The European Parliament inaugurated on Tuesday evening (6 February) an exhibition dedicated to the WikiLeaks founder, journalist Julian Assange, ahead of the UK High Court’s decision on his extradition to the US, expected on 20-21 February.

Assange is currently in the London Belmarsh prison. He has been detained since April 2019, wanted by US authorities on 18 charges after having leaked US army documents and diplomatic cables on conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to 175 years in prison.

The exhibition entitled “The Assange Case: Awards & Rewards” presents a number of awards, honorary citizenship of the Italian city of Naples, and artworks that depict the WikiLeaks founder and his family.

“We have chosen to display the awards received by Julian Assange to highlight his support from both institutional and civil society levels,” the Italian 5 Stars Movement MEP Sabina Pignedoli, who promoted the exhibition in the European Parliament premises in Strasbourg, told Euractiv during the evening’s inauguration.

A few MEPs will assist, Pignedoli included, the trial in London, and asked to be present in the room to “show him our support,” the MEP explained.

On the same day, several civil society organisations will mobilise to protest against Assange’s extradition in different European cities, the Italian politician told Euractiv.

The end of February hearing “is very likely going to be the last public hearing of Julian Assange in the UK,” Stella Assange, lawyer, human rights activist and Julian’s wife, told Euractiv in an interview.

“If he loses this round, he will have exhausted all domestic remedies in the UK, which will move to extradite him,” she explained.

Stella Assange also told Euractiv that WikiLeaks founder will try to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to block the extradition.

“This is a very critical moment, we are trying to gather as much attention,” Stella explained during the event, also attended by the president of the International Federation of Journalists, Dominique Pradalié.

Julian Assange was among the 2022 finalists for the Sakharov Prize, an EU Parliament award dedicated to individuals, groups, or organisations that contribute to protecting freedom of thought.

“The US needs to hear from its allies that this is intolerable, that it affects EU values and interests because it is the US reaching beyond its borders, claiming jurisdiction into the European space in order to limit press freedoms and the public’s right to the truth by criminalising journalism,” Stella told Euractiv in December 2022 during the Sakharov Prize ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

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