Letter to Boris Johnson:
Prime Minister,
On 10 December this year, on Human Rights Day, a British court decided to extradite Mr Julian
Assange to the US, where he faces the prospect of never leaving prison alive. Certain influential
circles have even made no secret of their intention to have him sentenced to death.
The founder of WikiLeaks has not harmed anyone. Nor has he endangered the security of any person or state. He has exposed the truth about military aggressions on whose reasons the public were deceived. He documented it with evidence sourced directly from relevant headquarters. He thus made an invaluable contribution to the anti-war effort in which the British Parliamentary Commission headed by Lord Chilcot played a major role.
Julian Assange’s personal freedom has been restricted for almost a decade. This has had serious
health consequences for him. He was even reported to suffer a stroke at the end of October. His case has thus become a distinctly humanitarian issue.
Your country has for centuries been a refuge to many personalities persecuted elsewhere. It always guaranteed freedom of speech even to promoters of non-conformist views. Mr Julian Assange has exercised such freedom in defence of human life and health, damaged by bloody aggressions. He has shown a bravery that deserves admiration and solidarity, not vindictive repression.
We therefore appeal to you, Prime Minister, as statesman and journalist, with an urgent request foryour personal intervention. Prevent the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to what could become a judicial crime! Advocate for his immediate release! By doing so, you would make a most credible
contribution to the defence of freedom of expression, preservation of democracy, and the fundamental values of modern civilisation.
- Eva Bartůňková, writer
- Jaroslav Bašta, Member of the National Assembly of the Czech Republic, signatory of Charta 77
- Mikuláš Beňo, Committee of National Culture
- Věra Beranová, writer
- Prof. RNDr. Ivo Budil, Ph.D., DSc. anthropologist, university teacher and writer
- Dr. Jan Campbell, writer and publicist
- Jaroslav Čejka, poet and writer
- MUDr. Ivan David, CSc., Doctor and Member of the European Parliament
- Mgr. Václav Dvořák, documentary filmmaker and editor
- PhDr. Petr Hampl, Ph.D., sociologist
- Dr. Milan Havlíček, publishing house director
- Dr. Rudolf Hegenbart, Committee of National Culture
- Ivan Hoffman, radio commentator and columnist
- Monika Hoření, journalist
- Mikoláš Chadima, musician, signatory of Charter 77
- RNDr. Pavel Kalenda, CSc., geophysicist and seismologist
- Prof. PhDr. Jan Keller, CSc., sociologist and ex-member of the European Parliament
- Doc. Mgr. Martin Konvička, Ph.D., entomologist and translator
- Jan Kristek, Chairman of the Committee of National Culture
- JUDr. Čestmír Kubát, CSc., legal expert and advocate
- Prof. PhDr. Stanislava Kučerová, CSc., historian
- Benjamin Kuras, writer and publicist
- Jiří Míča, writer
- PhDr. František Mrázek, CSc., historician
- Ing. Jiří Nejedlo, municipal politician
- RNDR. Igor Němec, mathematician and ex-chairman of the Office for Personal Data Protection
- PhDr. Marie Neudörflová, PhD., historician
- Mgr. Tomáš Novák, Th. D., clergyman
- Ing. Ivan Noveský, President of the Institute for Energy
- Eva Novotná, anti-war activist
- Stanislav Novotný, ex-president of the Police of the Czech Republic, chairman of the Association of Independent Media
- Václav Novotný, Chairman of the civic initiative No to military bases CR
- MUDr. Marek Obrtel, doctor
- Karel Picek, Committee of National Culture
- Jan Polášek, editor-in-chief of the cultural-political magazine
- Lenka Procházková, Charter 77 signatory, writer
- Marek Řezanka, poet and writer
- Doc. PhDr. Petr Sak, CSc., sociologist
- Jan Schneider, Charter 77 signatory, security analyst
- PhDr. Josef Skála, CSc., historian and ex-president of the International Union of Students
- Mojmír Soukup, poet
- Karel Srp, music publicist and director of the Jazz Section
- Petr Stančík, writer
- JUDr. Stanislav Suja, Ex-ambassador to the USA
- Ing. Karel Sýs, poet, writer, chairman of the Union of Czech Writers
- colonel Ing. Jaroslav Štefec, CSc., security expert
- Dr. Ing. Jaroslav Šulc, CSc., Ex-Minister of Finance and Macroeconomics
- JUDr. Ogňan Tuleškov, publisher of the Czech National Gazette
- Doc. PhDr. Radim Valenčík, CSc., macroeconomist and university teacher
- Ing. Alena Vitásková, Ex-Chairwoman of the Energy Regulatory Authority,
- předsedkyně IAV Libuše Vondrášková, anti-war activist
- JUDr. Jiří Vyvadil, advocate and arbitrator of the Chamber of Commerce and the Bar Association
- Jan Zeman, environmental expert and publicist
- Eva Žampachová, Committee of National Culture
- Doc. Mgr. Petr Žantovský, Ph.D., university teacher and writer
