Keyvan:
»I follow, but can you please elaborate?«

Stella:
»Yes, Julian is risking extradition to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison. He's being put on trial for acts of journalism, for receiving information and possessing it, and communicating it to the public. He's a non-U.S. citizen who was not even in the United States. So, we're talking about the abuse of international cooperation to hound and imprison a person. This is obviously something that any country can use as a blueprint to silence their critics or rivals, whatever their motivations. It erodes sovereignty. It also erodes freedom of speech and freedom of the press.«

Because if one country can restrict the ability of a journalist in another country to publish and speak, then there is no real press freedom. And if Julian is in prison, we can't meaningfully talk about press freedom in the West.«

Keyvan:
»Do you feel that the case gets the support it needs?«

Stella:
»The political support is very strong and grows stronger by the day. From Australia, where Julian is from, the vast majority of Australians are calling for Julian to be released, for him to come home, and so on. There is bipartisan support from the major parties. The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, repeatedly urges the US government to end the pursuit of Julian. And the opposition agrees, so in Australia, there's no question this is an appalling injustice.«

Keyvan:
»Would you say that the situation is moving in the right direction?«

Stella:
»Yes, very much so. In the United States, where Julian's case is also stirring extreme controversy, recently, there was a letter to Biden, which was also bipartisan. I think there were 16 signatories. Six months ago, there was another letter that had seven signatories. So, now it's more than almost doubled. It's not just the progressives on the right side of the fringe, but Jim McGovern, the House Rules Committee ranking member, who is a very middle-of-the-road Democrat, led the letter.«

Keyvan:
»What is that a symbol of?«

Stella:
»It's a sign of the situation changing politically. Obviously, for many countries worldwide, the vast majority of countries, Julian's case is seen as a massive stain on Western liberal democracies, who present themselves as respecting press freedom, and and not imprisoning dissidents, but at the same time have kept Julian imprisoned without conviction.«