The journalist and activist Julian Assange, who remains incarcerated in Belmars Prison, outside London was visited by MeRA25 secretary Yanis Varoufakis, for the second time since February 2020. The visit took place together with Roger Waters and Assange’s partner, Stella. The meeting lasted about an hour and the Wikileaks founder asked Yanis Varoufakis to deliver the following statement:

“I’m still fine but my condition is deteriorating. I try with all my might to keep a small part of myself alive. A little nugget that I will use when I get out of prison to exist again, to be Julian again. I’m a fighter and I know that’s what I have to do.”

The prison where Assange is being held is considered, by those in the know, to be Britain’s Guantanamo – a grim “high security” prison, meaning inhumane conditions that Julian has been enduring for three and a half years, since April 2019 to be exact. It is characteristic of inhumanity of said dungeon that Julian, all these years, has been in strict isolation 23 hours a day.

According to the UN, Assange’s treatment meets the definition of torture and for this reason the UN has requested, from 2020, his release. Since Assange has never been convicted of anything (not even formally prosecuted) his continued detention in Belmarsh – which is apparently nothing more than an attempt by the US and British authorities to exterminate him – is a unique example of a human rights violation both mentally and physically. And why is that? Because he dared to release material proving the crimes against humanity of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. In other words, Assange is being prosecuted, and essentially exterminated, for the crime of exposé journalism!

Coming out of prison, Mr Yanis Varoufakis stated:

“Prisoner N. A9379AY has been rotting in solitary confinement for 3.5 years for the crime of practicing journalism in a way that earned him Pulitzer Prizes before the US government criminalized investigative journalism in the public interest. Julian Assange is dying a slow death in there on our behalf – for our right to know about the crimes our governments are committing in our name behind our backs.

By torturing Julian Assange, the UK and US governments are knowingly forfeiting any moral right they have to teach others, around the world, about the importance of press freedom – thereby damaging free speech around the world.

Let us unite to demand Julian’s immediate release. No one can be free while Julian rots in Belmarsh.’

In a joint video uploaded immediately after the visit, Yanis Varoufakis, Roger Waters and Stella Assange stated:

Roger Waters: “We must continue to fight for a fair trial for Julian, which means his release, even tomorrow morning. When judges meet at the High Court in London they must review his appeal and consider the case on procedural grounds. This man must be freed and he must be freed now.”

Stella Assange: “It is very important for Julian to be surrounded by his friends and family who help him survive and remind him in every way that he is so important and loved.

Julian Assange has been held in British prisons since April 2019 pending an extradition request by the United States. Through his journalistic activity and through the WikiLeaks website, he exposed war crimes, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, through the publication of tens of thousands of confidential and classified diplomatic and military documents. If he is extradited to the US for his action there is a possibility that he will be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.