Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is launching a new global communications campaign as part of its relentless fight for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
From October 18, media outlets around the world will broadcast, on paper and online, RSF’s campaign visual highlighting the danger that the prosecutions initiated by the American government against Julian Assange.
Developed in partnership with French advertising agency BETC, RSF’s new communications campaign features an image of Julian Assange whose facial features are made up of the logos of dozens of media organizations from around the world.
These media outlets were among those that initially published articles based on leaked classified documents published by WikiLeaks in 2010.
“As the fate of Julian Assange hangs in the balance, it is more important than ever that media organizations and journalists around the world express their support for the principles at stake. If the U.S. government succeeds in extraditing and prosecuting Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, anyone who publishes articles based on leaks of classified information could be prosecuted and, ultimately, it is our right to be informed that will be affected. It is time to demonstrate international solidarity in support of journalism and press freedom, before it is too late.
Rebecca Vincent
Director of RSF campaigns
He also recalls the “Collateral Murder” video that was part of the documents released by WikiLeaks in 2010, revealing an air-to-ground attack by a US Army Apache helicopter on the outskirts of Baghdad that killed at least a dozen civilians. , including two journalists from the Reuters agency .
The campaign is supported by Le Monde (France) and The Guardian (United Kingdom), which were among the first media partners to have worked with WikiLeaks in 2010 on the “Cablegate” documents, i.e. more than 250,000 diplomatic cables having been made the subject of a leak.
The campaign was also supported by many other media outlets around the world.
RSF is launching this campaign less than a week before Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s state visit to Washington DC, from October 23 to 26, where he will be welcomed by US President Joe Biden.
RSF called on the two leaders to find a diplomatic solution to the Assange affair on this occasion.
RSF will also launch a global tweetstorm targeting President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese the weekend before the state visit, October 20-22.
The campaign launch also comes as the final stage of the UK’s legal proceedings approaches, where a hearing is expected to take place any day – a date referred to as “Day X” .
This hearing will mark the final stage of the national proceedings, leaving only the possibility of an application to the European Court of Human Rights if the British court rejects Julian Assange’s appeal against the extradition order.
The United States and the United Kingdom are respectively ranked 45th and 26th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2023
World Press Freedom Index .
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