Listen: Gabriel Shipton talks with Hope Afternoon's Laura Bennett about the new documentary 'Ithaka', about the ongoing plight to see his brother Julian Assange released
By Laura BennettFriday 29 Apr 2022MoviesReading Time: 1 minute
In 2010, the Wikileaks website published documents revealing alleged war crimes committed by the United States in the Middle East. Its founder, Australian journalist Julian Assange, has been making global headlines ever since as American authorities seek to convict him for the leak and its possible “threat to national security”.
For the last decade Julian has lived a confined life – at one point in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and now in the UK’s maximum security Belmarsh Prison, while he fights the conviction and evades a possible 175-year prison sentence.
Just last week, British judges granted permission for Julian’s extradition to the US to take place, which Julian’s lawyers are again fighting against.
Since the leak, Julian has become the world’s most famous political prisoner. He’s a symbol of an international arm wrestle over freedom of journalism, government corruption and unpunished war crimes.
His brother Gabriel Shipton has just produced and released the new documentary Ithaka, taking us into the family’s ongoing plight to see Julian released, and how it’s affected his father John and now wife Stella.
Gabriel spoke to Hope 103.2 about why Julian’s story captivates people and what side of his story he wanted everyone to see in the film.
Ithaka is in select cinemas now.
Feature image: documentaryaustralia.com.au