“Truth Ultimately Is All We Have” Julian Assange Appeals for Public Support

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange  has detailed the repressive conditions  he faces in Britain's Belmarsh Prison and called for a campaign against his threatened extradition to the United States  in a handwritten letter to independent British journalist Gordon Dimmack  who decided to make it public following last Thursday’s announcement by the US Justice Department of additional charges against Assange accusing him of violating the Espionage Act.
Assange in the letter says he is being denied a chance to defend himself and that elements in the US that “hate truth, liberty and justice” want him extradited and dead. The letter  also acts as a critique of Washington’s attempts to crush media freedom, and is a call to action from his supporters.
The WikiLeaks publisher had sought refuge in Ecuador in 2012, claiming – correctly, as it turned out – that trumped-up charges in Sweden would be used to get him extradited to the US.
The new 18-count indictment handed down in the Eastern District of Virginia alleges that Assange actively solicited classified information, goading  former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning Manning to obtain thousands of pages of classified material and providing Assange with diplomatic State Department cables, Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees.
In April, prosecutors in Virginia revealed that Assange had been charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to helping Manning obtain access to Defense Department computers in 2010.
Assange's initial indictment spared a debate over the First Amendment and whether Assange's alleged role in procuring secret US material constituted protected journalistic activity. Press freedom advocates have expressed concern that a conviction of Assange could undermine protections for journalists to challenge government secrecy.
The U.S. government charged Assange with: one count of conspiring to violate the Espionage Act; three counts of violating a provision of the Espionage Act that targets individuals who obtain information they’re not authorized to receive; and four counts of violating a provision of the Espionage Act in which prosecutors allege Assange “solicited” information.
Prosecutors assert Assange “aided, abetted, counseled, induced, procured, and willfully caused [Chelsea] Manning, who had lawful possession of, access to, and control over documents relating to the national defense” to “communicate, deliver, and transmit the documents” to WikiLeaks. He faces nine charges under two provisions of the Espionage Act for this alleged conduct.
The Justice Department focused on a list published to the WikiLeaks website in 2009 that was titled, “Most Wanted Leaks.”
“Assange personally and publicly promoted WikiLeaks to encourage those with access to protected information, including classified information, to provide it to WikiLeaks for public disclosure,” the indictment argues. And, “WikiLeaks’ website explicitly solicited censored, otherwise restricted, and until September 2010, ‘classified’ materials.” 
 The new charges against Assange have alarmed even the mainstream media outlets that have spent years pouring vitriol on WikiLeaks, as they began to realize his prosecution along these lines would essentially criminalize all journalism. Assange's crime was doing his job, informing us, having shown us the brutality of collateral damage and the cruelty of war  amongst other sinister illegal activities by politicians and governments.
Assange is currently serving 50 weeks in Belmarsh prison for skipping bail – a sentence WikiLeaks described as “shocking and vindictive”. The UN working group on arbitrary detention also said it was a “disproportionate sentence” for what it described as a “minor violation”. Assange’s next hearing is set for Thursday May 30 at Westminster Magistrates Court in London.

WikiLeaks responds to espionage act indictment against Assange: Unprecedented attack on free press

'The indictment carries serious implications for WikiLeaks publishing partners, numbering over one hundred across the globe, including The New York Times, The Telegraph and The Guardian, who collaborated on the publications and may now face co-defendant charges.
The final decision on Assange’s extradition rests with the UK Home Secretary, who is now under enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the U.K. and elsewhere. Press rights advocates have unanimously argued that Assange’s prosecution under the Espionage Act is incompatible with basic democratic principles.This is the gravest attack on press freedom of the century.'

Below is the full text of Assange’s letter to Gordon Dimmack: 

'I have been isolated from all ability to prepare to defend myself, no laptop, no internet, no computer, no library so far, but even if I do get access it will be just for half an hour with everyone else once a week. Just two visits a month and it takes weeks to get someone on the call list and the Catch-22 in getting their details to be security screened. Then all calls except lawyer are recorded and are a maximum 10 minutes and in a limited 30 minutes each day in which all prisoners compete for the phone. And credit? Just a few pounds a week and no one can call in.
A superpower that has been preparing for 9 years with hundreds of people and untold millions spent on the case. I am defenceless and am counting on you and others of good character to save my life.
I am unbroken albeit literally surrounded by murderers. But the days when I could read and speak and organise to defend myself, my ideals and my people are over until I am free. Everyone else must take my place.
The US government or rather those regrettable elements in it that hate truth liberty and justice want to cheat their way into my extradition and death rather than letting the public hear the truth for which I have won the highest awards in journalism and have been nominated seven times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Truth ultimately is all we have.'

 Source: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/05/25/assa-m25.html

Write to Julian Assange: Here's How 

Mr Julian Assange 
DOB: 3/07/1971 
HMP Belmarsh 
Western Way 
London SE28 0EB
UK

You may send mail to the address above (you must include Julian’s date of birth in UK format, DOB: 3/07/1971. Do not include his prisoner number.
You must include your full name and address on the back of the envelope, or else the letter will not be delivered.
Include a blank piece of paper with a self-addressed envelope for Julian to write back. It must be pre-stamped (UK stamps only). Do not send loose stamps. Click here for stamps. Include 2 UK first class stamps for international mail.
All letters are read by Belmarsh & security. Do not send letters containing sensitive matters.
You may send paper items only, such as letters, photos & drawings. Please do not attempt to send other items. Postcards are not allowed.

WriteJulian.com