Ai Weiwei Supports Assange With Silent Protest
Umer Jamshaid Published September 28, 2020 | 04:51 PM
Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei held a silent protest on Monday outside a London court to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces extradition to the United States
London (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Sep, 2020 ) :Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei held a silent protest on Monday outside a London court to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces extradition to the United States.
Exiled Ai, who left China for Germany in 2015 after becoming a target of Beijing's wrath, said Assange's possible prosecution in the US was "unbelievable".
"Let him to be a free man," Ai said outside the Old Bailey court in the British capital, wearing a pink T-shirt featuring him next to Assange, both holding up a middle finger.
"He truly represents the very core value of why we are fighting, the freedom of the press." Assange faces 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Evidence in the trial stage of his long-running battle against extradition entered its fourth week Monday and is due to end within days.
But the judge hearing the case has said it will be at least six weeks before she delivers a verdict -- meaning it will come after the US presidential election on November 3.
It is the latest in a series of legal battles faced by Assange since the leaks a decade ago.
In 2010, he faced allegations of sexual assault and rape in Sweden, which he denied.
He was in Britain at the time but dodged an attempt to extradite him to Sweden by claiming political asylum in Ecuador's embassy in London.
In November 2019, Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation over the rape allegation, after failing for years to interrogate Assange in person while he was holed up in the embassy.
Assange lived in a small apartment there for seven years, but was turned over to British police in April 2019 after a change of government in Quito.
Ai, 62, said he had met Assange several times during this period and, although he did not know him well, felt he was being unfairly targeted.
"Each step is more and more difficult for him. It's unbelievable. He is prepared to fight but alas it's not fair conditions, this is not fair to him.
"They tried to smash him and his name," he added.
Ai said he chose to stage a silent protest because "all the words we want to say are already there".
"As an artist, if I cannot use my art -- which is very limited -- then I rather just be silent." Ai, a long-time critic of the government in Beijing, is China's best known modern artist.
He helped design the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium, but was detained for 81 days in 2011 as part of a crackdown on dissent.
His passport was confiscated and only returned to him in 2015, after which he moved to Berlin.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Under training officers visit Special Branch Headquarters Roberts Club
Industries promotion can help eliminate unemployment : Sindh Minister for Indus ..
Step afoot to ensure durable peace in Balochistan: Ziuallah
PML-N office torching cases: ATC summons PTI leaders, others for indictment on M ..
Oman, UAE deluge 'most likely' linked to climate change: scientists
CRBC tender to be floated by June; Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali ..
122 cases registered against accused involved in drug trafficking
Models, poster and quiz competition held at AIOU
Passco GM, deputy visit wheat procurement centers in Burewala
Non-Muslim Pakistanis enjoy freedom, state patronage: Kundi
Dengue Control Committee gathers in Jhang
BHP launches $38.8 billion takeover bid for rival Anglo American
More Stories From World
-
Oman, UAE deluge 'most likely' linked to climate change: scientists
9 minutes ago -
BHP launches $38.8 billion takeover bid for rival Anglo American
19 minutes ago -
Saudi oil giant Aramco agrees major FIFA sponsorship deal
19 minutes ago -
Putin says plans to visit China in May
19 minutes ago -
Haiti transitional council sworn in after months of violence
1 hour ago -
Ukrainian village battles mines year after Russia forced out
1 hour ago
-
China's Shenzhou-18 mission takes off bound for space station
1 hour ago -
Thousands of flights scrapped as French air traffic controllers strike
1 hour ago -
India's IndiGo to buy 30 A350 planes: Airbus
1 hour ago -
Scottish leader scraps coalition deal with Greens
1 hour ago -
Paris landmark Moulin Rouge's windmill sails collapse
2 hours ago -
155 killed in Tanzania as heavy rains lash East Africa
2 hours ago