During his visit to London to attend the coronation of King Charles III, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called for the release of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who is currently incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison in southeast London. Lula is one of the few prominent figures who has been advocating for Assange’s release.
He criticized the lack of action by the press and the public in support of Assange’s case, stating that it is an embarrassment that a journalist who exposed wrongdoing is locked up and condemned to die in jail.
Assange, who has been imprisoned for more than four years, sent a letter to King Charles requesting him to visit the prison. The letter was written in a satirical tone and criticized the Tories for their attempts to implement the largest increase in jail capacity in more than a century and the poor quality of food served in the prison.
Assange wrote that he is honored to reside in Belmarsh, a world-class institution, as a political prisoner held at the pleasure of an embarrassed foreign sovereign. He also invited the King to visit his very own kingdom within a kingdom.
Assange-led WikiLeaks released classified US government documents in 2010, which exposed the US government’s actions, including classified diplomatic cables and military documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange remains in custody in the UK as of May 2023, and legal proceedings are underway in his case. The UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, approved the extradition on June 17, 2022, but Assange formally appealed against it on July 1, 2022.
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