John Shipton, the father of imprisoned Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, will be special guest of honor at the September 15 and 16 Independence Day celebrations in Mexico City at the invitation of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
AMLO has spoken out in favor of Assange on multiple occasions, and even offered him asylum in Mexico. He has also asked President Joe Biden to drop the U.S. government’s charges against the 51-year-old Australian journalist.
This week, Shipton took part in a march and rallies held outside the U.S. and U.K. embassies in the capital, demanding the release of Assange, who is accused by the United States of espionage and leaking thousands of classified U.S. documents through WikiLeaks.
Assange was arrested by British authorities in April, 2019, after spending almost seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after the South American country granted him asylum. In June of this year, the UK’s interior minister approved the extradition request from the United States, although Assange’s lawyers have filed one final appeal.
If convicted in the United States, Assange could be sentenced to 175 years in a maximum security prison.
Shipton arrived in Mexico just one day prior to the scheduled visit of U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Speaking at the rally outside the U.S. embassy, Shipton accused Blinken of hypocrisy, saying “he travels around the world saying that freedom of expression is one of the main concerns of Washington, while continuing to persecute Julian Assange,” adding that “Julian is a world symbol of freedom of expression.