Activists gathered in Washington to demand the discharge of the imprisoned WikiLeaks writer
Businessman Ben Cohen and several other CodePink activists have been arrested on Thursday outdoors the US Division of Justice, after demanding the discharge of imprisoned WikiLeaks writer Julian Assange from a British jail.
“Except issues change, and until we modify them, freedom of the press goes up in smoke,” Cohen informed the small group of activists gathered outdoors the DOJ constructing, earlier than setting hearth to a prop labeled ‘The Invoice of Rights’.
“There is no such thing as a democracy with out the liberty of the press, as a result of the press is the one factor that may maintain the federal government accountable,” he added.
Cohen demanded to satisfy with Lawyer Common Merrick Garland to debate the continuing imprisonment of Assange. After being informed he didn’t have an appointment, he sat down on the entrance to the constructing and refused to go away. He was then arrested by Homeland Safety police.
The protest additionally featured a billboard with a quote from Assange, studying “Censorship is for losers,” mounted on a truck that parked on the road outdoors the DOJ.
Assange has been held in Belmarsh jail in south London since April 2019, after Ecuador canceled his asylum underneath stress from the US. He had spent virtually seven years within the embassy of the Latin American nation, searching for refuge from trumped-up Swedish expenses he known as a entrance for US persecution.
After his arrest, Washington unsealed a years-old indictment charging the WikiLeaks writer underneath the Espionage Act for the 2010 publication of Iraq and Afghanistan battle paperwork. Among the many trove was the infamous ‘Collateral Homicide’ video displaying the US navy killing civilians, in addition to different categorised paperwork. If extradited and convicted, Assange faces as much as 175 years behind bars.
A variety of overseas leaders, media figures and even distinguished members of the ruling Democrats have known as on US President Joe Biden to drop the fees in opposition to Assange, up to now to no avail.
Cohen and his enterprise accomplice Jerry Greenfield co-founded Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in 1978, with social justice as one of many firm’s key values. He resigned as CEO in 1996 however remained on the governing board after the corporate was bought to the multinational Unilever in 2000. Cohen additionally continued with social activism, donating to the Democrats and supporting quite a lot of progressive causes within the US and overseas.
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