
Julian Assange. Rassemblement de la coalition Stop the War à Trafalgar Square, à Londres. 8 octobre 2011. (Flickr)
Quarter to midnight…
It’s high time my friends
That we realize
That the persecution
Of Julian Assange
Is also our own…
That he is one of us
And a pathfinder
Of some of the crimes
Of these dreadful times
Made in our name…
Hostage of conscience
Detained in the heart
Of democracies
Which show by his plight
What they‘re underneath…
*
His persecution
Is a frontal blow
At the foundation
Of our polities
To challenge our rights
Repress our freedoms:
Our right to think free
And to be informed
To speak and to act
To exchange and share
And build together
With our hands, our minds
The warmth of our hearts
And our eyes opened
The world, which we want
To live and love in…
— I say the world, which
We want to live in
And not just the show
Where we pass and dream…
*
What did he defend?
Oh, very little!
The freedom of speech
Of information
And of a free press
Still independent…
Our right to the truth
And our need to know
What those we elect
Do in our name
Especially when
They use the shadows
To commit their forfeits…
The right of any
Investigator
To freely inquire
In any matter
Of public concern
And protect their sources
Without reprisal…
The courage and right
Of whistle-blowers
To disclose the facts
That hurt their conscience
And to be protected
By law and justice
If they are attacked…
The duty to protect
Our own privacy
Which is essential
To the blossoming
Of our true being…
The right to fair trial
Not to be deprived
Of one’s liberty
Arbitrarily…
The right not to be
Subject to torment
For having acted in
Soul and conscience…
The right to respect
And to protection
For daring to speak
And stand by the truth…
*
Isn’t it what we
Do stand for and we
Do every day
In this high office:
Undressing states’ crimes
Exposing their lies
Promoting justice
And hold them to book?
Isn’t it our mission
And the raison d’être
Of our commitment
To keep the light on
Against the dark side?
*
Through Julian’s ordeal
It is our freedoms
That are undermined
The very spirit
Of democracy
Which remains the least
Of the worst regimes
To live and work in
Despite all its faults
Betrayals and filth
Its caricatures
And its perversions…
Its myriad of crimes
Made in our name
With impunity
Without us knowing…
How many countries
Have been torn to pieces
How many people
Were decimated
By this world of ours
That calls itself free?
*
It’s our liberties
That are under siege
Now on borrowed time
For how much longer?
Its is already
A quarter to midnight…
*
He has been paying
Ten years of his life
Deprived of the sun
For exposing the truth
And ignominy
Of brutal powers
And laid bare their words…
*
Rather than silence
Should not our office
Bestow him the price
Of our true spirit?
Let’s not add to his
Torment, the weight of
Our indifference
And add our disgrace
To his pillory…
*
We have the duty
To firmly oppose
His extradition
Which for sure will sign
His sentence of death
By a law that is
That of the strongest…
*
From a procedure
To a procedure
Those who want his life
In the name of justice
That is not our own
Will keep him confined
The rest of his life
In a cell of shame…
If he does not die
Before, of despair
For having too much
Believed in freedom
In the power of truth
These precious values
That institutions
Are meant to defend…
If he does not put
In act of despair
An end to himself
And to the non-life
That has become his…
*
There are reasons to fear
That he may be found
Lifeless one morning
“Suicided” in his cell
Like those before him
Who have become
Too embarrassing
To the powers that be…
Those who want him
For having unmasked
Some of their secrets
And their many lies
And shaken up their thrones
Have no interest
In a long trial
That would open up
The Pandora’s box
Of some of their crimes
And make them public…
*
It will be futile
When he will be gone
Across the ocean
Or the river Styx
To cry on his heels
Praise his memory
And beg his pardon
For not having reached
Our hand out in time…
Julian has no need
For crocodile tears…
*
In the lone descent
Of his dark exile
He expects the smile
Of our amity
To lighten his heart
And of our support
Conscious and active
Which only can put
An end to his plight…
Every minute counts
It is already
A quarter to midnight…
*
This poem my friends
Invites you to join
This plea to demand
To the powerful
Who hold in their claws
Julian’s fragile life
To release this man
And through his freedom
To defend our own…
This we do not owe
Solely to him
But also to these
Too precious values
Which we believe in
And which give meaning
And beauty to our lives…
It is now well past
A quarter to midnight…
(April 2022)
Christophe Peschoux is a senior human rights officer and one of the most experienced investigators in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He devoted 42 years, half in the field, to the protection of refugees and people against the violence of states. He is the author of two books and several articles on the history of the Khmer Rouge. He retired from that office last October but not to causes close to his heart.
Source: Arretsurinfo.ch, 20 janvier 2024