Konrad Wolf prize awarded to Julian Assange
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The jury of the Konrad Wolf prize emphasizes that Assange's work and stances have brought attention to unlawful actions by governments, injustices, killings, and war crimes that were intended to remain concealed from public knowledge.
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Supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange protest against his extradition to the US outside the High Court in London on January 24, 2022. (AFP)
The Akademie der Künste in Berlin has declared that it will bestow the Konrad Wolf Prize upon Julian Assange, even though it is improbable for him to attend the October ceremony due to his current detention in Belmarsh top security prison in London.
Assange, an Australian journalist and the founder of WikiLeaks, has been entangled in a legal struggle since 2019, fighting against extradition to the United States. He is facing charges associated with his involvement in one of the most significant leaks of classified information in American history, which took place in collaboration with former army private and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
The jury emphasized that Assange's work and stances have brought attention to unlawful actions by governments, injustices, killings, and war crimes that were intended to remain concealed from public knowledge. Through WikiLeaks, Assange has exposed instances of financial misconduct, undisclosed accounts, official email exchanges, and evidence of unarmed civilians and journalists being targeted and killed by US Army personnel in Iraq.
He has also revealed civilian casualties in Afghanistan, covert operations aimed at manipulating public opinion, documented cases of humiliation and torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and shed light on the inhumane conditions prevailing at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, including the utilization of waterboarding. The list of revelations goes on.
Assange's WikiLeaks has played a pivotal role in disclosing information about shared reality, enabling citizens to become aware and take action, as per the jury.
By "opening governments," his work constitutes a democratic act, exposing government activities, wartime deception, war crimes, and cover-ups, it added.
The jury also highlighted that Assange embodies the essence of raising awareness through journalism at its finest, striving to bring about transformative change in the world through democratic means, which is greatly needed.
Previous laureates of the Konrad Wolf Prize, which carries a €5,000 fund, include Mauretanian-Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, director and actor Alexander Lang, and documentary filmmaker Heidi Specogna.
