 For the past four years, Julian Assange, one of the most prominent journalists of our time, has been locked away from his family and the world. The award-winning journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, an organization that played a key role in exposing the war crimes of the United States, has been in jail since 2019. In April 2019, Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had been seeking asylum for seven years. He was subsequently imprisoned in Belmarsh prison, a maximum security jail. He has spent much of his time in Belmarsh under judicial remand without any charges or conviction, fighting a prolonged extradition process. The extradition request from the United States began under the administration of former President Donald Trump and continues under the present Joe Biden administration. From recent revelations, it is also understood that the U.S. attempt to prosecute Assange has been going on since the Barack Obama administration. Assange, upon extradition, will face an indictment carrying a maximum prison sentence of 175 years. The charges against him include 18 counts, with 17 of them falling under the Espionage Act, making him the first publisher or journalist to be indicted under this controversial law. These charges are related to the release and publication of leaked classified documents that exposed war crimes and violations of the international law by the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq. Currently, Assange is in the final stages of appealing against the UK Home Secretary's decision to authorize his extradition to the U.S., although the prospects may seem dim. Despite the ongoing U.S.-led persecution and slow judicial process in the UK deemed as judicial kidnapping and a punishment to process, Assange's supporters are continuing to fight for his release. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on April 11 this year, demanding the release of the journalist. An American journalist in Russia arrested on charges of Espionage, and the whole world is up in arms saying you cannot arrest a journalist for Espionage, when we have been keeping somebody in jail for the last four years, along with the worst terrorists in the country in appalling conditions on charges of Espionage for journalism precisely for years and years. This cannot continue. On Tuesday, people in the U.S. took part in Assange Lobby Day. Participants assembled at the Rayburn House in Washington, DC, which houses the offices of members of the U.S. Congress demanding Assange's release. They also lobbied with various legislators to co-sign Congresswoman Rashida Talib's letter to the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Her letter released in March criticizes charges as posing to quote, a grave and unprecedented threat to everyday constitutionally protected journalistic activity. The letter is a rare congressional effort calling for Assange's release and has gained only a very limited support from within the Congress. Nevertheless, it has generated a great deal of interest among activists, who see it as an opportunity to mount pressure on elected representatives. In the meantime, Assange's father and brother John and Gabriel Shipton are on a tour across North America attending independent screenings of the film Itaka. The film documents a struggle for the release of Assange. They are also interacting with activists and common people and are talking about the family's efforts to secure Assange's release. Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, has faced a lengthy judicial process, during which his home country has distanced itself from the case. However, after continued pressure from activists and legislators and a change in government, Australia is finally showing signs of intervention. On Tuesday, 48 federal legislators from various political parties in Australia signed a letter addressed to the US Attorney General demanding that the US drop all charges against Assange and end his imprisonment. The letter highlighted that Assange has been defectively incarcerated for over a decade, including his confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy from 2012. Since coming to power in May last year, the Labour government led by Anthony Albanese has expressed efforts to lobby for Assange's release, but progress has been limited. Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong's statement that there are limits to what diplomacy can achieve regarding the case had dampened expectations of Australian intervention.