Before the 31st United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, 500 human rights organizations, law professors, former UN office holders, and high-profile rights defenders including four Nobel Peace Prize laureats and a Pulitzer Prize winner, have urged the United Kingdom to respect the United Nations’ decision to free Julian Assange. The statement was delivered to the Swedish and UK Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva.

The document delivered to the UK and the Swedish representatives stated:

“We the undersigned, including legal and human rights organisations, academics, and policymakers condemn the reactions of the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to the finding by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Julian Assange is arbitrarily detained.

The governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom are setting a dangerous precedent that undermines the United Nations Human Rights system as a whole. We urge Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the binding nature of the human rights covenants on which the decision is based, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; as well as the independence, integrity and authority of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

We therefore call on the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to comply without further delay with the Working Group’s findings and “ensure the right of free movement of Mr. Assange and accord him an enforceable right to compensation, in accordance with article 9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

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This is the updated list of professors that have endorsed the statement for the immediate release of Mr. Assange

(The full list of the over 500 signatories further bellow)

Professor Manuel Alcántara Sáez, Professors of Politics, Spain

Professor Mads Andenas, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary Detention, Norway

Professor Dr. Renata Aquino Ribeiro, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil

Professor Atilio A. Boron, Political scientist, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Professor Jean Bricmont, Academic, University of Louvain (UCL), Belgium

Professor Tom Bäckström, Academic, University Friedrich-Alexander (Erlangen-Nürnberg), Germany

Professor Alicia Cebada-Romero, Professor of International Criminal Law at Universidad , Spain

Professor Noam Chomsky, Academic, MIT, US

Professor John Cooper, Academic, Bucknell University, US

Professor Willem de Lint, Professor in Criminal Justice, Flinders University, Australia

Professor Willem de Lint, Professor in Criminal Justice, Flinders University, Australia

Professor Olivier de Schutter, Former UN Special Rapporteur, University of Louvain (UCL), Belgium

Professor Radhika Desai, Academic, Author, University of Manitoba, Canada

Professor Mirta Díaz-Balart, Academic, UCM, Spain

Professor Hedvig Ekerwald, Academic, Uppsala University, Sweden

Professor Aant Elzinga, Academic, Gothenburg University, Sweden

Professor Mireille Fanon-Mendes, Academic and Activist, University Paris V-Descartes, France

Professor Med. dr. Marcello Ferrada de Noli, Chairman Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, Sweden

Professor Marianne Franklin, Chair of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network, University of London, UK

Professor H. Bruce Franklin, Cultural Historian and Scholar, Rutgers University, US

Professor Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies, Norway

Professor Jayati Ghosh, Economist, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India

Professor Gerard Goggin, Professor of Media & Communications, Sydney University, Australia

Professor Mary Heath, Associate Professor of Law, Flinders University, Australia

Professor Edward S. Herman, Academic, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, US

Professor Wang Hui, Intellectual, China

Professor Venko Kanev, Academic, University of Rouen, France

Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Chair of Department Sydney University, Australia

Professor Priscilla Karant, Academic, New York University, US

Professor John Keane, Professor of Politics, Sydney University, Australia

Professor John King, Emeritus Professor, Warwick University, UK

Prof. Michael Lebowitz, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Canada

Prof. Geert Lovink, Research Professor, Institute of Network Cultures, Netherlands

Professor Rick Luttmann, Academic, Sonoma, US

Associate Professor Jake Lynch, Sydney University, Australia

Professor Mahmoud Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government Columbia University, Uganda

Professor Robert Manne, Emeritus Professor of Politics and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University, Australia

Professor Michael Mansfield QC, Barrister, Legal Scholar, City University, UK

Professor Aitor Martínez-Jiménez, Professor of Public International Law and International Criminal Law , Spain

Professor Patrick McCurdy, Associate Professor in Communications, University of Ottawa, Canada

Professor Michel Mujica, Academic and Diplomat, Ecuador

Professor Manuel Ollé Sese, Professor of International Criminal Law , Spain

Philip Pettit, Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University, US

Professor Rafael Pla-Lopez, Academic, University of Valencia, Spain

Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Founding Director of the Program on Human Rights and Justice at MIT., Professor of Law, US

Professor Ignacio Ramonet, Academic, France

Professor Robert Reed, Academic, Boston College, US

Professor Stuart Rees , Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney, Australia

Professor Med. dr. Anders Romelsjö, Vice chairman Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, Sweden

Professor Héctor Salazar Zapatero, Academic, Hiperderecho, Peru

Professor Saskia Sassen, Sociologist, Columbia University, US

Professor Richard Sennett, London school of Economics & New York University, UK

Professor Jean-Marc Sorel, Professor of International Law, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

Professor Robert Sparrow, Research Fellow, Monash University, Australia

Professor Joan Subirats, Academic, Universidad Autónoma Barcelona, Spain

Brita Sundberg-Weitman, Former Chief Judge and Associate Professor of Public International Law, Sweden

Professor Emeritus Michael Edward Tigar, Duke Law School and Washington College of Law, US

Professor Manuel Villoria-Mendieta, Director of Government Administration and Public Policy, Institute Ortega y Gasset, Spain

Professor Ben Wagner, Sociologist, Germany

Professor Joel Weisberg, Academic, Carleton College, US

Professor Stephen Yellin, Academic, Stanford University, US

Professor Spencer Zifcak, Professor of Law, Australia

Nobel Prize winners

Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, former judge, lawyer, Iran

Tawakkol Karman, Politician, Journalist, Nobel Peace Laureate 2011, Yemen

Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Co-founder Women for Peace, Northern Ireland

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Argentina

Pulitzer Prize winner

Laura Poitras, 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner, Academy Award for Best Documentary 2014, US

Besides the professors and Nobel Prize winners, the signatories included:

more than 500 high profile signatories from more than 60 countries

more than 100 human & legal rights organizations including 16 national associations of lawyers and jurists

25 Freedom of expression organizations including Reporters Without Borders, the EFF and The Freedom of the Press Foundation.

The immediately former UN Special Rapporteur for Arbitrary Detention Mads Adenas and five other former UN Special Rapporteurs, Experts and Working Group Chairs.

The cities of Madrid & Barcelona

Activists: Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot, Naomi Klein & Arundhati Roy

Over 100 academics from 65 universities

The Case Assange Fact-Checker

[Text below from the site Justice for Assange]

Significant information has come to light since the Assange story was originally covered in the media and UK courts in 2012.

The facts, as contained in official court documents and other official material on this case, are the following:

1. The UN formally found in February 2016 that Julian Assange is unlawfully detained by Sweden and the UK. On 5 February 2016, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention announced its decision after a 16-month investigation into his case. Sweden and the UK participated in the process, but their arguments failed to convince the panel that their actions against Julian Assange were justified. The UN ordered Sweden and UK to immediately release him and compensate him for violating his rights.

2. Assange has not been charged and he is not wanted for trial. The UK Supreme Court acknowledged that Assange is not charged in Sweden. The prosecutor acknowledged in correspondence with UK authorities that the matter is a ’preliminary investigation’, and that no decision had been made to charge.

3. Assange does not “believe” there is an ’espionage’ case against him, it is a fact. On 19 May 2016, the FBI told a US court that it continues to actively pursue Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. On 15 March 2016, the US Department of Justice filed a 113 page document to court saying that there is a pending national security prosecution against Assange and WikiLeaks. A federal warrant from 2012 shows that the WikiLeaks case concerns Espionage, Conspiracy to commit Espionage, Theft of Government Property, Electronic Espionage (classed as a terrorism offence under the Patriot Act), and (general) Conspiracy. Assange’s alleged co-conspirator, Chelsea Manning, is sentenced to 35 years for revealing information to WikiLeaks. She filed an appeal against her sentence on 18 May 2016.

http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/wiki…

4. Assange has not “refused to come to trial or indeed be questioned” Assange has asked that he be interrogated in the UK by Swedish authorities since 2010, but the prosecutor declined. Correspondence from 2015 shows Assange agreed unconditionally to a questioning. Since he was arrested in 2010, 44 other people have been questioned in the UK by Sweden. The Swedish Court of Appeal (confirmed by Sweden’s Supreme Court) made a finding in 2014 that the prosecutor in the case had breached her duty in the Assange case by refusing to progress the case by questioning Assange in the UK for 5 years.

5. Assange did not “flee”. Assange stayed in Sweden for 5 weeks in order to be questioned, during which time the prosecutor declined to question him on a number of occasions. Assange left Sweden with the consent of the prosecutor. He entered the Ecuadorian embassy and applied for asylum, which is his right, and was granted it in relation to the US espionage case.

Agreed facts to the UK Supreme Court 2012 Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Paino Asylum Grant Press Conference transcript

6. Assange has already been cleared and the woman says the police made it up in order to ’get him’. On August 25 2010, Assange was cleared of the suspicion of ’rape’ by Stockholm’s Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne, who stated she “made the assessment that the evidence did not disclose any offence of rape”. On 25 of August, the prosecutor stated that “The conduct alleged disclosed no crime at all and that file (K246314-10) would be closed”. The case was only resurrected after a politician, Claes Borgstrom, intervened in the case. The police report states that she felt “railroaded by police and others around her”. While she was at the police station to inquire about HIV tests she sent messages to friends saying that she that she “did not want to put any charges on JA but that the police were keen on grabbing him” (14:26) and “did not want to accuse JA for anything”; that “it was the police who made up the charges”; and that she was “shocked when they arrested JA” because she “only wanted him to take a [HIV] test” (17:06).

Agreed facts to the UK Supreme Court 2012

Sworn Affidavit by Julian Assange, September 2013

Follow @assangevsweden for up to date information on the case.

The Full list of Signatories

1. Organisations

Acceso Libre, Venezuela ACI Participa, Honduras ActiveWatch-Media Monitoring Agency, Romania Acção Académica para o Desenvolvimento das Comunidades Rurais, Mozambique Agencia Latinoamericana de Información, Bolivia Agência Publica, Brazil Alternative Intervention of Athens Lawyers (AIAL), Greece American Association of Jurists (AAJ), US Arab Lawyers Union (ALU), Middle East Articulação de Empregados Rurais do estado de MG (ADERE-MG), Brazil Artistas, Cientificos y Movimientos Sociales, Cuba Asamblea Nacional de Afectados Ambientales, Mexico Asociación Mayoritaria de Afrodescendientes del Ecuador AMAE, Ecuador Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC), Argentina Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, Egypt Associação de Rádios Públicas do Brasil (ARPUB), Brazil Associação Portuguesa de Juristas Democratas (APJD) (Portuguese Association of Democratic Jurists), Portugal Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Australia Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism, Brazil Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Canada Capitulo Cubano De La Red En Defensa De La Humanidad De Intelectuales, Cuba Center for Constitutional Rights, US Center for International Law, Singapore Centre Europe-Tiers Monde (CETIM), Switzerland Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia CHARTA 2008, Sweden City of A Coruña, Spain City of Barcelona, Spain City of Madrid, Spain Code Pink, US Coletivo Juntos! – Por outro futuro, Brazil Comision Nacional de Organizaciones Sociales de Uruguay, Urugauy Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT), Brazil Comite Carioca de Solidariedade a Cuba, Brazil Comite en Solidaridad con la Causa Arabe, Spain Comité Chileno De Solidaridad Con Palestina, Chile Comité de Derechos Humanos de Base de Chiapas Digna Ochoa, Mexico Comité de Solidaridad con los Pueblos, Latin America Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos CDH, Ecuador Comunidad de Software Libre de Nicaragua (GUL-NIC), Nicaragua Confederación de Trabajadores y Servidores Públicos Nacional OSTNA, Ecuador Confederación Intercultural Campesina del Ecuador AMARU, Ecuador Consulta Popular, Brazil Convergencia Nacional de Organizaciones Sociales del Ecuador, Ecuador Cooperativa de Trabalho em Comunicação e Cultura Desacato, Brazil Coordenação Nacional de Entidades Negras (CONEN), Brazil Coordinador Nacional Agrario de Colombia CNA, Colombia Cuba Si France, France Demand Progress, US Democratic Alliance for Knowledge Freedom, India Derechos Digitales, Chile Electronic Frontier Foundation, US Equal Education Law Centre, South Africa Eva Joly Institute for Justice & Democracy (EJI), Iceland Executiva Nacional dos Estudantes de Biologia (ENEBIO), Brazil Federación Española Pro Derechos Humanos, Spain Federación Internacional Pro Derechos Humanos-España, Spain Federação dos Estudantes de Agronomia do Brasil (FEAB), Brazil Festivales Solidarios de Guatemala, Guatemala Fora do Eixo, Brazil Foro de Abogados de Izquierdas-red de Abogados Democratas (FAI-RADE), Spain Foro de Comunicación para la Integración de Nuestra América, Latin America Foundation for Fundamental Rights, Pakistan Free Software Foundation Tamil Nadu, India Free Software Mancha West Bengal, India Free Software Movement Karnataka, India Free Software Movement Maharashtra, India Free Software Movement of India, India Freedom of the Press Foundation, US Fundacion Karisma, Colombia Fundación Imagen, Bolivia Fundación Pueblo Índio del Ecuador, Ecuador Fundación Vivian Trías, Urugauy Fórum Nacional pela Democratização da Comunicação (FNDC), Brazil Giuristi Democratici (Italian Democratic Lawyers Association), Italy Grupo Tortura Nunca Mais – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Guerrilleros Por la Paz GUEPAZ, Colombia HackLab de Cochabamba, Bolivia Hagámonos El Paro, Guatemala Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), India Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Turkey Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, US Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Azerbaijan Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos Políticos-IBEP, Brazil International Association of Democratic Lawyers Intersindical Central da Classe Trabalhadora, Brazil IT for Change, India Japanese Lawyers International Solidarity Association (JALISA), Japan Joao Daniel, Federal Congress Representative, Workers Party, Sergipe, Brazil JustNet Coalition, India Juventud en Progreso, Ecuador Jóvenes ante la Emergencia Nacional, Mexico La Corporación Colectivo de Abogados “José Alvear Restrepo” (CCAJAR), Colombia La Quadrature du Net, France Levante Popular da Juventude, Brazil Liga Española Pro Derechos Humanos, Spain Luna del Sur A.C. Oaxaca, Mexico Marcha Mundial das Mulheres (MMM), Brazil Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas (MMC), Brazil Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB), Brazil Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultores (MPA), Brazil Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra (MST), Brazil Movimento Nacional de Rádios Comunitárias (MNRC), Brazil Movimiento de Liberación Nacional, Mexico Movimiento De Solidaridad Nuestra America, Mexico Movimiento Mega, Brazil National Association of Democratic Lawyers of South Africa (NADEL), South Africa National Lawyers Guild, US National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, Philippines Nouvelles Alternatives pour le Développement Durable en Afrique (NADDAF), Togo O Grupo tortura Nunca Mais, Brazil Observatorio por el Cierre de la Escuela de las Américas, Chile Observatório da Mulher, Brazil Organización de Solidaridad de los Pueblos de África, Asia y América Latina (OSPAAAL), Cuba Organização “Coletivo Quilombo”, Brazil Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Gaza, Palestine Pastoral da Juventude Rural (PJR), Brazil Periódico Resumen Latinoamericano , Latin America Podemos, Spain Prensa Comunitaria, Guatemala President del Partido Revolucionario Febrerista, Paraguay President Fundación Manuel Gondra, Paraguay Progress Lawyers Network, Belgium Progressive Global Commons Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDesc), Mexico Proyecto mARTadero, Bolivia Red Alba TV, Latin America Red Alternativa de Informacion Vientos del Sur VISUR, Colombia Red Latina Sin Fronteras, Latin America Red Nacional Communia, Brazil Red Tz’ikin, Guatemala Rede Ecumênica da Juventude (REJU), Brazil Reporters Without Borders / Reporters Sans Frontières, France Revista Reflexión, Peru Rättssäkerhetsorganisationen (The Rule of Law Organisation), Sweden Secretaría Operativa de ALBA, Latin America Sindicato Unificado dos Petroleiros de São Paulo, Brazil Society for Knowledge Commons, India Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), Thailand Spanish Association for International Human Rights Law (AEDIDH), Spain Sursiendo, Costa Rica Swadhin, India Swecha, India The Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development (PAPDA), Haiti Union de Juristas de Cuba, Cuba Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru Universidad Popular del Buen Vivir, Ecuador União da Juventude Rebelião (UJR), Brazil União da Juventude Socialista (UJS), Brazil União Nacional dos Estudantes (UNE), Brazil Veterans for Peace, US Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Switzerland World Forum for Alternatives, Venezuela 2. Individuals Jean-Michel Jarre, Electronic Pioneer Musician and Composer, UNESCO Ambassador and President of CISAC, France Heidie Moreno Castelli, Dr in Law, Writer (born in Buenos Aires, Argentina) Living in Paris, France Enrique Acosta Estévez, Human Rights Activist, Paraguay Mirta Acuna de Baravalle, Co founder Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Argentina Phillip Adams AO, Journalist, Australia Juan Agosto, Journalist, Argentina Shahzad Akbar, Human rights lawyer, Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR), Pakistan Santiago Alba-Rico, Writer, Spain Marina Albiol, Member of the European Parliament, Spain Professor Manuel Alcántara Sáez, Professors of Politics, Spain Tariq Ali, Writer and Publisher, UK/Pakistan Martín Almada, American Asociation of Jurists Executive Committee, Right Livelihood Award winner 2002, Paraguay Azyz Amami, Blogger and cyber-activist, Tunisia Slim Amamou, Activist and former Secretary of State for Sport and Youth, Tunisa Alejandra Ancheia, Executive Director and Founder, ProDESC, Mexico Alejandra Ancheita, Human Rights Defender, Mexico Professor Mads Andenas, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary Detention, Norway Jacob Appelbaum, journalist and programmer, Tor Project, US Profa. Dra. Renata Aquino Ribeiro, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil Carmen Aristegui, Anchor of Aristegui CNN Español, Mexico Renata Avila, Lawyer, Guatemala Pepe Baeza, Photographic Editor, Spain Aral Balkan, Founder of Ind.ie, Turkey Olivia Ball, Human Rights Specialist, Australia Edith Ballantyne, Secretary General (WILPF) 1969 – 92, awarded Gandhi Peace Award 1996, Switzerland Adam Bandt, MP, Australia Greg Barns, barrister & former National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Australia David Barsamian, Investigative Journalist, Armenian-American Andrew Bartlett, Research Fellow, ANU, Australia Helene Bergman, Journalist, Sweden Patricia Bermúdez, Iniciativa Guayaquil, Ecuador Almudena Bernabeu, Director Transitional Justice Program, Center for Justice & Accountability, Spain Valeria Betancourt, Internet Rights Expert, Ecuador Frei Betto, Writer, Brazil Jeremy Bigwood, Investigative Reporter, US Johann Binninge, Founder and Chairman of the Legal Certainty Organization, Sweden William Blum, Author, US Professor Atilio A. Boron, Political scientist, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Luchezar Boyadjiev, Artist, Bulgaria Estela Bravo, Documentary filmmaker, US Dr. Benedetta Brevini, Journalist and Lecturer, Australia Professor Jean Bricmont, Academic, University of Louvain (UCL), Belgium Luis Britto-García, Writer, Venezuela Gilbert Brownstone, President, Brownstone Foundation, US Dr. Fernando Buen Abad Domínguez, Academic, Writer, Cinema director NY University, Philosopher, Writer, Mexico Dr. Scott Burchill, Senior Lecturer, Deakin University, Australia Al Burke, Editor Nordic News Network, Sweden Julian Burnside, QC, Australia Professor Tom Bäckström, Academic, University Friedrich-Alexander (Erlangen-Nürnberg), Germany Maria Stella Caceres, Director: Museum of Memory: Dictatorship and Human Rights, Paraguay Dr. Agnes Callamard, Director Colombia University Global Freedom of Expression Project, former Chef de Cabinet Amnesty International, US Maria Augusta Calle, Asambleísta de PAIS, Presidenta Comisión RRII d Asamblea Nacional, Ecuador Peter Carey, Author, Australia Remo Gerardo Carlotto, Diputado de la nación Argentina por la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina Mike Carlton, Journalist, Australia Guillermo Carmona, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chamber of Deputies, Argentina Anibal Carrillo, 2013 Presidental Candidate, Paraguay Jordi Casanova, Political Officer, Dominican Republic Bernard Cassen, Academic, University of Paris 8, France Professor Alicia Cebada-Romero, Professor of International Criminal Law at Universidad , Spain Mercedes Chacin, Director Epale, Venezuela Ramon Chao, Journalist and Writer, Spain Professor Noam Chomsky, Academic, MIT, US Dr. James Cockroft, Lecturer and writer, New York State University, US Gabriella Coleman, Academic Writer, McGill University, US Professor John Cooper, Academic, Bucknell University, US Javier Couso, Member of the European Parliament, Spain Alfonso Cuarón, Film Director, Producer, Acedemy Award for Gravity, Children of Men, Y tu Mama Tambien, Mexico John Cusack, Actor, US Joao Daniel, Central Única dos Trabalhadores – CUT, Brazil Roy David, Author, UK Pablo A de la Vega , Regional coordinator Inter-American Platform for Human Rights, Democracy and Development, Latin America Adail Ivan de Lemos, Journalist, artist and Filmmaker, Brazil Professor Willem de Lint, Professor in Criminal Justice, Flinders University, Australia Professor Olivier de Schutter, Former UN Special Rapporteur, University of Louvain (UCL), Belgium Professor Radhika Desai, Academic, Author, University of Manitoba, Canada Mohamed Diab, Screenwriter and Director, Egypt Josefina Duarte, President Febrero Revolutionary Party, Paraguay Paul-Emile Dupret, legal expert and staff advisor at the European parliament, Belgium Professor Mirta Díaz-Balart, Academic, UCM, Spain James Early, Academic, US Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, former judge, lawyer, Iran Professor Hedvig Ekerwald, Academic, Uppsala University, Sweden Osman El-Hajjé, Former Chair-Rapporteur of UN Working Group on Enforced Disapperances, Lebanon Daniel Ellsberg, Former United States military analyst and source of Pentagon Papers, US Professor Aant Elzinga, Academic, Gothenburg University, Sweden Brian Eno, Musician and Artist, UK Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Argentina Edgardo Esteban, Journalist and Writer, Argentina Ahmed Ezzat, Human Rights Lawyer, Egypt Professor Mireille Fanon-Mendes, Academic and Activist, University Paris V-Descartes, France Gaël Faye, Musician, Burundi Luis E. Sabini Fernández, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Professor Marcello Ferrada de Noli, Chairman Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, Sweden Alberto Ferrari, Journalist, Argentina Marcelo Ferreira, Academic, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Tom Findlay, Recording Artist, UK Jeremy Fox, Journalist and Writer, Open Democracy, US Alberto Fraguas-Herrero, CEO Instituto de Estudios de la Tierra, Spain Maria Luiza Franco Busse, Journalist, Brazil Professor Marianne Franklin, Chair of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network, University of London, UK Professor H. Bruce Franklin, Cultural Historian and Scholar, Rutgers University, US Jane Franklin, Historian, Author, US Dr. Des Freedman, Academic, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK Alipio Freire, Journalist, Writer and Artist, Brazil Professor Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies, Norway Lidia García Díaz, Coordinadora de Incidencia Política del Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos, Ecuador Nuria García Sanz, Equipo Jurídico Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España, Spain José Luis García-Siguero, Academic, University of Madrid, Spain Baltasar Garzon, Jurist, Fundación FIBGAR, Spain Franck Gaudichaud, Lecturer, University of Grenoble Alpes, France Professor Anders Romelsjö, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Vice chairman of Swedish Doctors for Human Rights Marcela Gereda, Journalist, Guatemala Canan Gerede, Film-maker, Turkey Bennu Gerede, Actress, Turkey Professor Jayati Ghosh, Economist, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India Peggy Gish, Former co-director of the Appalachian Peace and Justice Network, Christian Peacemaker Team, US Charles Glass, Author, Journalist, and Broadcaster, US Professor Gerard Goggin, Professor of Media & Communications, Sydney University, Australia Dr. David Goldberg, Editor, Australia Horacio González, President of the National Library of the Argentine Republic, Argentina Adelaide Gonçalves, Historian, Brazil Walter Goobar, Journalist, Argentina Belén Gopegui, Writer, Spain John Goss, Journalist, UK Kevin Gosztola, Journalist, US Andrew Greig, Writer, UK Anand Grover, Former UN Special Rapporter on Health, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India, India Rafaela Guanes de Laino, Organización de Mujeres Campesinas e Indígenas (CONAMURI), Paraguay Sol Guy, Film & Music Producer, Canada Bill Hackwell, Photojournalist, Resumen Latinoamericano, US Dr. Harry Halpin, Academic, MIT, US Laura Hanna, Co-founder Debt Collective, US Marta Harnecker, Writer, Chile Nozomi Hayase, Writer, Japan/US Professor Mary Heath, Associate Professor of Law, Flinders University, Australia Chris Hedges, Journalist, US Amado Heller, Editor, Argentina Tom Henheffer, Journalist, Canada Professor Edward S. Herman, Academic, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, US Scott Horton, Host of Anti-War Radio, US Srećko Horvat, Philosopher, DiEM25, Croatia Dr. François Houtart, Co-Founder World Social Forum, Ecuador Andrew Hsiao, Editor Verso Books, US Professor Wang Hui, Intellectual, China Emin Huseynov, Journalist and human rights activist, Azerbaijan Iole Iliada, Fundação Perseu Abramo, Brazil Maria Antonieta Izaguirre, Phycologist, Venezuela Andrés Izarra, Journalist and Politician, Venezuela Ivanka Jenkings, Publisher, Brazil Diane Johnstone, Journalist and Author, France Eva Joly, MEP, former investigating magistrate and Presidential Candidate, France Alicia Jrapko, Solidarity activist, Resumen Latinoamericano, US Marcelo Justo, Journalist, Argentina Professor Venko Kanev, Academic, University of Rouen, France Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Chair of Department Sydney University, Australia Professor Priscilla Karant, Academic, New York University, US Dr. Athina Karatzogianni, Academic, Leicester University, UK Tawakkol Karman, Politician, Journalist, Nobel Peace Laureate 2011, Yemen Claudio Katz, Economist, Argentina Professor John Keane, Professor of Politics, Sydney University, Australia Bernard Keane, Journalist, Australia Stephen Keim , Barrister, South Coast Medical Service Aboriginal Corporation, Australia Zach Kerschberg, Filmmaker, US James Kesteven, Documentary Film-Maker, Australia Maina Kiai, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Kenya Axel Kicillof, Former Minister of Finance, Argentina Professor John King, Emeritus Professor, Warwick University, UK Dr. Bernard Kirtman, Academic, UCSB, US Naomi Klein, Author, Canada Mary Kostakidis, Journalist, Australia Hans Otto Kroeger, Atorney, Paraguay Dennis Kucinich, Former presidential candidate and Congressman, US Domingo Laino, President Plataforma de Estudio e Investigación de Asuntos Campesinos, Paraguay Salim Lamrani, Writer and Academic, University of La Réunion, France Archie Law, Executive Director ActionAid, Australia Pepijn Le Heux, Attorney, Netherlands Michael Lebowitz, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Canada Dr. Margarita Ledo Andión, Journalist, Writer and Film-Maker, USC, Spain Pablo Leighton, Academic, University of Western Sydney, Chile Bibiana Leme, Deputy Editor Boitempo, Brazil Jonathan Lethem, Novelist, US Ken Loach, Film Director, UK Barbara Lochbihler, Member of the European Parliament, Germany Antony Loewenstein, Journalist, Author and Political Activist, Australia Geert Lovink, Research Professor, Institute of Network Cultures, Netherlands Michael Lowy, Sociologist, France Kintto Lucas, Former Deputy Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Ecuador Senator Scott Ludlam, Senator, Australia Tony Lujan, Politician, Argentina Professor Rick Luttmann, Academic, Sonoma, US Jake Lynch, Associate Professor, Sydney University, Australia Ryan Lynn, Actor, US Maj Wechselmann, Swedish author and prize-winner film director and documentary producer John R. MacArthur, Journalist, Author, President of Harpers magazine, US Gavin Macfayden, Executive Director, Center for Investigative Journalism, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK Stefano Maffei, Lawyer, Italy Paolo Magagnoli, Research Associate, Queensland University, Australia Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Co-founder Women for Peace, Northern Ireland Rachel Maher, President EngageMedia, Australia Professor Mahmoud Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government Columbia University, Uganda Eduardo Mangas, Lawyer, Nicaragua Professor Robert Manne, Emeritus Professor of Politics and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University, Australia Professor Michael Mansfield QC, Barrister, Legal Scholar, City University, UK Sanjuana Martinez, Journalist, Mexico Eusebio Veron Martinez, Secretario de Organización del Partido Paraguay Tekopyahu e integrante de la Coordinadora de Desarroll, Paraguay Professor Aitor Martínez-Jiménez, Professor of Public International Law and International Criminal Law , Spain Alberto Mas, CAP Coordinator and Journalist, Argentina Mwalimu Mati, Former head of Transparency International Kenya, Kenya Professor Patrick McCurdy, Associate Professor in Communications, University of Ottawa, Canada Nick McKim, Senator , Australia Dr. Cynthia McKinney, Former U.S. Congresswoman and 2008 Presidential Candidate, US Gayle McLaughlin, Politician, US Hind Meddeb, journalist and filmmaker, France Amina Meddeb, Diplomat, France Bartomeu Melià, Jesuit Priest, Autonomous University of Social Movements, Mexico Bonita Meyersfeld, Director, Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Alan Mills, Writer, Guatemala Alex Mitchell, Journalist, Australia Samwel Mohochi, Executive Director Kenyan Section of International Commission of Jurists, Kenya Edgar Morin, Philosopher, France Evgeny Morozov, Author, Belarus Jacqueline Moudeina, Right Livelihood Award winner 2011, Chad Professor Michel Mujica, Academic and Diplomat, Ecuador Craig Murray, Former UK ambassador, UK Carmen Márquez-Carrasco, Academic, Derechos Humanos y Globalización, Spain Cecilia Nahón, Former Argentinain Ambassador to US, Argentina Mirjana Najcevska, Former President of the Helsinki Committee, UN Expert, Macedonia Jean-Luc Nancy, Philosopher, France Toni Navarro, Cinema Director, Organización Internacional pro Derechos Humanos, Spain Enrique Naveda, Journalist, Guatemala/Spain Eric Nepomuceno, Writer, Brazil George Newhouse, Lawyer, National Justice Project, Australia Tim Norton, Digital Rights Watch, Australia Fís Nua, Political Party, Ireland Rebecca O’Brien, Film Producer, UK Tomás Ojea Quintana, Former SR on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Argentina Professor Manuel Ollé Sese, Professor of International Criminal Law , Spain Dr. Winston Orrillo, Author, Premio Nacional de Cultura del Perú, Peru Jordi Ortega, Promotor de Forum Ecòlogic, Forum Ecòlogic, Spain Carlos Ortellado, Coordinador de la mesa nacional por los DDHH del Paraguay, Paraguay Jean Ortiz, Academic, University of Pau & Pays de l’Adour, France Okoth Osewe, Author and Blogger, Kenya Stockholm, Sweden Elizabeth O’Shea, Lawyer, Australia Yongjun Park, Academic, Hongik University, South Korea Melissa Parke, MP, Australia Airton Paschoa, Writer, Brazil Gastón Pauls, Writer, Argentina Maja Pelević, Writer and Dramaturg, Serbia Rene Perez, Musician (Calle 13), Puerto Rico Philip Pettit, Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University, US Bernard Pignerol, Conseiller d’Etat, Government of France, France John Pilger, Journalist and Filmmaker, Australia/UK Professor Rafael Pla-Lopez, Academic, University of Valencia, Spain Laura Poitras, 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner, Academy Award for Best Documentary 2014, US Vladimir Pomakov, writer, Bulgaria Dirk Poot, Politician (Pirate Party of the Netherlands) and Programmer, Netherlands Jesselyn Raddack, Lawyer & former Department of Justice ethics chief, US Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Founding Director of the Program on Human Rights and Justice at MIT., Professor of Law, US Ana Maria Ramb, Writer & Editor, Argentina Professor Ignacio Ramonet, Academic, France Sonia Randhawa, Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), USA Justin Randle, Researcher, Australia Michael Ratner, President Emeritis Centre for Constitutional Rights, US Professor Robert Reed, Academic, Boston College, US Madeleine Rees OBE, Lawyer, UK Professor Stuart Rees , Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney, Australia Víctor Regalado, Journalist and Filmmaker, El Salvador Dr. Ellie Rennie, Deputy Director of the Swinburne Institute for Social Research, Australia Miguel Repiso, Journalist, Argentina Lee Rhiannon, Senator, Australia Janet Rice, Senator , Australia Daniel Richter, Artist, Germany Angela Richter, Director and Writer, Germany Jennifer Robinson, Lawyer, Australia Dr. Rigmor Robèrt, M.D, Sweden Silvio Rodriguez, Composer and Musician, Cuba Martin Rodriguez-Pellecer, Journalist, Guatemala Yudith Rolon, Director General Justicia y Reparación Defensoría del Pueblo, Paraguay Andrew Ross, Academic and Writer, New York University, US Peter Rosset, Academic, Michigan University, Mexico Agustin Rossi, Minister of Defense 2013 – 2015, Argentina Arundhati Roy, Author, India Guy Rundle, Journalist, Australia Douglas Rushkoff, Writer, Lecturer, Media Theorist, US Emir Sader, Academic, Brazil Professor Héctor Salazar Zapatero, Academic, Hiperderecho, Peru Felix Salvador Kury, Program Director & Faculty Advisor, Clínica Martín-Baró, SFSU-UCSF, US Luc Sante, Writer, Belgium Ivan Santos, President Organizacion Aculco, Spain Professor Saskia Sassen, Sociologist, Columbia University, US Ildo Luis Sauer, Director of the Institute for Energy and Environment, University of São Paulo, Brazil Peter Schey, Executive Director Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, US Justin Schlosberg, Academic, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK Sylvia Schulein, Journalist, Ecuador Laureano Seco-Tejada, Activist and Politician, Spain Professor Richard Sennett, London school of Economics & New York University, UK Pascual Serrano, Journalist and Writer, Spain José Miguel Serrano, Director of the National Board of Student Aid and Scholarships (Junaeb), Chile Rachel Siewert, Senator , Australia Germán Silva Lozada, President La Fundación Humanitaria Por La Paz y la Integracion de los Pueblos del Sur, Colombia Robert Simms, MP, Australia Pertti Simula, Director, Assocoacao de Amigos sem Terra da Finlandia, Finland Vaughan Smith, Executive Director, The Frontline Club, UK Professor Jean-Marc Sorel, Professor of International Law, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France Raji Sourani, President of the Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR), Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 2013 Right Livelihood Award, Palestine Professor Robert Sparrow, Research Fellow, Monash University, Australia Dr. Jeff Sparrow, Author, Australia Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation, GNU Project, MIT, US Aleen Stein, Founding partner Criterion Collection, CEO and Publisher of Organa L.L.C., US Alan L. Stewart, Director of Progressive Global Commons, US Bernard Stiegler, Philosopher, France Danae Stratou, Visual Artist, Greece Oliver Stone, Film Director, Screenwriter and Producer, US Professor Joan Subirats, Academic, Universidad Autónoma Barcelona, Spain Brita Sundberg-Weitman, Former Chief Judge and Associate Professor of Public International Law, Sweden George Szamuely, Author, Senior Research Fellow at the Global Policy Institute, Hungary Alex Taek-Gwang Lee, Academic, Kyung Hee University, South Korea Peter Tatchell, Human Rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell Institute for Human Rights, UK Michel Taupin, Director of Communication, Cuba Si France, France Svante Thorsell, Lawyer, Sweden Ernesto Tiffenberg, Director Pagina 12, Argentina Michael Edward Tigar, Emeritus Professor, Duke Law School and Washington College of Law, US Trevor Timm, Executive Director Freedom of the Press Foundation, US Nadya Tolokonnikova, Conceptual Artist and Political Activist, Pussy Riot, Russia Miguel Urbán, Member of the European Parliament, Co-founder PODEMOS, Spain Patricia Vaca Narvaja, Ambassador of Argentina in Mexico, Argentina Walter van Holst, Lawyer, Netherlands Marc Vandepitte, Philosopher, Belgium Yanis Varoufakis, Economist and former Greek Minister of Finance, Greece Cristina Vazquez, International Vice President of Workers United, US Horacio Verbitsky, President, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Argentina Professor Manuel Villoria-Mendieta, Director of Government Administration and Public Policy, Institute Ortega y Gasset, Spain Professor Ben Wagner, Sociologist, Germany Larissa Waters, Deputy Leader of the Australian Green Party, Australia Professor Joel Weisberg, Academic, Carleton College, US Ai weiwei, Artist and Activist, China Rohan Wenn, Journalist, Australia Vivienne Westwood, Designer, UK Leonardo Wexell Severo, Journalist and Writer, Brazil Peter Whish-Wilson, Senator, Australia Stuart Wilson, Lawyer, South Africa Tracy Worcester, The Marchioness of Worcester, Actress and Environmentalist, UK Ofelia Yegros, Architect, Paraguay Professor Stephen Yellin, Academic, Stanford University, US Professor Spencer Zifcak, Professor of Law, Australia Slavoj Žižek, Philosopher and International Director of Humanities at Birkbeck, Slovenia

Mr Assange’s Current Status

[Text below from the site Diem25.org]

Mr Assange been granted political asylum by Ecuador in response to the pending prosecution pending against him in the US in relation to Wikileaks publications, which include revelations of the US spying on allied governments, as well as the UN Secretary General and the UNHCR. After a 16 month investigation, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) has found that Mr Assange has been unlawfully detained by the UK and Sweden and should be released and compensated.

The US states that it continues its ‘pending prosecution’ against WikiLeaks. The case is being handled by the Department of Justice National Security Division & Criminal Division.

The current status of the ‘preliminary’ investigation in Sweden: Julian Assange has not been charged at any stage and has already previously been cleared. For the one allegation remaining in the ‘preliminary investigation’ the woman says the police ‘made it up’, ‘railroaded’ her and that she did not intend to file a complaint. (see https://justice4assange.com/Assange-Case-Fact-Checker.html and https://justice4assange.com/Accurate-reporting-on-the-one.html)

“Julian Assange should have been freed a long time ago. The judgment of the UN Working Group is welcome, and should be implemented forthwith.”

—Noam Chomsky

“UK politicians [have] aimed at weakening the authority of the UN body for short-term opportunistic gain.”

– Prof. Mads Andenas, professor of international law (Oxford All Souls) and UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary Detention.

The original list of signatories appeared in the site Diem25.org