12 June 2019 — Defend Wikileaks

More than 50 US, UK, Australian & Canadian academics, human rights activists and lawyers have signed an open letter calling on the US & UK to immediately release Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning from prison.

The letter, organised by Newcastle University Professor Iain Munro and published in the Independent, reads in full:

Assange and Manning must be released

Over the past decade, Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have revealed human rights abuses and a string of instances of corporate, government and intelligence agency corruption. As scholars and citizens concerned with the protection of whistleblowers and a free press, with the ability to hold government to account for such abuses we call for the immediate release of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning from prison.

We reiterate the concerns of the United Nations special rapporteurs regarding the ongoing mistreatment of Mr Assange and Ms Manning by the US and UK authorities, and affirm the statement of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that “the right of Mr Assange to personal liberty should be restored”.

The letter was signed by dozens of professors from the UK and Australia, whistleblowers including John Kiriakou and Katharine Gun, lawyers including Renata Avila and Jesselyn Radack, and many more. See the full list of signatories here.