Dont Extradite Assange Virtual Political Rally First of Its Kind

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange supporters hold placards as they gather outside Westminster Magistrates court In London, on April 20, 2022. Alastair Grant/AP Photo

The Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign has broken new ground by becoming the first-ever virtual political rally by utilising the Wistaverse metaverse as a platform for the event.

The online political rally, held on Aug. 26, 5 p.m. London time was aimed at preventing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from being sent to a U.S. prison.

‘We want to publicise the Assange case and to mobilise people for the protest at the court, and to make sure that people know that this is the 11th hour in the Assange case,” John Rees from the Don’t Extradite Campaign told Crypto news. 

Founded in May, Wistaverse is a free not-for-profit immersive 3D virtual space (metaverse) dedicated to protests and social action, which its cofounder, Jules Alcazar, says ‘has the infrastructure to host big global events.’

Image of the Virtual Assange Rally

“We are excited that the Don’t Extradite Assange campaign has decided to use the platform to host such a key rally, Mr. Alcazar told Itwire.

After registering, attendees are sent a link to download the sandbox software required to enter the ’metaverse' and are able to create their own digital avatars.

“Attendees will be able to communicate with each other, voice their opinions, ask questions, organise their actions make key contacts and access resources and information,” Mr. Alcazar said.

The event recreated a virtual auditorium that looked like the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where Assange is set to face his final appeal in the UK court system.

John Rees from the Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign UK said, “We want to publicise the Assange case and to mobilise people for the protest at the court.”

Pre-recorded messages included a clip from Julian Assange, who said it was very heartening “to see that so many people care about the values that I hold dear, and that is something I want to talk about.”

Pre-recorded Messages Lead Protests in the Virtual World

The virtual rally included pre-recorded speeches from Stella Assange and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks Kristinn Hrafnsson.

A prerecorded speech from former Opposition leader and Labor MP Jeremy Corbyn, taken from when he spoke previously in parliament, was also used in a message in the online rally.

In a press release sent to Cryptonews,  Mr. Alcazar noted some of the challenges with online protests are they are often centralised in big cities, leaving the rest of the population out for geographical or practical reasons.

They are also forbidden in some countries, and/or people face increased surveillance.

He believes it is an amazing opportunity to gather the world in one place and hopes Wistaverse will be entirely community-led in two to three years’ time.

“This will allow anyone to either organise or attend a protest without central authority involved and for the platform to thrive as what it was created for— a decentralised virtual world accessible to all, dedicated to social action, ” he said.

Julian Assange is currently in Belmarsh Prison in the UK and faces a sentence of 175 years. His legal team are fighting an extradition to the U.S. and has filed an appeal to the High Court.