Troy Labor Council voted on May 17 in favor of the following resolution to support Julian Assange and WikiLeaks:
Whereas, Assange and Wikileaks have released a vast trove of primary source material unlike anything that journalists have ever had such ready access to,
Whereas, Wikileaks releases have made evidence-based journalism more possible than ever before,
Whereas, Julian Assange and WIkileaks have helped expose the role of the US and other governments’ war crimes and violations of international law and,
Whereas, Assange and WikiLeaks have, in the Podesta emails, Vault 7, the Trade in Services Agreement, and many other releases, exposed the collusion between government officials, politicians, oligarchs, and corporations against the public interest, including even the survival of life on earth,
Whereas, the UK government has ripped Julian Assange out of Ecuador’s London Embassy and arrested by Theresa May’s government in the UK government and then most likely extradited to the United States for criminal prosecution and,
Whereas, the US government and the UK government refuse to prosecute any of the war criminals that have been exposed by the whistleblowing of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and,
Whereas, there is a systematic effort by the US government to harass, repress and jail reporters and whistleblowers who exposed corruption and criminal activities by government officials and,
Whereas, US politicians have called for the murder and torture of Julian Assange to silence him and,
Whereas, the Australia Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance (MEAA) union made Julian Assange an honorary member for life, waived his fees, and called for the defense of his rights
Whereas, leading intellectuals and whistleblowers including Daniel Ellsberg, John Kiriakou, Ray McGovern, Chris Hedges, Vijay Prashad and Coleen Rowley have called for unity in support of Julian Assange,
Therefore be it resolved that the Troy Area Labor Council calls for the freedom of Julian Assange.