[Peace-discuss] Guardian: Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Maybe the US media is waiting for those Hollywood celebs to sign their names...

--- On Tue, 6/26/12, Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:

From: Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Guardian: Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request
To: "Peace-discuss List" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 2:31 AM

Well done, Guardian. Now let's see some US media report this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/26/ecuador-julian-assange-asylum

Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request
Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky among signatories to
letter delivered to Ecuador's embassy in London
Ben Quinn
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 June 2012 20.14 EDT

A letter signed by leading US figures in support of WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange's application for political asylum in Ecuador has been
delivered to the country's London embassy.

Among those who signed the letter were Michael Moore, Oliver Stone,
Noam Chomsky and Danny Glover.

Other signatories included the author Naomi Wolf, comedian Bill Maher
and Daniel Ellsberg, the former US military analyst turned
whistleblower, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971 and has been a
long-standing supporter of Assange.

Robert Naiman, policy director at the Just Foreign Policy campaign
group, delivered the letter to the embassy on Monday, along with a
petition signed by more than four thousand Americans urging President
Rafael Correa to approve Assange's request for asylum.

The Australian national arrived at Ecuador's embassy last week in the
latest dramatic twist in his fight to avoid extradition to Sweden,
where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex offences.

The letter, which has been posted online, states that its signatories
believe Assange has good reason to fear extradition from the UK to
Sweden, "as there is a strong likelihood that once in Sweden, he would
be imprisoned, and then likely extradited to the United States".

Adding that the US government "has made clear its hostility to
WikiLeaks", it says he could face the death penalty in the US if he
was charged and found guilty under the Espionage Act.

"We also call on you to grant Mr Assange political asylum because the
'crime' that he has committed is that of practicing journalism," says
the letter, which is addressed to Correa.

It concludes: "Because this is a clear case of an attack on press
freedom and on the public's right to know important truths about US
foreign policy, and because the threat to his health and well-being is
serious, we urge you to grant Mr Assange political asylum."

Ecuador's ambassador to the UK, Anna Alban, has gone back to Ecuador
to brief Correa on Assange's application and to hold a series of
meetings at the foreign ministry.

Assange was set to be extradited to Sweden, where he faces accusations
of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another into sex
in Stockholm in August 2010, while on a visit to give a lecture.

He denies all charges, saying the sex was consensual and the
allegations against him are politically motivated.

--
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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