 This is Kathy Vogan for Consortium News. We are starting a little bit early because they have decided to start organizing the chain at 12.30. And we're at Winston Churchill statue and the people are taking off from here and they will be heading, if we just turn around a bit, you'll see here's Big Ben and we'll be heading across the road, they will. And the chain actually starts from the Cromwell statue and down there will be Stella Sange and other key speakers here today. I just spotted Craig Murray who was floating around John Rees from Don't Take Strudita Sange is here. They are organizing the event. What we can see over here is a lot of life-sized statues of Julie and Sange. They have been sent by people who couldn't make it today and they made some themselves. Now there's Christian Raffensen over there. We can go over and say hello to him. He's the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks. So let's go and say hello to Christian. Just come this way. Christian Raffensen and we have a wonderful streaming partner today who's reported to live, who are working with us and they can stream from anywhere in the world. Very good. And it's a brilliant technology. So how are you, Christian? I feel good about this event. It's so important and I mean, the weather couldn't be better. And it's like the sunny shining and approval on this protest. I mean, it's a dark subject but it's good to be coming together in this weather just raising your fists basically towards Parliament in a symbolic manner and saying, you have to act, this cannot go on any longer. The will of the people is very clear. Enough is enough, three and a half years in Belmarts prison for Julian Assange. It just has to end. Well, I do recall your speech near Downing Street. Forgive me, I don't know London that well but I remember you talking about this is a dark force that we are trying to oppose. It definitely is. And I think more and more people are actually sort of feeling it in their own skin. I mean, it's coming, it's like a virus infiltrating our civil society of everyday life. And it's not the kind of a dark force that comes in the leather boots, fascism style of the 30s. It is a new kind and even a more malicious one because it infiltrates everything. It roads what is sacred to us, you know, empathy and humanity. And we can sense that this is sort of destroying our world. And the people are locking guidance into action and countering us and doing something about it. And this has been a process that's been going on for quite a while. At least the entire 20 plus years of the century. And people are starting to realize that what Julian did and WikiLeaks, you know, more than a decade ago, was create an awareness. There was a, you know, like opening a glimpse and seeing actually what's going on. And because of that, you have this strong reaction because the truth was so strong. And you can actually measure the achievement of Julian and WikiLeaks in part by the vicious reaction. Why is it so important to basically try to kill an individual that simply is doing a journalistic work? But it was so important. It exposed so much. So that is what we need to keep in mind. And try to rekindle that spirit and make it grow. And I know we get there because we do not have any other option actually. We are basically, if we stop swimming, we'll sink every one of us. I mean, it's a persecution now of Julian and he stands alone in that fight with the supporters behind him yet. But today it's about Julian. Tomorrow it's about you and me and all of us. That's right. I don't know if you saw the very first event in this chain of human chains that was in Melbourne, Australia. Three to 5,000 people turned up and they were chanting Julian, told the truth. WikiLeaks has the proof. Now it seems to me that there is the problem for Americans of kind of losing their first amendment. But really it's more than that. It's about losing a grasp on reality, isn't it? It is. And we see reality being undermined in a spectacular manner every day. And for me, I'm journalist for what, 30 plus years now. It's just absolutely appalling to see my colleagues, what I consider colleagues, actually taking part in that. And throwing about speculation or false information that obviously do not match reality. And every day people, they don't need a degree in political science or economics or history to see through it. It's becoming so blatant, but it seeps in. That's why I'm talking about this sort of slow and gradual undermining of our civil society. It's all part of the same struggle. It's not an individual case that you can just take out. You have to think about it in context with what's going on in the world. I was asked just earlier here about... World today. The world today. I mean, I was asked a bit earlier about what's your hopes for at least trust government? I said, what? You know, we're talking about a new prime minister that sets a record in actually, you know, basically destroying the pounds and coming up with economic policies that even economists in their own party are sort of discrediting and saying, where on earth did this come from? What rabbit hole is this? It doesn't work. And now we see it backtracking. And let me remind you, I'm probably going to say this again here today because it sticks with me. When Boris Johnson actually had his last speech here in the parliament, his farewell speech, and was giving advice out to his successors, he only touched upon foreign policy on one point. He said, well, on foreign policy, and I'm paraphrasing actually, but the essence of it was, just do what the Americans tell you. That's the essence. And you were stunned. And I was amazed that many people, more people didn't pick up on it because it was so amazing. This is the grand nation who is reveling a Churchill here on a grand statue about the fight against fascism and Nazism in the world war. And where is the pride of the nation that has a leader that says just, well, just be a lapdog, put the leash on and extend it. And that's exactly what's been happening. I've been following this case. I've been in every court proceedings here. And it's absolutely appalling to see how laws are stretched, the illegality of the entire process, the silence of the politicians, or the negative comments that are being made. It is appalling. Maybe there's a breaking point. Maybe there's maybe into the winter where people actually are faced with the reality of how to choose whether to heat their homes in the cold or feed their children. I mean, that's the reality that I had, you know. What a shame that we have to be driven that far. I always, what drew me into WikiLeaks over well over a decade ago was that I perceived Julian to be sort of anti-war. You know, because of the destruction. And he said something that really stuck with me. Populations don't like wars. Populations have to be fooled into wars. How does that apply today, do you think? And how would he feel about what's going on now with the media? I'm not going to put sort of words in the mouth. And when I visited the prison, I saw him on Thursday morning. I, to be frank, I mean, I try to spend the limited time I have with him and trying to cheer him up and trying to ease his pain in that situation. But of course we talk politics, but I'm not going to sort of trying to sort of reflect on what he thinks about current situation. But do you think, yeah, you said who's pro-war? It is, sorry? You did say who's pro-war? I mean, yeah, who is pro-violence, who is pro-death, who is pro-killing children? I mean, that's appalling. I never understood this sort of negative connotation that people dare to put on the words anti-war. Who is pro-war? It's like being a pro-killer, you know, like it's absurd. Of course, nobody wants war. People have to be tricked into war. Yeah, that's true. And that has happened frequently in our time. And when I'm talking about our time, even my adulthood, and of course it's going to happen again and again. Yes. Well, look, Kristen, I won't keep you any longer because it's clear that the train is forming. And we start down at Oliver Cromwell Statue. So we should just head down there now. Okay, head down, yeah. Are you going to speak down there? I don't know if I'm going to be invited. Let's see what happens. I've lost my people. Somebody said you were, so race you down. Thank you, folks. We're going to take a break and we'll be back soon when we get down to Oliver Cromwell Statue. We have another camera filming that's not streaming live, but that's capturing the whole crowd. Oh, I just spotted Craig Murray. So maybe time for a few words with him. And we'll, are we off, right? We're on right now? Good. I've just spotted Craig Murray over here. So he was the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and many, many moons back. He blew the whistle on torture. Black sites in Uzbekistan. And, well, I mean, he was working for the government then, but he isn't now. That kind of thing doesn't go down very well. So let's go and try and talk to Craig. Can I just get your help? Excuse me. We're live to wear now, Consortium News. Could I just possibly get a few words? Because we have to head down the Cromwell Statue. Folks, as I said, this is Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and whistleblower extraordinaire on black sites and the most horrible forms of torture. It's a man that I've greatly admired for the last, almost a decade, I think. Craig, it's lovely to see you here. Well, it's great to be here. And it's lovely to see so many other people here as well, which, you know, when you consider that this is really made up of individuals that aren't large organisations supporting this activity, this is just people concerned about civil liberties, individuals wanting to support human rights. So I hear it's great to see so many good people gathered together. Yes. Well, look, are you going to speak down there? You're going to say a few words? I expect so. I mean, to be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure what's happening. I've just turned up and I'm joining in the creative chaos of the moment, which is always good fun. But hopefully somebody has everything in hand and everything will... John Rhys can don't extradite a science, but it hasn't officially started yet. We're just taking advantage of who's in the crowd. So this is very cash. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I like to do things that way. But yeah, how we're going to form the chain and who's going to stop at what stage and then where speeches will be made are things that I'm not quite sure. Probably about 1.30, John said. And then we'll form a chain after that? The chain gets formed first. That's what they're doing now. That's bit strange, because then that means that most of the people will be miles away from these speeches. Bloody hell, that's what I thought. Oaks, I'm not supposed to be crude on air. Anyway, never mind. How do we film that? We'll make it up as it goes along. Having flown back from Edinburgh, flown down in the early hours of this morning, I'm not going to be walking too far in the chain. Well, the chain doesn't walk. They all stand still and try and hold hands right around. Yeah, some of them are going to be a couple of miles away from here. So it's quite a long way around and the way to Lab of Bidge to get there. So who gets to what point and who's designated to stay where? Quite interesting to see how it all works out. Well, we'll probably cluster around there, I imagine. Craig has been covering the Assange case as I have myself, Consortium News. Craig Murray has been in the courtroom for about three years now. Craig, you've got anything more to say about how the case is progressing? We're waiting for the decision on whether a cross appeal can take place. What's happening there? Yeah, I think that's the important thing to remember, that Julian hasn't actually had his appeal against the decision to extradite yet. The only appeal that's been held was the American appeal against the health points, essentially, or once it was specifically decided not to extradite. Julian's appeal against extradition is still awaited and that will shift the courtroom focus back again onto the fundamental questions of human rights and freedom of speech on the abuses of process in the case, the fact that the American government was spying on Julian's legal conferences, that they obtained all of his legal documents from the Ecuadorian authorities after he was removed from the embassy, on the fact that the extradition treaty under which he's being extradited specifically states there should be no political extradition. Numerous other points of appeal which are yet to be heard. I should be very, very surprised that the High Court doesn't agree to hear that appeal. So we have some time to go. But the problem is, of course, that all this time Julian has held in dreadful conditions of the maximum security business. So to some extent, the process is for punishment, but the process still has a long way to go. Well, this isn't supposed to be a political case, but how likely is it that the US or the UK would want some of those matters to be heard in court? I think it's going to be very difficult to prevent the Court. It's very, very hard to see an argument that the High Court should not hear the appeal, because, plainly, there are points of appeal on which there are legal principles of quite a high magnitude to be discussed, particularly the right to confidentiality of legal consultation. And, of course, the entire principle of the application of the extradition treaty and all its provisions under which the application takes place. The UK government's viewpoint is that there is nothing in general that prevents the UK government from breaking international law in its domestic law that an international treaty doesn't bind the UK in what it does internally. And even if you said that, it's true. And I mean, it's it's a very bad thing, but it is true. But the British courts have always held that UK government is not bound by external treaties, whether that can be said to apply to a treaty, which is the operating instrument under which the extradition is taking place. And it post states as well, doesn't it? It post state it wasn't in 2007, the treaty, but the actors earlier. That's true. It does indeed. And before before that, no political extradition was specifically included in the UK's general extradition legislation. But I mean, all of this is bluntly nuts, you know, Julian has been charged for espionage by a country and he hasn't been near that country either at the time of the offence or since, you know, he's an Australian citizen who's operating outside the United States. So how he can be said to have committed an offence within the United States in considering extradition at all. The United Kingdom is admitting an extraordinary United States claim of universal jurisdiction. There's so many legal points, which are just completely wrong in this case, that it's very hard to believe that the High Court won't hear them. And I personally believe the High Court will hear them. That doesn't necessarily mean we will win. I think anybody who believes that in political cases like this, the courts are genuinely independent. There's extremely naive. It would be extremely naive to believe that. I think you've answered my question there, Craig. And the crowd is really sitting down here. I can see a big, big crowd down there at all of the Cromwell statues. So we really should head down, I think. And hopefully, if you get there quickly, we'll hear you speak to a bigger audience, but you have spoken to the whole wide world here on Consolium News, or so to speak. Thank you so much for that. Lovely to see you again. OK, we'll come back to heading down. Apparently, it's not all of a Cromwell statue because it's over there, but it is definitely down this way. And there is really quite a big crowd now in London. So it goes right down the street and around the corner already. And it's not one person deep. So we've had a good turnout, I think, for I say we, but I didn't organise this. So let's go and see who else we can spot here and just hear what people have to say. So I do one of the stewards for the event. Yes. I'm Kathy Vogan from Consolium News. We're live streaming to the world at the moment. We have our yellow ribbon someone gave us. So can you explain to us where we should go? Right. If you carry on down there, you can find spaces. We're filling in down to the bridge. There's a table down there. Is there? Yeah. And the people who are those who are suiting are taking people around and across the bridge and then back along the South Bank and then back over this bridge to end up in the square over there. Yes. Oh, thank you so much. All right. You're doing a great job. Right. Thank you. Where are you from? Well, it's from Washington. We're from Washington. But I produced the show for CN Live and I live in Sydney, Australia. I'm a long way from home at the moment. Well, we're filling in for the strike that's called for today. We had almost 4,000 people signed up to make the human chain. People are really supporting WikiLeaks and the freedom of Julian Assange against the totalitarianism of the United States government. Yeah, can you explain this strike because people don't understand overseas? Like, isn't it miraculous that there's still such a big crowd? Tell us about is it a railway strike, isn't it? It's a transport and general workers' strike, but it will be the top echelon, the ones who are very establishment because they could change the day of the strike when it was the Queen's funeral. Oh, blast. This this this demonstration for the freedom of Julian Assange and no extradition to America has been planned for for months. They knew it was happening today and they still called it for today. Are you an American citizen yourself? No, I'm neither American nor a citizen. That's quite an interesting answer. But I have lived in this country for many, many years and I have supported I mean, it's any sensible person would sense when you think of the amount of war that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks exposed American war crimes. And if you haven't looked, you really ought to look at Stella Assange. Julian Assange's lawyer and wife took on John Bolton on the Pierce Morgan show last night. Did you see it? Not yet. Well, do because finally at last when that dreadful man said, well, let her say outright that our due process doesn't work in America. She said, you were personally responsible for taking the United States along with your kind out of the International Criminal Court. America no longer belongs to the International Criminal Court. If it did, you would be being tried as a war criminal. I couldn't assemble. And it's utterly true. And it's true on the basis of what was exposed by WikiLeaks. And you remember that thousands of people who were killed and how many how many people have died in Iraq so far? Have we not been sure it could be, you know, to a million? It's much more than that. And and now they're in the process of destroying Europe, you know. Anyway, I know, let's go. You're assured you should get us there. There you are. All right, mate. Thanks for talking to us. See you later. I'd like to interview the Aussies, but I think we risk missing the main event. There's a good shot. John, is there any action happening down the air at the moment? I've been down there, yeah. It's another reply. We got an interview with Kristen, Craig Murray. Brilliant. And then one of the stewards. Yeah, he hasn't been down there yet. So I think we'll just go down there and take a look. It seems to me that we can get a shot of it going around the corner. It could be quite good. Oh, yeah. Forgot that I can just talk to you anywhere. You can hear me, right? So I think we're we're probably. I'm OK. I've got used to be a gymnast. So you're still alive, OK? All right. OK, so we'll go down there and and and take a look and we're I don't think it's got the whole way around yet, but then we'll start at the end and work our way back. Can you tell me if you want to go to break? All right. Are we still alone? Yeah, we are still alive. OK. Sorry about that. I just fell off the pavement. OK, let's go. We're just walking down. Looking at the the crowd. And it's just remarkable how many people have turned up in spite of the railway strike. How did you get here today, folks? I came by coach yesterday. You're not from Liverpool, by the chance. No, I'm from Yorkshire and from Bradford. Yeah. Is that terribly expensive to take a coach rather than a coach? Coach is a lot cheaper than the train. Oh, so they are. But it's a lot more uncomfortable. Yeah. And whether with the roads busy. Very. Yes. It took two hours to get here. It took two hours to get here. I don't actually know how far that is, because I'm not from... He's not from Bradford. No, from Bournemouth. Two hours, you know, but the majority took about an hour to get into Central London. That's the problem. Right. Well done for making it. Thank you. We're just worth it. It's important to be here. We saw the news live streaming at the moment. So we're covering it. We're covering it in Washington, D.C. as well, right after. We put out a bit of what happened in Melbourne. Massive, massive turnout. Oh, good. Almost 5,000 people. Wow. OK, good. I hope Washington watches this, because they need to know. I can't miss it now. It's streaming in so many... It's happening in so many countries, right? We're glad you're out here. Yes, it is. So they're doing it in Australia as well? Oh, they've done it already. They keep it off. They keep it off, of course. They're first on. And it was absolutely... They get up before us all. Oh, thank God. Well, I'm Australian. I'm here, of course. But the bottom line is I'm just incensed. I'm elderly. It was a bit of a struggle getting in today, but to hell with it, you know, I thought I can do that for Julie Nassange. I just hate this feeling of disempowerment, that our justice system is completely and utterly broke, that there just is nothing that seems to be valid about what's going on in our country at all, ever. You know, all of the West is completely sick, as far as I'm concerned. I hope to God, Trump gets back in, because I think he might sort a bit of it all out. Well, didn't he actually... Wasn't he in power when the indictment was written and issued? I think he had heavy thumbs upon him. You know, he's been encircled in all of that administration by the vilest people known to mankind, you know. And I think a lot of stuff was activated without his approval to be quite honest. Perhaps even his awareness, sometimes. I think he's very aware. I mean, he's acknowledged in many of his rallies just, you know, the contribution that Julie Nassange has done. But... We also know, actually, I should correct that, because we also know from all of those leaks that came out of the CIA, there were 30 and White House lawyers. So there were 30 of them all to confessions. You might as well call them confessions altogether. But part of that was Trump asking for sketches of how the kidnapped or killed plan might play out. So he was certainly aware of that. Well, I think he's got a lot of... He's got a lot of agendas at the moment. And one of them is his actual survival. I mean, they've been gunning for him since 2015, haven't they? They've tried to take him down. I think he's had numerous death threats, more than Julian. I don't know. This evilness, which is the deep state, has to be completely targeted and taken down. I think people are waking up big time to just being fed up with being robbed blind and our freedoms disappearing. The last two years has just emphasised the whole thing so incredibly, I think. So you think it could be for Donald Trump one-spit and twice shy? I think we're living in the most exciting time because I think if ever change is going to happen, and we're talking about change that has been needed for maybe a thousand years or more, but certainly in the last 500 years, anything that embraces the Rothschilds has definitely got to be embraced in 500 years. And I think this is our first real challenge to it. They've started all the wars. They've just got all the wealth of the planet. Don't get me going on the Queen. But the bottom line is, they're all in that club and they're all crooks. And actually, they're all Satanists. They all practice satanic ritual. Well, I don't know about that, but you just have to look at the number of people here in the UK that have to choose between feeding or heating. Yep, yep. Well, that's engineered as well, isn't it? Let's face it. I just don't know what our government's doing at the moment. I think we have to have WikiLeaks publishing regularly to keep up with what's really happening. You know, vilifying the Russians, who saved us in World War II. They lost 20 million people in World War II. Without the Russians, we would be under a Nazi regime now. And I think people are short-lived in that memory. I actually like Vladimir Putin. I think he's the only statesman we've got really at the moment. I did like Trump, and I think Trump's going to come back. But he's cleaning out the swamp. Is he promised to do? He's cleaning it out big time. It's over here too, to clean it out. I hope you're right. Yes, that the swamp gets good. We need Julian out now. I mean, I just was desperately sorry to see that last video where, you know, his little family and his lovely wife. I mean, it's just outrageous. He's always been such a polite, beautiful human being, seeking the truth. You know, he's not a showman or nasty, but there's not a nasty bone in his body as far as I could see. And yet he's been totally victimised as some sort of cretin who's exposed all the secrets of these elites, you know? No, not the fact. But even they've accused him of releasing people's emails. Personal, personal. Look, we have to go because we really have to... We have to get along. Yeah, we don't want to miss any of the... Well, I thought Stella was going to be coming along. Yes, I think... I was told she was going to be down this end here. Right. But he might have been pointing this way because he was going to, because Cromwell statue is over there. So I have to love you and leave you. And I'm Australian too. Oh, are you? Of course I am. All right. Are we alive or are we still alive? So we're kind of looking for Stella Morris at the moment. Oh, excuse me. I just dead named Julian Assange's wife. Many apologies, Stella. It's an automatic pilot happening there. So we're looking for Stella Assange. And I've had somebody point this way and say out of a Cromwell statue, but Cromwell statue is back that way. So let's hope that we get to the right place at the right time. So we'll move quite quickly. We'll stop streaming now. We'll take a break and get us to the right place to hear some of the key speeches. Jane here in London. And the chain, it looks like the chain has formed. We spoke to Muhammad El-Mazi, a journalist who had been at the end, the other side. He said it hadn't quite closed yet, but it was getting close. It was going quite far. Now we're going to head back down the other way. What's going to happen is pretty soon there's going to be some kind of siren that goes off. And when that siren goes off, everybody has to join hands. And we presume that the... It's quite a throng of people here. We presume that that means that the chain is complete. That was just an ambulance going by. But all of these people, the stewards walking around and all of these people are waiting for the sound of that horn that will signal to them to form the chain now and join hands. So let's take a walk down this way and just... You can see all the people lined up, ready to join hands. So the way they've done it is kind of against the wall facing outwards, making it a little bit easier to film. So we'll just walk down this way and see what's happening. I don't know how many people managed to get here today but even the underground was largely on strike as well, presumably in solidarity with the Railway Workers Union, which was supposed to be the main... I suppose Australia would call it the country lines. But I do know that the Circle Line in London, had very, very large long interruptions and the District Line that goes through past Westminster was largely out but luckily for us from where we were coming from, we were able to take the District Line for about four stops. So I'm just wondering through here, like you, with me. Am I speaking wrongly? I heard you and I came all the way from... The country because the free of press should be at home. The Julian Assange should be free. What the British government and the USA government are doing is criminal. They are killing an innocent people only because he's rotting in jail because what they are doing to God is Julian Assange. They cannot put a gag in our mounds demanding that Julian Assange, that if they send him to the USA, they are sending him to his death. So free Julian Assange! The G's for getting too close to the megaphone there for a moment. Must have been quite deafening at your end. It certainly made me jump. So we're just heading down across one of the bridges now. This is Westminster Bridge. And up to the left you can see. I believe they call this London Eye. Is that right? I'm not a Londoner but I do. Quite like London Town. But you've been outside. You've been standing at the Ecuadorian Embassy. Practically all the time that Julian was there, we used to do the first year, we did seven days a week. And obviously after about three years, we decided to do three times a day, a week, a week. And it was obviously very small, it was very small visual. But Julian knew, Julian knew they were there. And the first year he invited us in to see him because he was curious to see who are these people that are so loyal to me. And it was absolutely lovely. We spent about three hours with Julian. And it was for me, because I come from Chile, it was like meeting in Cheve Guevara. So it was absolutely amazing. And we never stopped. As soon as Julian was kidnapped from the Embassy, we moved to Belmarch. And then from Belmarch, we still do two times a week. Three times that we are out in the streets for Julian. On Wednesday we go to the Australian Embassy. And on Saturday we get in the circus. And on Saturday as well, at Belmarch, 12 to 2. So we want to keep the flame alive for Julian as long as we possibly can. Well, thank you so much. No, I recognise you. And I know Joe. I know Joe. Yeah, yeah, no wonder. Yeah, I saw you in the television. I thought, oh, she's here. Oh, lovely. Take care. Thank you for being here, because she's so brilliant. She's been in the courtroom. Consortium has been in the courtroom for the last three years. So we know the case well. Yeah. So we'll just try and... We'll just try and move a little bit more. And the crowd is very enthusiastic, as you can see. People have come from around the world, it seems. And I guess they weren't to be deterred by a railway strike. And that's for sure. Not everybody here is part of the march, but some of the people on this side, but all the people lined... It's not a march, I should say, the human chain. All the people on our right are participating and waiting for the signal. We'll just cross over the bridge and see how far it goes, try and get a shot from the bridge and see if we can see people. Oh, I think... I'm just going to ask my team member, is this actually Lambeth's bridge or is it Westminster? It is Westminster. Okay, let's go. And let's see where that... The other one's Lambeth. All right, so what I said was correct. All right. Let's go. Oh, yes, I can see people. I don't know if you'll be able to see them through the camera, but we're looking down at Lambeth's bridge at the moment, and there are lots of people down there. So it looks like they go across... Oh, my goodness, and there's people along the other bank as well, quite a lot. So it looks like this chain is almost complete. I measured the distance myself. Well, not with a ruler, but on Google, I looked up the distances of the bridge. You've got Westminster Bridge, which is 250 metres, and you've got Lambeth, which is 236 metres. You've got the House of Parliament, 300 metres long. You've got to add a bit to the corners, but by my estimation and the estimation of the organisers, they were going to be able to do this, close the chain with about 1,500 people. And it just seems to me there are so many more. It looks to be sitting out a little bit in one part, but the thing is that people here are very... They're very much bunched together. My calculations were based on one person per metre, and of course these people are standing much closer to each other. So I don't know, this could be about 3,000, but it's very hard because it covers quite a long distance, well over a kilometre, a kilometre and a half. It's hard to get a view of everybody together unless we had a drone up in the air with us walking around the street at the moment. So, yes, this is Westminster Bridge. And, yeah, we'll take a little bit of a break and be back in about... We're probably a few minutes. So, stay tuned. Catty Vogan for Concertium News, signing out. It's Catty Vogan back again for Concertium News. Now, the stewards have been coming down, they're walking around the queue. I say queue because they've been waiting for a long time. They've just been told. Now, so they've had the sign. There was no horn that I heard of or a siren, but the stewards have been racing around. We're quite a long way from the origin of the queue. So, we're just going to walk back up again. And now, this is the actual thing that we've been waiting for. The chain around the British Parliament has been formed. And this is the very first time this has happened in British history. So it's quite a thing for me because I am Australian, but I'm also a Brit by birth. So, let's go. But he is holding hands now, as you can see. It seems that they are able to hold hands quite close together. If there weren't enough people, they'd be a metre apart, right? Yeah, there's... I'm Catty Vogan from Concertium News. We've counted... We've estimated there's a few thousand here. A few. I did, yeah. They need five thousand to get all the way around. I guess you could do it if you actually spread out. Yeah, we've been to the park and on the beginning of that bridge, we didn't go the whole way across. We met another journalist who said it's not closed yet. And we're worried that there might be some things happening in the chain that we should... It was getting a bit star sparse. But that was about nearly an hour ago that it was... He said it was getting there. Oh, right, so it should be now. Yeah. You're welcome. It's a funny thing when you're sort of all just with your neighbours. But this joining of hands means... I don't know if the cameraman is... This joining of hands links you all together, doesn't it? Yeah. It's a ring of protection. Yeah. Let's move forward and see what I think. I guess so. Yeah. Yeah. Let's hope it works in a symbolic sense. A ring of confidence. Take your mask off, you don't need it on. We're a very small team, I can't... I'm working at the moment as part of my... Yeah, they would, but we can't afford to get sick. We're not going to get anything. Well... It's a bit off-topic, actually. Nice to see your face, you know what I mean? There you go. See, that's better. Much better. I'm working. I'm working. All right, let's go. Welcome to it, folks. So, we'll just head quickly around again. We'll do another walk around. This event has been going on. It really started half an hour early. We really forced to start half an hour early, at 12.30 local time, because that's when the organizer, John Reese, from the Don't Extra Die to Silence campaign, thought that it would be a good time to start organizing the queue. And so, it's been going for, yeah, about an hour and a half so far. And, yeah, it's pretty much... It was pretty much the same thing in Melbourne. The event started. There were a couple of speeches from Tom Shipton, Julian's father, and Gabriel Shipton, his brother. And then they got to it pretty quickly, but it took an hour, a good hour, to form their chain. And in Melbourne, Australia really kicked off this series of events with a bang, because it seems the estimations were up to 5,000 Australians turned up. And, of course, Melbourne, is Julian Assange's hometown. So, he's one of their boys. But then Melbourne is that kind of town. If there's 10,000 people turned out in Sydney, there's always 20,000 in Melbourne. They're quite, I could say, a progressive state. They've all left wing government. New South Wales is a bit more conservative, but the people in all around Australia are very concerned about their citizen, Julian Assange, that he's a journalist. This is the first time in history that a journalist risks to be prosecuted for publishing truthful information. So, it's a big thing. And it's a big thing, I think, for Americans as well, because what seems to be at stake is their First Amendment. I'm just looking around to make sure I haven't lost our cameraman. So, a woman from Columbia, she's part of the... many excuses. I thought that it might be the colours of Ecuador, which are quite similar, but not the same, possibly not the same configuration. Let's keep going. Yeah, so the Latin American people from Chile, from Ecuador, have been incredibly supportive, but over a decade, and they've stood outside the embassy doing a vigil, as the ladies said before. They were out there every day keeping watch. So, as we get round to the corner and this gate of the British Parliament, Proud's getting a bit thicker here, and we're just going to keep going. Some of these are just ordinary pedestrians, which I'm going to try and get to the left of so we can get back to the train and see if there's anything happening around here, and see who else we can talk to as well. I don't... As you can imagine, quite a difficult event to organise. Also, not easy to know where to film. And some of the people I spoke to here, right at the start, they didn't know that they were speaking at this event. I don't think there's any events to the organisers. These things were just decided on the basis of, I guess, who turned up. And the idea would be to, like we've done, to talk to the people who are likely to know the most about the case. And some of those supporters that have stood there for outside that embassy of Ecuador for, yeah, a long, long time. Seven years, but they've continued in other places. So here's someone I recognise. Hello, how are you? I'm good, how are you? Good. Have you seen Stella on your travels? She just went that way. Did they? All right. I'm going to try and catch up. We're live to air. Good, good, good. Lovely to see you again. Lovely to see you. We saw you when... At the February 24th thing. It was 2020 when we were in the courtroom. Yeah, that's right. And then we had to do it. We got to do it via video. Yes, it was very good. It was a lot easier during the COVID. We had to get this wrinkled on a sponge. Yeah, you know my editor-in-chief's going to love you for saying that. Sorry. Yeah, so if you go after this is over, we're going straight into live streaming DC. Oh, we were going to go straight to Piccadilly. We usually go four or five. Well, this started five. Oh, OK. This London time. Oh, OK. It started five, five o'clock. Midday in Washington. 20 speakers. Oh, cool. Yeah, they're not doing a human chain, but they've got 20 world-renowned speakers. People like Chris Edgers, John Kiriakou. Wow. Oh, my God. The list, Joe Laurier is speaking as well, our editor-in-chief. And so we've got a really good streaming team like 42 Live. I'm giving a plug for his company now. They were just doing amazing things because what they're doing is they're bonding together, eight relatively weak internet signals. You buy those internet dongles and they plug all those into one device and then they get a signal that is better than any of them individually. Yeah, that bonds them. I totally understand the technology. Well, it's like you're working with eight internet connections. Oh, lovely, lovely. Eight is better than one. Yeah, right? Because it's always been a difficulty streaming outdoors, right? Absolutely. I don't know if you can afford a satellite connection, right? You know, if you're just an activist and stuff like that. Yeah. It's affordable technology, I believe. The working team is really great. Thank you. Who is it? In red. Who? In red. You don't know who he is? No, no, in red. Who's that lady? I know her red. Do you know that Russell Brand is coming? Yeah, Russell Brand's coming. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, folks, I didn't tell you that. I just learned that. The one in red, I have no idea. He's a hoarder, I believe. But I've been told that Stella's sound, she's down this way. Let's go. Not very far ahead, and we are to be honoured with the presence of Russell Brand as well. He will probably say a few words as well. Let's go down. Yes. I'm in for this media. She's carrying Julian's little boy. I haven't seen him for a while, but Stella's... He's growing such a lot. I thought it was Gabriel at first. Gabriel's around too. Incredible. I can't wait to tell Julian about it. You know, it's about 5,000 up to 5,000. He turns up in Melbourne as well. Really? Yes. Wow, wow. It was a big, big crowd. Amazing. They did the chain. Like about three people sick. Wow. What's the street here on the next screen? So just be ready and be careful in traffic. Can you get that master's t-shirt? It says free, my dad. So we're just going to cross over the road. I hope there's some stewards around because there's a lot of cameramen and women walking backwards to try and stay ahead of Stella. We'll get... We just had a little chat to her. Let her know what had been happening in Melbourne. Stella seems to be... Excuse us. We're trying to get across the road safely. But Stella seems delighted that there's been such an enormous turnout in London. And little Max, who said he's grown quite a bit, but he's looking a little pale today. And I think he's, you know, it's a big crowd for children. So he might just have had enough at this stage. And, yeah, as you said, as she said, young Gabriel Assange, Julian and Stella's eldest son, I think that's him in the arms of Kristen Rattenson, who is the editor-in-chief. Yes, that's Gabriel. We spoke to Kristen earlier on. So that's Kristen coming across the road carrying the other child. They're doing impressions. Oh, no, Gabriel, Max. Max looks perfectly all right now. Maybe he was just hungry. Yeah. All right. Excuse me. So, let's make room for everyone. They'll do the press when they're ready. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Can you see all right? Oh, good. Our cameraman's got a monopod. Can we see your t-shirt? Are you a cheeky monkey? You are a cheeky monkey. You've got my microphone. What does it say on your t-shirt? Nothing. It says, free-minded. No. All right, Gabriel. Yeah, this one is a tear away. His favorite expression is, let's go on an adventure. Isn't that right? He wants to find out how this microphone works. Well, that's not how. Look at him, cheeky monkey, trying to open it up. Oh, goodness, he's going to get the battery out. Oh, I'm working. You can't do that. So what do you reckon? There's so many people come out to help you out. How well do you now? Five. You like that? It's okay, I've made it before. I'm going to squeeze out. In a moment, you're going to go with my mama, okay? I think we're going to have to take our turns and what, because as far as I know, I know microphones, possibly a megaphone, but we have the helicopters flying up above and it's quite loud noise here on the ground and it's a huge crowd now around us. This is not quite as big a media scrum as I've been in outside Belmast prison when the Shadow Chan flue John McDonald came to visit Julia Massage. I actually got flung into the mud by a very large reporter from Holland, I think. And that was my first, really. I usually do the editing and stuff like that. So quite a shocker, but yeah. We know Stella and we probably get a few more words with her before the day is out. Young Gabriel Assange is Julian's son, five-year-old. He's really keen to meet the crowd and he's just below me now wanting to look at everyone's bags and things. Oh, somebody's got some bananas as well for the kids. The sun is beating down today and look at Big Ben. It's got the sun blazing on the top of it. I've never actually seen Big Ben so luminous before. Free Assange! I think at the moment you have quite a lot of large cameras. Oh, I can see Jeremy Corbyn is here. Corbyn is just over there wearing a yellow ribbon. The yellow ribbon, of course, is the symbol of the political prisoner. There's that famous song which some of you are not particularly fond of, but it's about somebody coming home. The human chain is self-proving. Julian has enormous support, enough support and much more. He has millions of people around the world who are disgusted by the injustice that is unfolding in the middle of London. Julian is suffering. And part of the point of making this human chain was to show that what is happening here is not a legal process. It's not a legitimate process. It is the instrumentalization of the law in order to persecute a person, a journalist, in order to keep him in prison indefinitely. For almost four years, how can you possibly, how can anyone possibly justify this atrocity? So in the world we're witnessing this atrocity and that is what compels them to come here to show their solidarity, to show that they care about Julian, that they believe in justice, that they see what is happening here is a state that has committed crimes against innocents, that is now committing crimes against the journalist who exposed those crimes they committed. Let's not forget that the U.S. planned to assassinate Julian in the U.K. while he was in the embassy and now they put him in the hardest prison in the U.K. for almost four years. Open your eyes. Free. As a journalist who's told the uncomfortable truths all around the world of what happened in Iraq, what happened in Afghanistan, what happened in Syria, Libya, environmental destruction, power and interface of big business and arms companies with governments. That truth's made a lot of very powerful people very uncomfortable so the U.S. has tried to charge him under the Espionage Act. If we believe in free speech, if we believe in independent democratic journalism then Julian Assange should be freed from Belmarsh and not removed to the United States. Today we've shown the levels of public support for Julian by having this human chain all around Parliament despite the obvious transport difficulties today because of the rail strike. Internationally there's huge support for Julian Assange and we say thank you to prominent politicians around the world that have spoken up to Julian as President Nobber's Operator of Mexico who's also offered asylum to Julian if he wants it ever to take that up. But our message is if Julian Assange is removed to the USA under the Espionage Act, it's a death sentence. 175 years and a maximum security prison is a death sentence and it would be a threat to every other serious journalist around the world. So my message to journalists around the world is when you take up your chosen profession you take on a responsibility to tell the truth without fear or favour. Well tell the truth please about Julian. Get the message out there and say to the British government, refuse the extradition but we're going to fight you all the way in the courts, we're going to fight you all the way in public opinion until Julian is freed and able to continue his work as a democratic in mind independent free journalist. So we can use to thank all the thousands of people who came here today to join us here on this human chain around the parliament. It's really impressive to see the turnout despite the strike that probably stopped a lot of people from coming here. It's so strong such a strong message and such a good signal to Belmarts, to the prison who's been sitting there for almost four years an absolute shame on this country to have an intellectual, a journalist who committed no crime but the crime of telling the truth. This cannot go on for any longer. The legal fight will continue and it will continue to the end but it's not a legal pace I've been sitting in every court proceedings that there will be many here in this country and I can assure you that I've been appalled to see how the legal system has bend itself to the demand and the request of the government here to stall to try to humiliate Julian to call him a narcissist as we heard one judge say it's appalling it's not a judicial question but it will be fought in the court but the real question when you're freeing a political prisoner and as well as this country is to put your finger at the political power because Julian is a political prisoner he's been politically persecuted the chain here among parliament is sending a message to the inside to those there they are there to serve the people on the outside and those are Julian supporters thousands of them here today and millions around the world know that this is a travesty and make no mistake about it today this is Julian alone standing against this power this brutal power this lawless power today it's Julian tomorrow it's you all of you thank you it's standing with all of us go to your ministers I am Australian I go to our politicians and demand a right for freedom for Julian and for the whole world for free speech for us all thank you very much for spreaders for all the world thank you I'm John McDonnell I'm the MP for Hayes and Harlington I'm the secretary of the National Union Journalist Parliamentary Group I think I'm still the only member of parliament of Julian in Belmont I've been allowed to visit Julian in Belmont and I just say this from the NUJ Parliamentary Group we've been standing up over the last since our establishment 20 years ago we've been standing up for the right of journalists to report in freedom across the world what we have here is a journalist who has reported on the some of the worst war crimes that we've seen in recent history and as a result of that has been imprisoned is now with the threat of extradition I believe also that his life will be at risk therefore we're standing up not just for Julian Assange we're standing up for journalists across the globe to have the right to report freely to write the truth I fear for him I really fear for him he's obviously stopped the threat of extradition but to secure his freedom because if we do not secure the freedom of Julian Assange no journalist no journalist is safe from this type of political threat so therefore we stand together the turnout today is enormous as we go into the next 18 months up to a general election this will become a general election issue every MP will be asked do you stand up for journalism do you stand up for the rights of journalists to report freely do you stand up for this basic human right and do you stand up for justice I believe actually the welter of this campaign the growth of this campaign will secure his release but in the meantime I just tell you from visiting him in prison I know the impact it's having on his health just the imprisonment itself this is persecution and what we need to do is make sure we end it now thank you well said John is that it is that it I want to end it they'll get a note from the story I think there's types investigating that story are we still alive so that was a very difficult task for me I almost got my arm broken I'm just talking to my cameraman were you able to hear some of those absolutely because I have to stand with my arm very much outstretched look I'm going to try and get a few words with Jeremy Corbyn I do have a question to ask him but he's very much in demand at the moment very much surrounded by journalists that are twice my height so we just had a red bus go by and the red bus London bus tooting it's on there's something I've been following my cameraman now because he said something's happening over here of interest and what happened he's gone over that way okay let's follow I've never spoken to Corbyn directly he's been on one of the live streams the simulcasts in fact we've done I didn't get to speak to him we at consortium use kind of no people who know people so let's do our best yes green let's cross I believe the crowd is around this gate now you always just have to follow the biggest most impenetrable hub of people if you're likely to hit the press um yeah that's Jeremy Corbyn um you know I I do have a question for Jeremy and I should articulate it just in case um just in case we don't get to I don't get to pose it but it's something that our viewers can contemplate and so that's whether he sees um any relationship in the way that Julian Assange uh was vilified and the way he was um there are links that we have heard about with the integrity initiative um that's going back quite a while um but of course you know the there's been the big expose forward report and also the documentaries by Al Jazeera that have really highlighted this just recently and at one point there are indications that it was the same crew that was going after both of them um for cement the espionage act the USA gives itself a global coverage for the espionage act they want him back in the USA to go to the USA where he would face a prison sentence of 175 years his crime in their eyes is that he released a lot of documents which indicated exactly what happened in the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq and Libya and the destruction of the natural environment in many parts of the world by armed forces and by big business and he released all this through WikiLeaks it was very embarrassing to the US government very embarrassing to the CIA very embarrassing to all the other governments that are part of that security chain he diligently dug out as a journalist and released information that actually makes the world safer he's been condemned by the governments of the USA and Britain and some but not all European governments however other governments around the world have taken a very different approach they see in Julian somebody speaking up for the poorer people in the poorest countries of the world and I think President Lopez Obrador of Mexico was set a wonderful example by using his daily press conference to speak up for Julian Assange directly approached both President Trump and President Biden to ask them not to appeal against the decision which was to allow him to remain in Britain and offered him a side in Mexico if he chooses to take that up at the moment the British government have said they want to extra-vite into the USA and that's been challenged in the courts and will eventually go to the European Court of Human Rights our rights in this country to be protected by the European Convention of Human Rights are at risk from the new Human Rights Bill being proposed by the government this matters because if Julian is sent to the USA and dies in prison then what message is that to any other journalist in the world just suppose you're a journalist in Indonesia or Australia or India or somewhere where you're concerned about nuclear testing and environmental damage concerned about military alliances and what they do to people you're going to think twice, three, four and five times before you put in a story because you'll see what happened to Julian Assange it's not only a direct threat to any journalist that does place their head above the power grid it can become a self-censorship of journalists all over the world so my appeal is to journalists they don't have to politically agree with me just understand the danger to your professional your chosen line of work in doing this and if I could I'd just say this to President Biden directly, President Biden you're elected on the biggest ever mandate of any US president you're elected by people who've always campaigned for peace who campaigned for the Civil Rights Act who campaigned to defend those that exposed Watergate on issues like that, Daniel Ellsberg and many others are you going to place yourself in history as the president who gave Julian Assange a death sentence or how about your place in history being the president who stood up against the hierarchies stood up for free speech stood up for journalism and said Julian Assange should go free well said I think it's a wrap up now people are going home the end of this momentous occasion first time in British history the Parliament has ever been surrounded and they've done it for the Australian journalist Julian Assange but his case is so important for journalists around the world for me personally because I'm an Australian journalist too and let's hope that this force that we've seen today is very positive force and what we've seen in other places like Mark Melbourne for a start the government of Australia is going to do more and the British Parliament of the British judiciary is going to give him in his day in court for a cross appeal where very many important issues are going to be discussed that Julian, sorry that Kristen Raffensen the editor in chief of WikiLeaks has outlined and Craig Murray former British ambassador to Uzbekistan so we're heading back home now to I'm heading back to where I'm staying in London to get the Washington DC event going where you will see 20 world-renowned speakers talking about this case and trying to say hands off Assange, Cathy Bogan for consortium news signing off it's a beautiful day and I hope it's a beautiful day where you are too it'll be a beautiful day if this guy gets released thank you