CORRECTION (April 25): An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the events would take place in 2017, rather than correctly pointing out they were held in 2016. The earlier story arrived via this tweet posted by WikiLeaks on Saturday (April 22).
The WikiLeaks founder is wanted on sexual assault charges and was recently visited by Nigel Farage.
PJ Harvey, Brian Eno, Laibach and Patti Smith were among a number of prominent artists and sundry public figures that appeared at a multi-city event on June 19 last year in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The #freeAssange event was dubbed ‘First they came for Assange’ by its organizers, a reference to the Martin Niemöller poem referring to the systematic targeting of oppressed groups in Nazi Germany. The date marked the fourth anniversary of Assange’s self-imposed detention in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face charges of rape and sexual assault.
On June 19, Harvey appeared at the Volksbühne, Berlin; Eno spok at the National Theatre, Belgrade; Laibach was at Gazarte, Athens; and Smith appeared at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. The event held simultaneous live-streamed talks and workshops in 14 cities in total, also including New York, Madrid and Bucharest.
Over the past year, WikiLeaks’ connections to the Russian government and Donald Trump’s election have come under investigation. In March, former UKIP leader and current free-floating stain on British politics Nigel Farage visited Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy.