Like many other good ideas, the plan to meet weekly in support of Julian Assange at Sydney Town Hall was conceived of in a pub. In late 2019, at an inner-suburban watering hole, a group of Assange supporters met and discussed ways in which they could show their support for Australia’s greatest exponent of free speech. A suggestion was made to gather regularly at Town Hall, given its visibility and its status as a site of protests historically.
Although not all attendees believed that this was the optimal way to proceed, there were more than enough supporters and so on 29 November, 2019, the first of many Julian Assange Sydney Town Hall Gatherings was held. Tony’s idea had resulted in real action and he was joined by others who would become regular attendees alongside him, namely Karyn, Adriana, Steve, Yun Xia, Pietro and more. The occasion was documented skilfully by Steve and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puid1i01MpA Billy, Diane, and Matt joined the following week and would also go on to become regulars. Others attend when they are able.
It won’t come as a surprise to those who have followed Wikileaks over the years but the public support was tangible right from the outset and this is readily apparent in Steve’s videos. For those who don’t know about Wikileaks, it’s an organisation run by an Australian named Julian Assange. Julian has made it his life’s work to help people in positions of vulnerability, whether it was helping Victorian police prosecute persons suspected of distributing child exploitation material in 1993 to publishing evidence of war crimes and corruption from 2006 onwards. By revealing wrongdoing by governments around the world, we stand a better chance of making them accountable to their citizens and to their victims.
It has been heartening to see the support in the community as it reveals the ability of ordinary people to remain objective in the face of relentless efforts by the media to demonise Julian. Julian has first told us and then, by his own example, shown us that powerful corporate and political elements have an aversion to the truth and a disregard for the sanctity of human like.
Regardless of the support, we do however have an important task ahead of us and that is to explain to those unfamiliar with Julian and even to those who support him casually that his extradition case is of great importance. The future of freedom of speech rests on Julian’s shoulders but, more importantly, his very life is at risk. To those who support truth and value human life, join us every Friday at Town Hall in Sydney from 4 PM and help us get Julian home. We have gathered every week for over 70 weeks consecutively and we have resolved to gather every week until Julian is free.