<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">Maybe the US media is waiting for those Hollywood celebs to sign their names...<br><br>--- On <b>Tue, 6/26/12, Robert Naiman <i><naiman@justforeignpolicy.org></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><br>From: Robert Naiman <naiman@justforeignpolicy.org><br>Subject: [Peace-discuss] Guardian: Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request<br>To: "Peace-discuss List" <peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net><br>Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 2:31 AM<br><br><div class="plainMail">Well done, Guardian. Now let's see some US media report this...<br><br><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/26/ecuador-julian-assange-asylum" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/26/ecuador-julian-assange-asylum</a><br><br>Prominent Americans
urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request<br>Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky among signatories to<br>letter delivered to Ecuador's embassy in London<br>Ben Quinn<br>guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 June 2012 20.14 EDT<br><br>A letter signed by leading US figures in support of WikiLeaks founder<br>Julian Assange's application for political asylum in Ecuador has been<br>delivered to the country's London embassy.<br><br>Among those who signed the letter were Michael Moore, Oliver Stone,<br>Noam Chomsky and Danny Glover.<br><br>Other signatories included the author Naomi Wolf, comedian Bill Maher<br>and Daniel Ellsberg, the former US military analyst turned<br>whistleblower, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971 and has been a<br>long-standing supporter of Assange.<br><br>Robert Naiman, policy director at the Just Foreign Policy campaign<br>group, delivered the letter to the embassy on Monday, along with a<br>petition signed by more than
four thousand Americans urging President<br>Rafael Correa to approve Assange's request for asylum.<br><br>The Australian national arrived at Ecuador's embassy last week in the<br>latest dramatic twist in his fight to avoid extradition to Sweden,<br>where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex offences.<br><br>The letter, which has been posted online, states that its signatories<br>believe Assange has good reason to fear extradition from the UK to<br>Sweden, "as there is a strong likelihood that once in Sweden, he would<br>be imprisoned, and then likely extradited to the United States".<br><br>Adding that the US government "has made clear its hostility to<br>WikiLeaks", it says he could face the death penalty in the US if he<br>was charged and found guilty under the Espionage Act.<br><br>"We also call on you to grant Mr Assange political asylum because the<br>'crime' that he has committed is that of practicing journalism," says<br>the letter,
which is addressed to Correa.<br><br>It concludes: "Because this is a clear case of an attack on press<br>freedom and on the public's right to know important truths about US<br>foreign policy, and because the threat to his health and well-being is<br>serious, we urge you to grant Mr Assange political asylum."<br><br>Ecuador's ambassador to the UK, Anna Alban, has gone back to Ecuador<br>to brief Correa on Assange's application and to hold a series of<br>meetings at the foreign ministry.<br><br>Assange was set to be extradited to Sweden, where he faces accusations<br>of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another into sex<br>in Stockholm in August 2010, while on a visit to give a lecture.<br><br>He denies all charges, saying the sex was consensual and the<br>allegations against him are politically motivated.<br><br>--<br>Robert Naiman<br>Policy Director<br>Just Foreign Policy<br>www.justforeignpolicy.org<br><a
ymailto="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" href="/mc/compose?to=naiman@justforeignpolicy.org">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>_______________________________________________<br>Peace-discuss mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" href="/mc/compose?to=Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a><br><a href="http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss" target="_blank">http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss</a><br></div></blockquote></td></tr></table>