Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 53 minutes ago
In 2010, Julian Assange burst into the international glare after his Wikileaks website published classified materials obtained from soldier Chelsea Manning – including footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed at least 11 civilians. Indicted in the United States on 17 espionage charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 175 years, he has emerged as a divisive figure. Once he came out of nearly seven years of refuge in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Assange was arrested and has now been cleared for extradition by the British authorities; but he has appealed that decision. Some say he is being unfairly punished for exposing war crimes, while others contend he damaged diplomacy and harmed U.S. national security. Many believe that if he is convicted, journalists around the world who investigate and write about national security matters will themselves be in danger of prosecution.
At this live, in-person event on the Georgetown campus, we will hear from Assange’s father and his brother, who have made a documentary film about his case, as well as a former FBI agent who has herself become a whistleblower, and a professor of international politics at Middlebury College who doubts Assange’s journalistic or whistleblower credentials.
Assange Indictment: justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2019/04/11/assange_indictment.pdf
Featured:
Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Assange and producer of the film “ITHAKA,” has worked in film production for more than 15 years. He has been involved in productions ranging from low-budget feature films and quality television drama series to major studio pictures. He is based in Australia and has filmed on location, including in Africa, South East Asia, and the Middle East.
John Shipton, the father of Assange and the subject of the film “ITHAKA,” has actively campaigned for his son to be free from detention, marshaling supporters from around the world. Shipton alleges that Assange has been a victim of political persecution, false charges, and harassment and slander by political figures, corporate media, and the United States government.
Allison Stanger is the Russell Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics at Middlebury College in Vermont; a research affiliate at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University; and external professor and science board member at the Santa Fe Institute. She is the author of “Whistleblowers: Honesty in America from Washington to Trump” and “One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy.”
Jane Turner, a former FBI special agent, led the bureau’s highly successful program combating child sex crimes and crimes against women on Indian Reservations in North Dakota. After discovering and exposing the FBI’s failures within the program in 1998-1999, Turner was removed from her senior position. She challenged this retaliation in federal court for nearly nine years. In 2007, a jury awarded her the maximum compensatory damages permitted under the law,more than $1.5 million.
Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of "All Things Considered" on NPR.
Recorded March 14, 2023
In 2010, Julian Assange burst into the international glare after his Wikileaks website published classified materials obtained from soldier Chelsea Manning – including footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed at least 11 civilians. Indicted in the United States on 17 espionage charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 175 years, he has emerged as a divisive figure. Once he came out of nearly seven years of refuge in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Assange was arrested and has now been cleared for extradition by the British authorities; but he has appealed that decision. Some say he is being unfairly punished for exposing war crimes, while others contend he damaged diplomacy and harmed U.S. national security. Many believe that if he is convicted, journalists around the world who investigate and write about national security matters will themselves be in danger of prosecution.
At this live, in-person event on the Georgetown campus, we will hear from Assange’s father and his brother, who have made a documentary film about his case, as well as a former FBI agent who has herself become a whistleblower, and a professor of international politics at Middlebury College who doubts Assange’s journalistic or whistleblower credentials.
Assange Indictment: justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2019/04/11/assange_indictment.pdf
Featured:
Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Assange and producer of the film “ITHAKA,” has worked in film production for more than 15 years. He has been involved in productions ranging from low-budget feature films and quality television drama series to major studio pictures. He is based in Australia and has filmed on location, including in Africa, South East Asia, and the Middle East.
John Shipton, the father of Assange and the subject of the film “ITHAKA,” has actively campaigned for his son to be free from detention, marshaling supporters from around the world. Shipton alleges that Assange has been a victim of political persecution, false charges, and harassment and slander by political figures, corporate media, and the United States government.
Allison Stanger is the Russell Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics at Middlebury College in Vermont; a research affiliate at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University; and external professor and science board member at the Santa Fe Institute. She is the author of “Whistleblowers: Honesty in America from Washington to Trump” and “One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy.”
Jane Turner, a former FBI special agent, led the bureau’s highly successful program combating child sex crimes and crimes against women on Indian Reservations in North Dakota. After discovering and exposing the FBI’s failures within the program in 1998-1999, Turner was removed from her senior position. She challenged this retaliation in federal court for nearly nine years. In 2007, a jury awarded her the maximum compensatory damages permitted under the law,more than $1.5 million.
Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of "All Things Considered" on NPR.
Recorded March 14, 2023
