Stella Assange (Johannesburg, 40 years old) is tired, but if she speaks slowly, it's because this lawyer specializing in humanitarian law is carefully examining every word she says. He meets with EL PAÍS in the rooftop cafeteria of Waterstone's bookstore on London's Picadilly Street. Her husband, 52, who is incarcerated at Belmarsh maximum security prison, will call her during the interview.
Stella (her previous last name was Moris) has two children with the Wikileaks co-founder, aged five and six. They met 13 years ago at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where Assange remained protected for seven years. They married in prison a little over a year ago.
And after all this long journey, at the hearing held in London this week to decide on his possible extradition to the United States, the world began to discover that the Assange case is, above all, a defining moment for press freedom.
Questions. Two intense days of testing that the world is holding on to. It took the two judges a few weeks to decide on possible extradition. Optimistic?
Answer. I'm careful when I speak of optimism, but the truth is that I was preparing for the worst, for the idea that a few American agents would take Julian away on the second day of the hearing. After an hour, in the first session, I saw that both judges were really interested in the case. They asked for more information and at the end of the day it seemed clear that they would not make their decision this week, they asked for further clarification.
Q Many were surprised by the international support for Assange.
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R. I saw that support building. It didn't surprise me, but I think that the true situation has become clearer over time. People have started paying attention to the case.
Q. Did you speak to him after the trial? How do you feel?
R. He has conflicting feelings. On the one hand, he is encouraged by the support he has received. You feel like the rest of the world is watching what's happening, and that naturally gives you a protective feeling. Because their only hope remains: that the world can stop this process.
Q. He couldn't be present in the room…
R. Now he lives in a situation of great isolation and is very weak. He was unable to attend the hearing or attend via video conference. Of course he spoke to his lawyers. And the development of vision has continued. I was with him yesterday [por el viernes] with his brother and gave him my honest impression of the attitude of the judges.
Q. The defense's main argument was to denounce the “political motivation” of the prosecution of Assange.
R. The content of Wikileaks publications is political in the sense that it brings state crimes to light. That is the focus of the entire case. Julian is persecuted, prosecuted and imprisoned because of his political views.
Stella Assange, in London this Saturday. Ione Saizar
Q. And the United States wants to prosecute him using an archaic law that has never before been used against journalistic acts.
R. The Espionage Act of 1917, which the United States is using to demand Julian's extradition, is essentially a political crimes law. And such crimes are excluded in Article 4 of the Extradition Treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the United States.
Q. They do not even guarantee Assange the protection that the US Constitution gives to the press.
R. They argue that Julian is not an American and that he committed his alleged crimes outside this country, so he is not protected by the First Amendment's protections. [que contempla, entre otros derechos, la libertad de prensa]. Basically they are discriminating against you based on your nationality [australiana]. I believe the government and prosecutors are using this argument to easily sell their case to their own American press. Telling them something like, ‘Don’t worry, it will only affect Assange.’ If you’re an American, you’re protected.”
Q. They also question whether Assange is a journalist.
R. But that's irrelevant in a way. Because the very activity they describe as a crime is itself a journalistic activity: obtaining information from a source and publishing it.
Q. Is press freedom at stake in this case?
R. It's a crucial moment. For all its faults, the United States has always been a reference in defending freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Even in the worst of times, such as the Cold War, when there were strong reasons to restrict journalists, they did not do so. Consider, for example, the Pentagon Papers, which essentially ended the war in Vietnam.
Q. And was the persecution of Assange a sign?
R. This case has normalized the possibility of brutalization and intimidation of journalists around the world. In geopolitical terms, it has become very useful for repressive governments that use it as an example. Reduce demand for everyone.
“They don’t want to see me.”
Q. The fight is now legal, but in reality it has always been political. Have you received a signal from the British government?
R. I tried to meet the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Home Secretary James Cleverly but they don't want to see me. They hesitate to connect this issue with freedom of the press. It is logical. They go around the world proclaiming their defense, they can't admit that they have the problem at home.
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Q. They have warned that Assange could die if extradited to the US.
R. He can die because he ultimately faces the death penalty. The British government itself has admitted that it cannot guarantee that he will not be killed. And the United States has tried it before [según un informe de Yahoo News, nunca desmentido, la CIA planeó el asesinato de Assange]. Or he dies because the prison conditions are so brutal that he commits suicide.
Stella Assange, after the interview, this Saturday in London. Ione Saizar
Q. Are you afraid that you might take your own life?
R. He has a medical history of this. He already tried it when he was in his twenties. And at the moment he is suffering from depression. But I want to make it clear. Julian is a fighter. It's not the fact that he's the one threatening to take his own life. It is the conditions imposed on you that can push you to do this.
Q. What is the conclusion of this intensive week?
R. I believe that those who persecuted Julian have so far been willing to take action against him as long as they were allowed to. I think we're starting to realize that they're not going to get away with this. All lies have been exposed. But I don't know, maybe I make a mistake and nothing changes.
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