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Julian Assange's wife has praised campaign journalist John Pilger as a “steadfast ally of the dispossessed”.
Stella Assange, who the WikiLeaks founder married in prison, was among those who described the ITV documentary maker as “one of the great” journalists.
Pilger had pushed for the release of Assange, who has been held in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since his release from the Ecuadorian embassy, and criticized his friend's imprisonment.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) also described the 84-year-old documentary filmmaker, who died on Saturday according to his family, as “a giant of journalism”.
On X, formerly Twitter, Stella Assange wrote: “Our dear John Pilger has left us. He was one of the greats.
“A consistent ally of the dispossessed, John dedicated his life to telling their stories and bringing the world's attention to the greatest injustices.
“He showed great empathy for the weak and was unwavering in the face of the powerful. John was one of Julian's most vocal supporters, but they also became the closest of friends.
“He fought for Julian’s freedom until the end. “We are all Spartacus when we want to be,” he wrote in his last published article. That was John, who challenged us until the end. Let's always try to rise to the challenge. Thanks dear friend.”
Next year, the Supreme Court will hear Julian Assange's final appeal against his extradition to the US, where he faces a sentence of 175 years.
Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the NUJ, said: “John Pilger was a giant of journalism who, in his career as a reporter, witnessed significant historical events such as the assassination of Robert Kennedy and the wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra.”
“He was also a pioneer of television as a medium for investigative journalism, producing groundbreaking work on the BBC and ITV.”
The NUJ member was also, according to Ms Stanistreet, an “unquestionable supporter of progressive campaigns, producing work that represents the embodiment of a journalism that manages to be at once fair and balanced while clearly being on the side of the underdog”.
Pilger worked to bring to light the atrocities in Cambodia, the thalidomide scandal and various conflicts.
BBC senior journalist John Simpson wrote on X: “It is very sad to hear of the death of John Pilger. I liked him and I think the feeling was mutual, even though we disagreed on many things over the years.
“But I admired the power of his writing, even though I often didn’t support what he wrote, and he was always cordial when we met.”
Pilger had openly expressed his views on American and British foreign policy.
Lindsey German of the Stop the War Coalition, which has organized pro-Palestine protests, called Pilger's death a “very sad loss for the entire movement.”
She added: “He was a fearless and honest journalist who was a great critic of Western imperialism and whose experience covering successive wars gave him real insight into who benefits from the horrors of war.”
“He was a great friend of the anti-war movement in Britain and lent his powerful voice to a number of campaigns.”
Stop the War has also claimed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was partly caused by “NATO expansion” in Eastern Europe.