Transcript of Christine Assange is provided by Democracy Now
Julian Assange’s mother has spoken out in defense of her son. Christine Assange has traveled to London in an attempt to visit Julian in jail.
Christine Assange: “It’s a worry, of course. You know, I’m no different to any other mother. You know, every time the news goes on, I’m sort of glued to it. ‘Is he OK?’ And these massive forces have decided they’re going to stop him, and they’re not going to play by the rules.”
Christine Assange defended Julian’s actions and called on WikiLeaks supporters to defend their rights.
Christine Assange: “Don’t take your freedoms for granted, or you’ll lose them. They were hard fought for. People lost their lives, over and over again. And if we don’t protect them, we’ll lose them, and next time it could be your son or your daughter.”
Assange is expected to be in court in England tomorrow to request bail and fight extradition attempts by Sweden. Sweden has acknowledged should the US bring charges against the Wikileaks founder, they will accede to the greater charges and hand him over.
The US has declared Assange doesn’t qualify for protection under the 1st Amendment because he is not a real ‘journalist or publisher‘, a distinction which, if enacted, would threaten all news media.
Will the UK, as Sweden has, prove it is little more than a lap dog of the United States? Tomorrow may tell.
