<nettime> Statement by Julian Assange after Six Months in Ecuadorian Embassy

[Geert Lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

Statement by Julian Assange after Six Months in Ecuadorian Embassy  
(Thursday December 20th, 19:00 GMT)
Six months ago - 185 days ago - I entered this building.

It has become my home, my office and my refuge.

Thanks to the principled stance of the Ecuadorian government and the
support of its people I am safe in this Embassy and safe to speak from
this Embassy.

And every single day outside, people like you have watched over this
embassy - rain hail and shine.

Every single day. I came here in summer. It's winter now.

I have been sustained by this solidarity and I'm grateful for the
efforts of people all around the world supporting the work of
Wikileaks, supporting freedom of speech and freedom of the press,
essential elements in any democracy.

While my freedom is limited, I am still able to communicate this
Christmas, unlike the 232 journalists who are in jail tonight.

unlike Godfried Svartholm in Sweden tonight

unlike Jeremy Hammond in New York tonight

unlike Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain tonight

unlike Bradley Manning who turned 25 this week, a young man who has
maintained his dignity after spending more than 10% of this life in
jail, some of that time in a cage, naked and without his glasses.

and unlike the so many others whose plights are linked to my own.

I salute these brave men and women. And I salute those journalists and  
publications that have covered what has and continues to happen to  
these people, and to journalists and publications that continue  
publishing the truth in the face of persecution, prosecution and  
threat - who take journalism and publishing seriously.

Because it is from the revelation of the truth that all else follows.

Our buildings can only be as tall as their bricks are strong.

And our civilization is only as strong as its ideas are true.

When our buildings are erected by the corrupt. When their cement is
cut with dirt. When pristine steel is replaced by scrap-our buildings
are not safe to live in.

And when our media is corrupt. When our academics are timid. When our
history is filled with half truths and lies. Our civilization will
never be just. It will never reach the sky.

Our societies are intellectual shanty towns. Our beliefs about the
world and each other have been created by same system that has lied us
into repeated wars that have killed millions.

You can't build a sky scraper out of plasticine. And you can't build a
just civilization out of ignorance and lies.

We have to educate each other. We have to celebrate those who reveal
the truth and denounce those who poison our ability to comprehend the
world we live in.

The quality of our discourse is the limit of our civilization.

This generation has come to its feet and is revolutionizing the way we
see the world.

For the first time in history the people affected by history are its
creators.

As for other journalists and publications - your work speaks for
itself, and so do your war crimes.

I salute those who recognize that freedom of the press and the publics
right to know- recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and in the 1st Amendment in the US - is in danger and needs protection
like never before.

Wikileaks is under a continuing criminal investigation and this fact
has been recognized by Ecuador and the governments of Latin America as
one that materially endangers my life and work.

Asylum is not granted on a whim but on facts.

The US investigation is referred to in testimony under oath in US
courts, is admitted by Department of Justice and by the District
Attorney of Virginia as a fact. It's subpoenas are being litigated in
the courts. The Pentagon reissued its threats against me in September
and claimed the very existence of Wikileaks is an ongoing crime.

My work will not be cowed. But while this immoral investigation
continues, and while the Australian government will not defend the
journalism and publishing of Wikileaks, I must remain here.

However, the door is open - and the door has always been open - for
anyone who wishes to speak to me. Like you I have not been charged
with a crime. If ever see spin that suggests otherwise, note this
corruption of journalism. Then goto justice4assange.com for the full
facts. Tell the world the truth.

Despite the limitations, despite the extra judicial banking
blockade, which circles WikiLeaks like the Cuban embargo, despite
an unprecedented criminal investigation and campaign to damage and
destroy Wikileaks, 2012 has been a huge year.

We have released nearly a million documents. made significant releases
- relating to events unfolding in Syria.

We have exposed the mass surveillance state and hundreds of thousands
of documents from private intelligence companies.

We have released information about the treatment of detainees at
Guantanamo bay and elsewhere.

We've won against the blockade in the courts and the European
Parliament.

And after a two year fight contributions to WikiLeaks have gone from
being tax deductible no where to being tax deductible across the
entirety of the European Union and the United States.

And last week information revealed by Wikileaks was vital in
determining what really happened to El Masri, an innocent European
kidnapped and tortured by the CIA.

Next year will be equally busy. Wikileaks already has well over a
million documents to release. Documents that affect every country in
the world. Every country in this world.

And in Australia an unelected Senator will be replaced by one that is
elected.

In 2013 we continue to stand up to bullies. The Ecuadorian government
and the governments of Latin America have shown how cooperating
through shared values can embolden governments to stand up to bullies
and support self determination. Their governments threaten no one:
attack no one: send drones at no one. But together they stand strong
and independent.

The tired calls by Washington power brokers for economic sanctions
against Ecuador, simply for defending my rights, are misguided and
wrong. President Correa rightly said, "Ecuador's principles are not
for sale.". We must unite to defend the courageous people of Ecuador
against interference in its economy and interference in its elections
next year.

The power of people speaking up and resisting together terrifies
corrupt undemocratic power. So much so that ordinary people in the
West are now the enemy of governments, an enemy to be watched,
controlled and impoverished.

True democracy is not the White house. It is not Canberra. True
democracy is the resistance of people armed with the truth, against
lies, from Tahrir to London. Every day, ordinary people teach us that
democracy is free speech and dissent.

For once we, the people, stop speaking out, and stop dissenting, once
we are distracted or pacified, once we turn away from each other, we
are no longer free. For true democracy is the sum of our resistance.

If you don't speak up, if you give up what is uniquely yours as a
human being, you surrender your consciousness; your independence,
even your sense of what is right and wrong. In other words, perhaps
without knowing it, you become passive and controlled, unable to
defend yourself and those you love.

People often ask, "What can I do?" the answer is not so difficult.

Learn how the world works. Challenge the statements, actions and
intentions of those who seek to control us behind the facades of
democracy and monarchy.

Unite in common purpose and common principle to design, build,
document, finance and defend.

Learn, challenge, act.

Now.



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