The Belmarsh Tribunal, Sydney — Free Assange [FULL AUDIO]

On 4 March 2023, Australia hosted the fifth sitting of the Belmarsh Tribunal. Julian Assange, the Australian publisher who founded WikiLeaks, faces 175 years in prison if extradited from the Belmarsh Prison where he is currently held in the United Kingdom. Assange’s case is the first time in history that a publisher has been indicted under the US Espionage Act. Inspired by the Russell-Sartre Tribunals of the Vietnam War, the Belmarsh Tribunal brings together a range of expert witnesses — from lawyers to journalists to parliamentarians, union officials, whistleblowers and human rights defenders — to present evidence of this attack on publishers, to seek justice for the crimes they expose, and to demand the Biden Administration cease this prosecution. Since its launch in 2020, the Progressive International has hosted four Belmarsh Tribunals, convening parliamentarians and public figures in a virtual tribunal (2020), at Church House at Westminster (2021), in New York City (2022) and in Washingto