“Pierce the Silence” – call out for Solidarity letter-writing working bees for Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning

“Knowing you are out there fighting for me keeps me alive in this profound isolation” – Letter sent from Julian Assange to a supporter from Belmarsh prison

Julian Assange is currently being physically and psychologically tortured by the UK Government by being locked up 23 hours a day in the UK super-max Belmarsh Prison. As the above letter from Julian shows, it is imperative that as many people as possible “pierce the silence” of the mainstream press and our politicians and show our support for Julian directly by literally flooding Belmarsh Prison with letters of support. Keeping Assange’s spirits up could literally be a matter of life and death. In addition, by sending letters to Assange directly – it opens up the chance for Julian to reply and communicate directly with the world. This will help to return him the voice which has been denied to him – an objective which must also be a central political aim of the solidarity campaign.

Thank you! The suffering here is profound, but we can win this! Knowing you have my back is what gets me through! – JPA”

This is why classconscious.org is making a call out for people around the world to organise in groups to hold “Pierce the Silence” – solidarity letter-writing working bees” in your city or town. They could be publicly advertised or organised amongst friends. Either way they are an achievable and tangible way to support Julian Assange and raise the profile of his campaign in your area.

In addition they overcome the fact that writing a letter can be a little intimidating for some. It would be great if organisers of these events could provide directions on how to write to Julian Assange and even consider pre-purchasing a supply of UK stamps which can be attached to a blank envelope for Julian’s return reply.

It would be awesome if people participating in these ‘Pierce the Silence’ letter-writing events could post photos and blurb to Twitter/Facebook of participant/s (could be solo effort!) holding up their letters ready to be posted to Julian in Belmarsh or Chelsea and Jeremy in Virginia Federal Jail!

The letter-writing working bees would also be an opportunity to write letters of support to brave whistleblowers – Chelsea Manning and Jeremy Hammond -who are now both locked up in the same Virginia Federal Jail in the US. This is to try and force them to testify in a secret grand jury to further the legal witch-hunt of Assange.
The first such was held in Melbourne, Australia on September 21st at 11.AM at the Belgrave Libary, 1644 Burwood Hwy (. Link to Facebook Event.

Julian has been persecuted by the UK, Swedish, Ecuadorian and US governments for nine years. He has been abandoned by the Australian Government and both major parties who are complicit in his ongoing torture. He faces 175 years in prison (or possible execution) on Espionage charges in the US. Assange’s ‘crime’ is the journalism of Wikileaks, which published evidence of US war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and evidence of US diplomatic and corporate intrigues. However, millions of ordinary people around the world have not abandoned him and will fight for his freedom. Join this letter-writing working bee so Julian knows he has the support of ordinary people who will fight as long and hard as necessary to free him.

Important update on how to write a letter to Julian Assange

You must include his prison number A9379AY when addressing letter, not D.O.B. (3/7/1971). Confirmed Ruptly interview by Julian’s dad John Shipton 2/10 -Belmarsh “throwing letter in rubbish” without prison number

Belmarsh Prison rules clearly state: use prison number when sending letters. D.O.B. is only if you don’t have prison number. We have Julian Assange’s number. – A9379AY. To maximise chance of letter getting to Julian use number & don’t give them excuse to block his mail which is his lifeline!
See Belmarsh website for prison rules on letter writing.