London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

Roger Waters: Assange movement growing, but mainstream media ‘cowed by the ruling class’

Roger Waters: Assange movement growing, but mainstream media ‘cowed by the ruling class’

As WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange turned 50 in prison, his longtime friend and supporter, Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, hammered the “despicable” mainstream media for ignoring the growing movement to free him.

Assange turned 50 on Friday, sitting in London’s Belmarsh Prison. The US government is seeking to extradite Assange and try him on espionage charges, relating to his publication of documents alleging US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, although a British judge ruled in January that he could not be extradited to the United States due to concerns over US prison conditions, he has not been granted bail.

“I’ve sort of run out of expletives for these a**holes who have imprisoned Julian Assange,” Waters told RT on Tuesday. Waters has been a vocal advocate for Assange’s release since the WikiLeaks founder first took refuge in London’s Ecuadorian embassy in 2012, but admitted that the protests he’s led and spoken at haven’t moved politicians on either side of the Atlantic to release Assange.

“Julian Assange is a publisher who has committed no crime,” Waters said, remarking that “the powers that be have deaf ears to his predicament,” and seem happy to keep him “under lock and key until he dies, which they seem intent on doing.”

As Assange marked his birthday, protesters in the UK and US took to the streets demanding his release. Demonstrators in London sailed a boat past the Houses of Parliament, while a group in Washington, DC gathered outside the Department of Justice, which has charged Assange with a litany of espionage offences that could see him spend 175 years behind bars if convicted.

Waters told RT that, even though the pro-Assange movement has gained more and more public support in recent years, politicians and the mainstream media are continuing to look the other way. The Pink Floyd frontman recalled a protest in London last year in which “we marched from the Australian embassy to Parliament Square and we made our fine speeches and we made all the points that we’ve all made again and again… and the government took absolutely no notice.”

“Where are all the journalists who should be in the streets demonstrating?” he asked, after recounting a number of baseless stories published about Assange that portrayed him as a misogynist, a rapist, and a vandal. “Nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, the mainstream media is cowed by the ruling class and the powers that be.”

“All those of us who care about human rights and who actually care about freedom… find it very difficult in the face of a mainstream media that’s bought and paid for by the ruling class, and keeps its effing mouth shut.”

That same media mostly ignored news last week that a key witness in the US case against Assange recently admitted to lying. The witness, an Icelandic WikiLeaks volunteer turned FBI informant, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, told an Icelandic newspaper that Assange never instructed him to carry out any computer hacking, despite earlier testimony to the contrary.

Waters is undeterred by resistance from the government and media. “We are strong and we are not going away,” he declared.

“I think I’ll start a campaign now,” Waters said in closing. “I want a statue of Julian Assange in Parliament Square, waggling his finger at the Houses of Parliament, because that’s where he belongs. He is a great hero of our times.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×