Vivienne Westwood has not been quiet about her support of the WikiLeakes founder Julian Assange. The journalist, programmer and founder of wikiLeakes faces upwards of 18 counts of indictments on the basis of publishing classified information and conspiring with Chelsea Manning, Former Army private who served a 7 year sentence in military prison in association with the case on Assange- hacking and Espionage Act charges. Upon Assange’s arrest, Westwood released t-shirts with the slogan, “ I fought the law” and later added that, “The United Nations define Julian as a political prisoner who should be released immediately with compensation. How can the British people maintain a degree of patriotism and belief in democracy when our Government has abandoned rule of law and imposed misrule?”
Julian Assange took residency in the Ecuadorian Embassy since 2012 upon being granted diplomatic asylum, but their vis-à–vis changed after President Lenìn Morena’s accession to power, before being arrested in April 2019, protection was revoked and Assange was arrested for breaching bail conditions.
A march took place on the from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street on 5thJune and on Tuesday, the veteran British designer, attended the Imperialism on trial event to defend Assange’s innocence. She told of her relationship as “an activist and a friend of Julian, all while he has been in the embassy — and before that.” Westwood ended by reading aloud a poem she had written for Assange and explained of his character as being “a man who puts himself in position to challenge government lies…we need him.”
