Rome to Grant Honorary Citizenship to WikiLeaks Founder Assange
Rome City Council Grants Honorary Citizenship to Julian Assange
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is currently detained in England and facing extradition to the USA, has been granted honorary citizenship by the Rome City Council. The proposal to bestow this honor upon Assange was accepted with 27 votes in favor and 2 against during a vote held today.
Former Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, a municipal council member affiliated with the 5 Star Movement (M5S), had initially brought the proposal to grant Assange honorary citizenship to the agenda in October 2023. Following the successful vote, Raggi stated, “We finally succeeded. Giving honorary citizenship to Julian Assange. The decision has been approved. This is an important signal for a person whose fundamental rights have been violated repeatedly.”
This gesture from Rome follows similar actions taken by other cities in Italy, such as Naples and Reggio Emilia, which had previously granted honorary citizenship to Assange in a show of support.
Assange’s legal troubles stem from the publication of 251,000 secret documents by WikiLeaks, which exposed crimes committed by the USA in Iraq and Afghanistan on October 28, 2010. He was taken into custody on April 11, 2019, after being ousted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had sought refuge since June 2012.
After facing a series of legal battles, the Supreme Court ruled on December 10, 2021 that Assange could be extradited to the USA. Subsequent decisions and appeals have kept the extradition case ongoing, with the next hearing scheduled for February 20-21.
The granting of honorary citizenship by the Rome City Council serves as a symbolic show of support for Assange, who continues to fight against extradition and to defend his rights.
