Iu||an Assange Wa|k|ey Award Acceptance Speech

1hank you for Lhls award for Lhe ouLsLandlng conLrlbuLlon Lo [ournallsm
1hey say LhaL Lelllng Lhe LruLh ls no way Lo wln frlends 1hey say LhaL Lhe AusLrallan people don'L care for
Lhe LruLh Well Lhey're wrong 1he AusLrallan people wanL Lo know Lhe LruLh abouL war 1hey wanL Lo
know who Lhey can LrusL 1hey wanL Lo know how Lhe world ls shaped abouL Lhem 1hey wanL Lo flnd a
way Lhrough complexlLy and lles
?es our work has glven us a loL of powerful enemles 8uL lL has also glven us good frlends lL has broughL
ouL Lhe besL ln people courage loyalLy compasslon and sLrengLh And LonlghL l wanL Lo Lhank you and
Lhe Walkley loundaLlon for showlng Lhese values as [ournallsLs and as AusLrallans ln sLandlng by
WlklLeaks ln our hour of need noL ln flve years' Llme buL Loday when lL counLs And l wanL Lo Lhank all
of Lhose who have conLlnued Lo sLand by usour sources our donors our defenderspeople wlLhouL
whom we could do noLhlng
We [ournallsLs are aL our besL when we share wlLh acLlvlsLs and lawyers Lhe goal of exposlng lllegallLy
and wrongdolngwhen we help Lo hold oLhers Lo accounL 1hls award ls a slgn of encouragemenL Lo
our people and oLher people who labor under dlfflculL condlLlons ln Lhls Lask Cur llves have been
LhreaLened aLLempLs have been made Lo censor us banks have aLLempLed Lo shuL off our flnanclal
llfellne An unprecedenLed banklng blockade has shown us LhaL vlsa MasLerCard ayal Lhe 8ank of
Amerlca and WesLern unlon are mere lnsLrumenLs of WashlngLon forelgn pollcy Censorshlp has ln Lhls
manner been prlvaLlzed owerful enemles are LesLlng Lhe waLer Lo see how much Lhey can geL away
wlLh seelng how Lhey can abuse Lhe sysLem LhaL Lhey're lnLegraLed wlLh Lo prevenL scruLlny Well Lhe
answer ls Lhey can geL away wlLh Loo much l expecLed Lhe haLespeech on lox news buL noL Lhe calls
by uS SenaLors for Lhe exLra[udlclal assasslnaLlon of myself and my sLaff nelLher dld l expecL LhaL Lhe
unlLed SLaLes would aggresslvely undermlne lLs own ConsLlLuLlon Lo persecuLe me and my organlzaLlon
8uL l can undersLand Lhe WashlngLon LllLes' reacLlon WashlngLon ls waglng a war agalnsL Lhe LruLh lL
was afLer all Lhe LruLh abouL WashlngLon and Lhelr frlends LhaL we revealed
WhaL l cannoL undersLand ls Lhe craven behavlor of Lhe AusLrallan rlme MlnlsLer !ulla Clllard lL ls
embarrasslng uoes she really Lhlnk she can become Cbama's depuLy and Lhen run off wlLh hls frlends
and hls [ob ln Lhe manner LhaL she dld wlLh kevln 8udd and so many before hlm? lL won'L work Lhls
Llme 1he uS consLlLuLlon won'L permlL lL lL ls Llme !ulla Clllard sLops sucklng up Lo power and sLarLed
uslng Lhe power she has Lo Lhe beneflL of Lhe AusLrallan people 1hls Llme lasL year !ulla Clllard
commlssloned an absurd f whole of CovernmenL Lask force agalnsL us comprlslng of ASlC ASlS
Lhe ueparLmenL of uefense Lhe ALLorney Ceneral's Cfflce and Lhe AusLrallan lederal ollce 1he rlme
MlnlsLer falsely sLaLed LhaL WlklLeaks had acLed lllegally 1he Al had Lo Lake Lhe embarrasslng role of
correcLlng her 1he ALLorney Ceneral sLaLed LhaL he was looklng ln Lo cancelllng my passporL whlle l was
under dlre clrcumsLances AfLer pressure from Lhe AusLrallan people and Lhe AusLrallan medla
McClellan declded noL Lo saylng noL LhaL lL was wrong buL LhaL lL was helpful for Lraclng my
movemenLs When l was awarded Lhe Sydney eace rlze for our work Lhe AusLrallan Plgh Commlsslon
refused Lo hosL lL 1hese and oLher acLs wlll be an lnfamous memory ln AusLrallan [ournallsm
We are smeared and aLLacked by powerful groups from Lhe unlLed SLaLes lncludlng Lhe uS SLaLe
ueparLmenL and Lhe 8ank of Amerlca A grand [ury ln WashlngLon has spenL Lhe besL parL of a year
Lrylng Lo lndlcL me and our people for esplonage Cne of our alleged sources Lhe young lnLelllgence
analysL 8radley Mannlng has been held ln sollLary conflnemenL and under lnhumane and degradlng
condlLlons 1he un Speclal 8apporLeur for 1orLure and AmnesLy lnLernaLlonal have equally been
prevenLed from seelng hlm l personally have spenL over 330 days under house arresL l have noL been
charged wlLh any crlme ln any counLry buL my name ls consLanLly smeared Cur supporLers ln Lhe
unlLed SLaLes ln CreaL 8rlLaln and ln Lurope have been arresLed en masse wlLh over 78 ralds on varlous
lndlvlduals
1he reacLlon Lo WlklLeaks has demonsLraLed LhaL ln Lhe WesL such aLLacks are no less vlclous Lhan ln
oLher parLs of Lhe world 1hey are slmply more sophlsLlcaLed WashlngLon has become an emplre noL
only of force buL of lles 1he AusLrallan CovernmenL has refused Lo say wheLher lL would block my
exLradlLlon Lo Lhe unlLed SLaLes from AusLralla buL lL has acknowledged LhaL lL has Lhe pollLlcal
dlscreLlon Lo do so 1he Clllard CovernmenL has shown lLs Lrue colors ln relaLlon Lo how lL's handled uS
pressure on WlklLeaks
1he AusLrallan [ournallsLs are courageous Lhe AusLrallan people are supporLlve buL !ulla Clllard ls a
cowardly AusLrallan rlme MlnlsLer As AusLrallans we shall noL despalr as long as we can speak ouL as
long as we can publlsh and as long as Lhe lnLerneL remalns free we wlll conLlnue Lo flghL back armed
wlLh Lhe LruLh