By Adrienne Fong
A VARIETY OF WAYS TO ACT FOR JULIAN ASSANGE
From: info@bayaction2freeassange.org [mailto:info@bayaction2freeassange.org]
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2023 8:08 PM
To: Bay Action Committee to Free Julian Assange
Subject: Help Wanted: National Actions Bay Area July 3 Assange BD
Dear Bay Area Assange Supporters,
There are three local actions as part of the nation wide action with Assange Defense on Julian Assange’s Birthday, Monday, July 3ʳᵈ that need your help:
09:00 – 11:00 July 3ʳᵈ : National banner drop for Julian
Meet at 23rd & Vermont St., San Francisco – Banner drop on Highway 101 overpass
Contact: Steve Zeltzer 415-867-0628 HELP WANTED
Then the banner goes on to the event at
12:00 July 3ʳᵈ at Harry Bridges Plaza Event (across from the Ferry Building):
Rally and speak out to celebrate Julian Assange’s birthday and demand that President Biden drop the charges and the UK free him immediately. The International Federation of Journalists is also calling for his freedom as well as journalist Mumia Abu-jamal.The New York Times, Washington Post and the Guardian have also called for his release and his prosecution and imprisonment is a threat to all journalists and the public’sright to know what their governments and corporations are doing.
1:30 – 3:30 July 3: National banner drop & flier distribution for Julian
Meet at Grand Lake Theater in Oakland
Contact: Jeff Mackler 510-387-7714 HELP WANTED
Whether you can attend July 3 events or not, please join the
IMMEDIATE & REPEATED ACTION:
Please call your Congressional Representatives, the White House & the DOJ. Calls are tallied- they do count. We are to believe we are represented in this country. This is a political case, so our efforts can change things politically as well. Please take this action as often as you can:
Find your representatives:
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
I. Leave each of your representatives a message individually to
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST JULIAN ASSANGE
Speak out publicly against the indictment and
Sign on to Rashida Tlaib’s letter to the DOJ to drop the charges
202-224-3121
Capitol Main Switchboard
II. Leave a message on the White House comment line to
Demand Julian Assange BE PARDONED:
202-456-1111
Tu – Th 11AM – 3PM EST
III. Call the DOJ & demand they
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST JULIAN ASSANGE:
202-353-1555
DOJ Comment Line
202-514-2000
DOJ Main Switchboard
Monday- Friday
IV. Also:
A helpful video to share on Julian’s case:
Stella specified the actions we can take:
In recap of recent events of Julian’s case:
On June 8, 2023, the UK High Court rejected Julian Assange’s appeal against the extradition order on all grounds, bringing him dangerously close to extradition to the U.S.
Within the week, Julian’s lawyers submitted an appeal that was to be no longer than 20 pages to a panel of two judges who are to convene a public hearing. We are still awaiting the date of this public hearing.
If he loses this appeal, no further appeals are possible in the UK. However, Julian’s lawyers can bring his case to the European Court of Human Rights. It is unknown whether the UK would await this process or extradite him immediately to the US.
It is a dire outcome for all if Julian is extradited. The entire case would be under Special Administrative Measures in the US; lawyers would be gagged, while Julian would face life in a high security prison or worse.
This would permanently impact the fate of press freedom and journalism globally; per the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) president, Dominique Pradalie, “If Assange goes to jail [extradited to the USA], no journalist on earth will be safe.”
Julian Assange faces even more grave consequences that call for urgent actions now more than ever.
In Positive Global Developments:
Stella and the children had a private audience with The Pope, who is concerned with Julian’s suffering:
In Positive Local Developments:
The Pacific Media Workers Guild passed a resolution in support of the freedom of Julian Assange:
Bay Area’s own phenomenal activist, organizer, and a man who works to make our collective world a better place every day, Steve Zeltzer, worked long and hard to get a local resolution passed in support of Julian Assange & Mumia Abu-Jamal in his union. The more we can unite labor and local government to stand up and represent us to protect our freedom of speech and press, the better. Please contact Steve for help and support on this. Here is the Resolution:
CWA-TNG 39521 Resolutions Sent To 2023 NewsGuild & CWA Conventions To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and Julian Assange
NewsGuild and CWA Call for Freedom for Imprisoned Journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal
Whereas, Mumia Abu-Jamal is a former member of National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA) and a Philadelphia public radio journalist who exposed corruption and police abuse; and
Whereas, Mumia Abu-Jamal did not receive a fair trial when convicted of the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner in a trial presided over by notorious racist judge Albert Sabo, and that his conviction resulted in large part because of the testimony of witnesses who later admitted to lying on the stand; and
Whereas, Abu-Jamal’s legal team has been denied the opportunity to present new evidence that could exonerate him; and
Whereas, Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death and spent decades on death row before his sentence was changed, and was saved from execution (in 1995 and 1999) by mass mobilization of his defenders in the US and internationally; and
Whereas, Abu-Jamal’s appeals in many cases have been denied on technicalities, including the recent (April 3, 2023) denial by Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Lucretia Clemons (a former attorney with union-busting law firm Ballard Spahr), who ruled it “immaterial” that the jury in the 1982 case never learned that the key witnesses at the trial had been bribed or coerced; and
Whereas, an Amicus brief from the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent noted that Abu-Jamal’s case exemplifies the systemic racism which has characterized the American judicial system from the inception of slavery to today; and
Whereas, Mumia has spoken out against the Prison-Industrial Complex, characterizing it as an attack on Labor; and
Whereas, the World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists in 2018 voted unanimously on a resolution calling for Abu-Jamal to be freed; and
Whereas, many unions and labor groups over the years have called for a new trial and/or freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, including United Educators of San Francisco, Pride at Work, the ILWU, and SEIU 1000;
Therefore be it resolved that the Pacific Media Workers Guild calls on the NewsGuild and CWA to support the call for freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal and to send letters to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro demanding the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
NewsGuild CWA Must Support Freedom for Journalist Julian Assange
Whereas, Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Asssange, a union journalist, has been imprisoned in England since 2019 and threatened with extradition to the United States for espionage; and
Whereas Julian Assange and Wikileaks provided important information to the American people about government and corporate corruption and exposed the role of the US in war crimes and violations of international law; and
Whereas, the International Federation of Journalists, The Guardian, New York Times and Washington Post have called for his freedom; and
Whereas the Australian Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance, of which Assange has been a member of since 2011, has opposed his extradition to the United States and supported his free return to Australia; and
Whereas US whistleblowers and journalists including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Freedom of Press Foundation, Daniel Ellsberg, John Pilger, Glenn Greenwald, and James Risen have called for Julian Assange’s freedom; and
Whereas, the effort of the US government to extradite Julian Assange to the US, where he could face up to 175 years in prison if he is convicted, is a threat to journalists in the US and internationally;
Therefore be it resolved that the Pacific Media Workers Guild calls on the NewsGuild and CWA to support the call for freedom for Julian Assange, including sending letters to President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the national news media.
As always, if you hold any actions as one or a group- please let us promote your efforts here & on social media. Drop a line &/or send photos. No action is too small. THANK YOU!
Journalism is not a crime: Free Assange!
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