,” said Rebecca Vincent, Director of Operations and Campaigns, Reporters Sans Frontières/Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “No one should face prosecution or the possibility of the rest of their lives in prison for publishing information in the public interest. As long as the case against Assange continues, it will be a thorn in the side of the US government, and undermines US efforts to defend media freedom globally. We welcome Representative Tlaib’s leadership on this issue and encourage widespread support for her call on the Justice Department to drop the charges against Assange. It’s time for the US to lead by example by bringing this 12 year-old case to a close and allowing for his release without further delay.”

The full text of the letter can be found here.

https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/tlaib.house.gov/uploads/2023/04/Congressional-Letter-to-DOJ-on-Julian-Assange-Indictment_Final.pdf


The Honorable Merrick Garland Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Room 1145

Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Merrick Garland,

April 11, 2023

We write you today to call on you to uphold the First Amendment’s protections for the freedom of the press by dropping the criminal charges against Australian publisher Julian Assange and withdrawing the American extradition request currently pending with the British government.

Press freedom, civil liberty, and human rights groups have been emphatic that the charges against Mr. Assange pose a grave and unprecedented threat to everyday, constitutionally protected journalistic activity, and that a conviction would represent a landmark setback for the First Amendment. Major media outlets are in agreement: The New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel have taken the extraordinary step of publishing a joint statement in opposition to the indictment, warning that it “sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press.”1

The ACLU, amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Defending Rights and Dissent, and Human Rights Watch, among others, have written to you three times to express these concerns. In one such letter they wrote:

“The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely—and that they must engage in in order to do the work the public needs them to do. Journalists at major news publications regularly speak with sources, ask for clarification or more documentation, and receive and publish documents the government considers secret. In

1 The Guardian, New York Times, Le Monde, El Pa