Stella Assange (Johannesburg, 40 years old) is tired, but if she speaks slowly it is because this lawyer specialized in humanitarian law measures each word she says well.
She meets with EL PAÍS in the rooftop cafeteria of the Waterstone's bookstore, on London's Picadilly Street.
Her 52-year-old husband, locked up in Belmarsh maximum security prison, will call her during the course of the interview.
Stella (her previous surname was Moris) has two children with the Wikileaks co-founder, aged five and six.
They met 13 years ago, at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where Assange remained protected for seven years.
They got married inside prison, a little over one year ago.
And after all that long journey, the world has begun to discover, during the hearing held in London this week to decide his possible surrender to the United States, that the
Assange case
is, above all, a crucial moment for press freedom.
Ask
.
Two intense days of trial, with the world hanging on.
The two judges have taken a few weeks to decide the possible extradition.
Optimistic?
Answer
.
I am cautious when it comes to speaking of optimism, but the truth is that I prepared myself for the worst, for the idea that on the second day of the hearing a couple of American agents would take Julian away.
After an hour, in the first session, I saw that both magistrates were really interested in the case.
They asked for more information and, at the end of that day, it seemed clear that they would not make their decision this week, they demanded more clarifications.
Q.
Many have been surprised by the international support for Assange.
R.
_
I have seen how that support was building.
It hasn't surprised me, but I think the passage of time has allowed the true situation to be perceived more obviously.
People have started to pay attention to the case.
P.
_
Have you spoken to him after the trial?
How does she feel?
R.
_
She has contradictory feelings.
On the one hand, he is encouraged by the support he has received.
He can feel that the rest of the world is watching what is happening and that gives him a protective feeling, obviously.
Because it remains his only hope: that the world is able to stop this process.
P.
_
He could not be present in the room...
R.
_
Now he lives in a situation of great isolation and is very weak.
She could not attend the trial, nor be present via videoconference.
He has spoken to his lawyers, of course.
And she has followed the development of sight.
I went to see him yesterday [Friday] with his brother and I told him my honest impression regarding the attitude of the judges.
P.
_
The main argument of the defense has been to denounce the “political motivation” of the persecution of Assange.
R.
_
The content of Wikileaks publications is political, in the sense that they expose state crimes.
That is the center of gravity of the entire case.
Julian is persecuted, prosecuted and imprisoned as a result of his political opinions.
Stella Assange, this Saturday in London. Ione Saizar
P.
_
And the United States intends to prosecute him with an archaic law, never before used against journalistic acts.
R.
_
The Espionage Act of 1917, which the United States uses to request Julian's extradition, is by its very nature a political crimes law.
And these types of crimes are ruled out in article 4 of the extradition treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the United States.
P.
_
They do not even guarantee Assange the protection that the US Constitution protects the press.
R.
_
They argue that Julian is not an American and that he committed his alleged crimes outside that country, so he is not protected by the constitutional protection granted by the First Amendment [which includes, among other rights, freedom of the press].
Basically, they are discriminating against him because of his [Australian] nationality.
I believe that the Government and prosecutors use this argument to have an easy sale of his case to their own American press.
To tell them something like “don't worry, it will only affect Assange.
“If you are an American, you are protected.”
P.
_
They also question whether Assange is a journalist.
R.
_
But that, in a way, is irrelevant.
Because the very activity that they describe as a crime is itself a journalistic activity: receiving information from a source and publishing it.
P.
_
Is freedom of the press at stake in this case?
R.
_
It is a crucial moment.
Despite all its faults, the United States has always been a reference in the defense of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Even in the worst times, such as during the Cold War, when there were powerful reasons to restrict journalists, they did not do so.
Think for example of the
Pentagon Papers
, which basically ended up ending the war in Vietnam.
P.
_
And has the persecution against Assange been a sign?
R.
_
This case has normalized the possibility of brutalizing and intimidating journalists around the world.
In geopolitical terms, it has become very useful for repressive governments, which use it as an example.
Lower the level of demand for all of them.
“They don't want to see me”
P.
_
The fight is now legal but, in reality, it has always been political.
Have you received any signal from the British Government?
R.
_
I have tried to meet the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, but they do not want to see me.
They are reluctant to relate this issue to freedom of the press.
It is logical.
They go all over the world proclaiming their defense, they cannot admit that they have the problem at home.
More information
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More than Assange
P.
_
You have warned that Assange could die if he is extradited to the United States.
R.
_
He can die, because he could end up being sentenced to the death penalty.
The British Government itself has admitted that it is unable to guarantee that he will not be killed.
And the United States has tried to do it before [according to a
Yahoo News
report , never denied, the CIA planned Assange's assassination].
Or he may die because he is subjected to prison conditions so brutal that they lead him to commit suicide.
Stella Assange, after the interview, this Saturday in London. Ione Saizar
P.
_
Are you afraid that you might take your own life?
R.
_
He has a medical history in that regard.
He already tried to do it when he was in his twenties.
And now he himself suffers from depression.
But I want to be clear.
Julian is a fighter.
It's not the fact that he's the one threatening to take his own life.
It is the conditions that have been imposed on you that can push you to that.
P.
_
What is the conclusion of this intense week?
R.
_
I believe that, until now, those pursuing Julian were willing to act against him as long as they were allowed.
I think we're starting to see that they won't be able to get away with this.
All the lies have begun to be exposed.
But I don't know, maybe I'm making a mistake and nothing will change.
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