Sydney demands information freedom and justice for Bradley Manning

Around one hundred people came out to Sydney’s Town Hall Square as part of an international weekend of solidarity rallies calling for an end to the persecution of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.

Lounging in rainbow coloured deck chairs at the steps of Sydney’s Town Hall, the crowd heard from speakers including Michael Thomson, University of Sydney’s branch President of the National Tertiary Education Union, who said: “Civilians are not being shot and killed because of the Bradley Manning’s of this world, the people who help expose the horror of the war, and it is wrong that he is in gaol for these reasons.”

Thomson spoke about academic freedom: “The control of information, the determination of what we can investigate and research at universities is already under attack.”

Thomson referred to the case of two academics from the University of Sydney who he said were targetted by the Howard government in the lead up to the 2007 election for their investigation into WorkChoices.

“This was an attack on academic freedom … today it continues.”

“As far as I am concerned, and my union is concerned, we think that Bradley Manning is important and he should be supported, and we believe that the treatment being dished out to him has to be opposed as abhorent,” he said.

Other speakers included international human rights lawyer Tony Simpson, National President of Whistleblowers Australia Cynthia Kardell, and Greens NSW MLC David Shoebridge.

“Why has the United States government focused so much attention on this one man?” asked Shoebridge.

“It is because they are frightened of him. They are afraid of him, and what he stands for, which is a new openness in information.

“So when you see the biggest organisation on the planet, the United States government, mercilessly attack a 23-year-old private, you must realise that that man had something special,” he continued.

“You must realise that the project of WikiLeaks, this openness of information, is a new development in international relations.

“The US government wants to stop it. The Australian government, the establishment here, doesn’t want open access to information, because they know that open access to information directly challenges the existing power relationships we have here on planet earth.

“We say, we want the information, we want access to all of that secret government information, because we want to be able to stand up and say: you are not doing that in our name.”

Manning’s charges include aiding the enemy, the penalty for which is the death penalty or life imprisonment. He has been detained under maximum custody in Quantico Brig for over 9 months where he remains awaiting trial.

• View photos of the rally here.
• Get involved the the Sydney solidarity with Bradley Manning campaign.