Simon has the radio on, and it's the big news here about Australian Julian Assange speaking from the balcony of the Ecuador embassy in England.
I'm disgusted with the Australian gov for not standing up for one of it's own citizens in this. It's obvious America wants him after labelling him a terrorist, and even wanting his death. He's now been given asylum by Ecuador, who are now in a stand off with the British gov to get him to Ecuador.
Some of what he said from the balcony. Listening to him on the radio, I think this is a defining moment in this whole thing:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appeared on the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy to ask US President Barack Obama to make his country "do the right thing" and "renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks". "The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation," he said. "The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute … our staff or our supporters. The US must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful."There must be no more foolish talk about prosecution of media organisations, be they WikiLeaks or The New York Times." ................................Wearing a shirt and tie and sporting a new crew-cut, Mr Assange demanded that the US return to its "revolutionary values" before it lurched over a precipice into which it dragged "all of us": "A dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the threat of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark”.The US “war on whistleblowers” must end, he said, making a forceful call for the release of Bradley Manning, an American soldier detained over espionage claims for allegedly leaking material to WikiLeaks.To loud cheers from dozens of supporters - held back by more than 40 police - Mr Assange said the United Nations had found that Mr Manning had endured months of "torturous detention" at Quantico and was about to have his 815th day in jail without trial.
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