Three months before his extradition hearing, imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange was defended as a pioneering journalist punished for exposing crimes of the state.

The following are remarks given at a conference on Thursday night at St. Pancras Church in London by some of Assange’s biggest defenders, including journalist and filmmaker John Pilger, former British diplomat Craig Murray, the UN special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, clinical psychologist Lissa Johnson, former Ecuadorian diplomat Fidel Narvaez, Lisa Longstaff, spokesperson for Women Against Rape and historian Mark Curtis. The video presentations are a production of Gordon Dimmack, and are republished here with his permission.