so first of all thank you for agreeing
this interview it really means a lot to
me and we are here with the Stella
Assange that is the lawyer and the wife
of Julian Assange so Julian Assange is
among the finalists of the Sakura prize
so my question is the which support did
he received from the European Parliament
in this very uh delicate moment of the
extradition process well first of all
um countries need to stand up for their
fundamental values and should not
tolerate outrageous extradition requests
like the one against Julian Julian is
facing extradition to a potential
175-year sentence for publishing about
U.S Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and he
was publishing from the European Union
in partnership with EU Partners major
papers like Spiegel and LaMont and so on
and uh
it cannot be tolerated uh that a person
is
um subjected to foreign
Espionage laws and secrecy laws
the case that is being taken against
Julian effectively
claims Universal jurisdiction over what
journalists can publish in in the
European Union
so
the first step is to not allow the
extradition in cases that go to
publishing and to very basic tenets of
democracy it seems there are double
standards between EU and U.S extradition
process we had different cases recently
so I would like to ask you what do you
think is the best way to make the
extradition process more fairer well the
case should have been thrown out from
the UK courts from day one Julian should
not have spent a single day in prison he
is being prosecuted for the very same
activities that have made him a finalist
for the sacrament of prize today Julian
has won dozens of Journalism and human
rights Awards what he exposed was war
crimes civilian killings torture
rendition and so on it exposed crimes
committed by the US government and its
agents
and do you think the UK is completely
subjugated to the US and do you think
that you can do more than what he's
actually doing now what's clear from the
uh nomination and Julian being selected
as a finalist for the Sahara of prize is
that uh Julian needs International
protection he needs the recognition of
his status as a human rights Defender as
a and as a person who is politically
persecuted because this is a political
case it is a politically motivated
prosecution
the United Kingdom should have thrown
out this case from day one he should not
have spent a single day in prison and in
fact Amnesty International said that the
latest decision by the UK High Court
allowing extradition was a travesty of
Justice there's
statements by many international
organization and in fact the EU
aside from the Sakura of prize finalists
nomination
should should do more it should do a lot
more the US needs to hear from its
allies that this is intolerable that it
affects EU values and interests because
it is the United States reaching Beyond
its borders claiming jurisdiction into
the European space in order to limit
press freedoms and the Public's right to
know the European Public's right to know
the truth by criminalizing speech by
criminalizing journalism and by creating
a chilling effect in which the Press
cannot operate freely so what do you
think is the state of democracy in the
U.S so what is your assessment of course
in light of this case of the U.S
democracy situation in particular on the
side of Journalism and freedom of speech
well this case is a real tracker of the
state of U.S democracy and freedom of
speech and I say that because the Obama
Administration
said publicly that they were not going
to prosecute Julian for the Chelsea
Manning leagues and in fact on the last
day of Obama's presidency he commuted he
pardoned Chelsea Manning what happened
the Trump Administration came in and the
Trump administration had a very
adversarial relationship with the press
and this case was used in order to set a
precedent so that the Press could be
charged with publishing the truth this
case is unprecedented in the United
States and the very first time they've
used the Espionage Act against a
publisher for publishing they're not
accusing him of being a spy for any
country they're saying that he received
information from a source he possessed
it and he communicated it to the public
so obviously when you start
criminalizing telling the truth you're
no longer a solid open democracy you are
you are attacking the very basic
structure of what it means to be a
democracy and it's a very dangerous
slippery Road from there here in terms
of democracy we are living I don't know
if you read in the Press very very
delicate moments so in particular inside
the European Institution for the Qatar
Gate scandal I want from you like a
brief comment on what's happening in in
terms of what do you expect in you know
to protect democracy the European
Parliament will react on the Qatari
these these scandals of course also
giving also a perspective on the freedom
of speech and the journalism and Justice
investigation well institutions are
always at risk of corruption and it is
extremely important that there is safe
ways for those who are have information
about wrongdoing to be able to make the
public aware of wrongdoing by
individuals who are abusing their power
in state in in official institutions
I'm not across the detail of the Qatar
Gate
scandal but Julian has always said that
it's important to um understand how
institutions behave in order to make
them more accountable and exposing
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corruption is the basis for being able
to keep a healthy democracy thank you so
much