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CALL TO ACTION IN SUPPORT OF JULIAN ASSANGE Background information:

Following the ruling from the Royal Courts of Justice on 2 November 2011 that ordered Julian Assange, founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, be extradited to Sweden in regards to allegations of rape and sexual molestation, we feel we, supporters of WikiLeaks, MUST act to gain more public attention for his legal case. We feel, in fact, that the current public climate, particularly affected by partial and biased media coverage of the legal case, has not permitted an extensive and detailed discussion of the possible consequences of sending Julian Assange to Sweden and, thanks to rendition agreements, to the United States of America to face possible treason charges following the release of diplomatic cables by alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. We have selected a few international organisations that we feel might help, with their relevance and reputation, in moving attention onto the irregularity of the current European Arrest Warrant (EAW), of which Julian Assanges case has become a famous example. More background information on http://www.swedenversusassange.com. the case and the court ruling can be found on
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The first we have selected is Fair Trials International. From their website Since 1992 Fair Trials International has worked for the better protection of fair trial rights and defended the rights of people facing criminal charges in a country other than their own. Our vision is a world where every persons right to a fair trial is respected, whatever their nationality, wherever they are accused. Please refer to their website for more information: www.fairtrials.net. We are still working on some others. This letter is to ask FTI to speak more publicly about Julian Assanges case, through lobbying or media campaigns. They have also recently contributed to a major Governmental review of the European Arrest Warrant.

Call to Action:
We would ask every supporter or general member of the public concerned about the handling of the case to write a letter or an email to FTI to the contacts we have selected below. The text that follows is an idea of what you might want to say, but you can add or amend to make it more relevant to you. Emails are welcome but we feel letters carry more weight. With letters they might feel more compelled to act and take notice. Imagine if they started receiving letter upon letter asking for the same thing! How it would even make a visual statement! Please remember that this case might set a precedent for future prosecutions involving EAWs so our action is needed, not only for Assange, but also for every other future case that might be affected by this one. It is for justice, human rights and the right of every individual to a fair trial. Please remember that FTI is an international organisation: you do not need to be British or European to send your letter or email to them.

Letter/Email to send:
To: Fair Trials International 3-7 Temple Chambers Temple Avenue London EC4Y 0HP United Kingdom

Catherine Heard, Head of Policy - Catherine.Heard@fairtrials.net and / or Jago Russell, Chief Executive - Jago.Russell@fairtrials.net and / or Rebecca Shaeffer, Legal Caseworker [shes US-trained] - Rebecca.Shaeffer@fairtrials.net and / or Anand Doobay, Trustee [was on the UK Home Office Extradition Review board] via postal address

Dear __________, I am writing to ask Fair Trials International to do more to support justice for Julian Assange in his extradition case against the Swedish Prosecution Authority either as a client case, through lobbying or with a media campaign. As your website states: the most effective way to demonstrate the need to protect the right to a fair trial is to highlight the compelling stories of victims of injustice. Julians case certainly fits this bill. The appeal ruling handed down by the British High Court this week effectively ignores the reforms to the EAW which Fair Trials has been calling for and, indeed, the two specific reforms the recent UK Extradition Review agreed should be implemented. In your 20 October 2010 letter to Viviane Reding, European Commission Vice-President in charge of Justice, you set out some of Fair Trials concerns with the European Arrest Warrant system. You called for proportionality tests to be introduced so that people are not extradited where this is disproportionate given the nature of the allegations, flexibility for courts to refuse extradition in cases of serious fundamental rights infringements, and the urgent end of the use of incommunicado pre-trial detention. Fair Trials called for these reforms to be implemented if the EAW system is to avoid further discredit. In her response of 19 November 2010 Viviane Reding highlighted that: A particular priority is reaching agreement among Member States on incorporating a consistent proportionality check before an EAW is issued and ensuring all alternative options have been considered. All of these problems apply in Julian Assanges case: the Swedish prosecutor has refused to use Mutual Legal Assistance to question him; he will not have access to an English translation of the full prosecution case file in sufficient time for his defence lawyers to review it properly before trial; and the Swedish prosecutor is on record as saying she intends to use incommunicado pre-trial detention. The UK Extradition Review which Fair Trials Anand Doobay participated in agreed that reforms were necessary on the issues of proportionality (the biggest problem with the EAW system) and of premature extradition where no decision had yet been made to prosecute, which also applies in Julian Assanges case. The Review suggested postponing surrender and placing the requested person on bail in the executing State until the case is trial-ready. I am also concerned that, if Julians extradition from the UK goes ahead, Sweden will use a temporary surrender mechanism for onward transfer to the USA in order to circumvent the safeguards of a formal extradition. See here for details: http://www.swedenversusassange.com/US-Extradition.html. More needs to be done to highlight this worrying issue too. Yours sincerely,

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