WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange joined the crowds in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, according to a post on X by the whistle-blowing organisation, quoting his wife, Stella Assange.
“Now Julian is free, we have all come to Rome to express our family’s gratitude for the Pope’s support during Julian’s persecution,” Stella Assange said.
Julian Assange was released in 2024 under a plea deal, following years of incarceration after publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US government documents.
For much of the previous 14 years, Assange had either taken refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition or was held in Belmarsh Prison.
“Our children and I had the honour of meeting Pope Francis in June 2023 to discuss how to secure Julian’s release from Belmarsh,” Stella Assange added. “The Pope wrote to Julian while he was in prison and even offered him asylum at the Vatican.”
The Assange family gathered with the mourners near the top of the Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square, which was packed with people paying their respects.
Assange’s case continues to divide opinion sharply. The cache published by WikiLeaks included frank US State Department assessments of foreign leaders, along with reports of extrajudicial killings and intelligence activities targeting allies.
Supporters view Assange as a champion of free speech who was unjustly persecuted for exposing wrongdoing. However, critics argue he acted recklessly by releasing sensitive information without censorship, potentially endangering lives and undermining US security.
