Caged like a ‘canary’, Vivienne Westwood protests for Assange in London

Vivienne Westwood demonstrates outside the Old Bailey in support of Julian Assange, in London, Britain, July 21, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) – Vivienne Westwood, dressed in yellow, was locked into a giant bird cage outside England’s Old Bailey court on Tuesday, a stunt to show her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who is fighting extradition from Britain to the United States.

“I am Julian Assange,” fashion designer Westwood said. “I am the canary in the cage. If I die down the coal mine from poisonous gas, that’s the signal.”

“Free Assange,” she said.

Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities to stand trial for 18 offences including conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. Last year, the United States began extradition proceedings after he was dragged from London’s Ecuadorean embassy where he had been holed up for almost seven years.

Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.

To some, Assange is a hero for exposing what supporters cast as abuse of power by modern states and for championing free speech. But to others, he is a dangerous rebel who has undermined U.S. security.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Sarah Young