Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will become an honorary citizen of Rome by early next year following a vote this week by its local assembly, the city's former mayor Virginia Raggi said on Thursday.

cross-posted from: https://lemmus.org/post/1242124

Assange, 52, has been in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison since 2019 and is wanted in the United States over the release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables in 2010.

“Assange is a symbol of free speech which is essential for any genuine democracy,” Raggi, who ran Rome’s city hall between 2016 and 2021, told Reuters.

“He has been deprived of his own liberty for years, in awful conditions, for doing his job as a journalist,” she said.

Other Italian cities have taken similar steps. The northern city of Reggio Emilia granted Assange citizenship last month, while Naples is set to follow shortly.

  • Deceptichum
    -12•1 year ago

    That’s not a good look when the fascist country makes you a citizen.

    • @Shialac@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32•1 year ago

      Its not the country, its the City of Rome.

      The Mayor of Rome and majority of the City Council is social-democrat

    • ShroOmericEnglish
      -15•1 year ago

      Ahaha you’re what american to go around teaching about democracy? It’s a miracle they still let you vote like it matters 🤣

        • @sudneo@lemmy.worldEnglish
          -1•1 year ago

          Meloni has still been voted by a minority of people, considering the incredibly low turnout in the last elections. “Fascist” country seems very much pulled from your ass, especially when talking about something started by the previous city government of Rome.

            • @sudneo@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3•1 year ago

              “Italy” did not, a minority of people, who did for all kind of different reasons, did. A subset of those is probably a nostalgic.

              Meloni’s party benefited from the fall of the other right wing parties. The core base which is probably what I would call fascists are probably close to the usual % her party was getting few years back: 3-5%.

              Anyway, this has nothing to do with “being a fascist country”. Words have meaning, and a fascist country is a dictatorship in which freedom of press does not exist, where minorities and political opposition is systematically repressed, killed, silenced, etc. Thankfully, we are still very far from that.