In a
#Unity4J Vigil 12.0 interview with Joe Lauria, Cassandra Fairbanks
described a recent visit to Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy.
She said
there was more of a 'process' this time. “Last year I organised
the visit with his lawyers” she said, “The embassy wasn't
involved at all. It was really simple. This time I had to fill out a
form detailing where I work, my employer's address, all my social
media accounts. If I wanted to bring my phone in I would have had to
provide the IMEI, serial number and all kinds of other information
about any device I brought. I figured it would be easier just to
leave it behind.”
Inside
the embassy things were also different. “The amount of cameras
and microphones were double or triple what was there last year. Now
no matter where you're standing, no matter where you are, there's a
camera picking you up and from pretty much every angle also which was
a little bit dystopian, creepy.” To get some privacy they ended
up “just passing notes” which Fairbanks thought was “a
little bit insane.”
She said
what struck her about Assange this time was “He can't even speak
freely about his thoughts and ideas to his friends ... where he's
living” which she feels is “a really scary thing.”
Despite this Assange is “in really good spirits. He looks a
little bit thinner than the last time I saw him but overall he was
tough. He's still bright, still sharp. They won't be able to break
him. He's strong and he knows how important his fight is and I don't
think that he'll give that up for anything.”
She said
“It's less that they don't want him to know what's going on in
the world, its that they don't want him to share his opinions and I
think they're succeeding on that.”
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