Dear Mr. Julian Assange
Fortunately, in a media landscape that is largely dominated by the mainstream, there are also media that have made it their mission to promote and support the free formation of opinion, as well as respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
For several decades I have been a subscriber to one such medium, namely the newspaper Zeit-Fragen, which is published on a voluntary basis by a co-operative in Switzerland and appears every fortnight in German, English (Current Concerns) and French (Horizons et débats) – without commercial advertising.
In the 10 December 2024 edition of this newspaper, I was able to read your speech translated into German that you, dear Mr. Assange, gave to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 1 October 2024.
Your words touched me deeply. For years, I have repeatedly informed myself about your great commitment and your fate, to a large extent through articles in Zeit-Fragen. Among other things I learnt about the report and commitment of then UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer. A few years ago, I took part in a solidarity event at Cologne University with some of my friends, at which your father was present, as was German MP Sevim Dagdelen. My friends and I also took part in a solidarity demonstration in front of Cologne Cathedral.
I was touched to learn how actively your wife Stella and other personalities, including the Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzón, stood up for your personal freedom and freedom of expression. Perhaps you can imagine how relieved and happy I was to learn of your release in June this year and your opportunity to travel to Australia, where you can now be with your family.
I think it is great that you are now coming out into the open again after the intolerable and infamous conditions imposed on you by the US government on the occasion of your release. I have high regard and respect for your unwavering but hard-won strength and that you will not silently endure this injustice by the US government.
Thank you for informing and educating us in clear language.
Your voice is for me, as it is for many of my friends, one of the voices that helps me not to lose faith in upright humanity committed to the pursuit of truth.
I would like to do what I can to help these voices to be heard and – if possible – to increase their number.
It is urgently needed!
Thank you, Julian Assange.
With great respect
Annelene Neuhaus
(77-year-old German citizen,
retired teacher living in Cologne, Germany)
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