KOLJA’S Long Walk for Assange is heading for London and will join the weekly Saturday Vigil at Belmarsh Prison on Saturday from 12pm-2pm to demand that journalist and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is released and not extradited to the USA.
Speaking after having left Canterbury, in Kent, yesterday afternoon, Kolja said: ‘We started on 2nd July from the place where we have held a vigil place in Hamburg city centre for some time and marched to the British Consulate. Then my walk started at 6pm, along with my girlfriend and our kids – two 11 year olds and one seven-year-old.
‘My girlfriend and her kids stayed for two weeks and my child stayed for three – and I’ve been on my own since then. In Cologne, activists who have been holding a vigil for Julian joined the walk for ten kilometres.
‘I arrived at Dover last week on 7th September and we passed through Canterbury yesterday, staying for a few hours in front of the Cathedral but they wouldn’t let us in. The target is Belmarsh where Julian is held.
‘One of the reasons for my walk has been to educate the public on this subject. Press freedom is the main source of democracy, holding the people in charge accountable for the things they do.
‘WikiLeaks enabled us to think of all the wars and war crimes and corruption and environmental scandals, including the treatment of prisoners in Abu Graib and Guantanamo Bay.
‘Instead of the people who were responsible for the crimes, the journalist who exposed them is in prison. We have the right to know. This is the last chance that we and Julian have to re-set the system. The trade unions should take action to release him. I would have done this on my own, but on the way there have been supporters who have helped me a lot.
‘We, the people, have to stand up to regain freedom for the journalists and ourselves.’
Kolja’s progress can be followed on #longwalk-4assange
