Assange ‘opens’ for MIA in New York
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Julian Assange appears on stage at New York City’s Terminal 5. Picture: Youtube
Source: YouTube
HE may not be the most obvious choice to open a gig but WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange helped the artist M.I.A. kick off her latest tour.
Assange appeared on the big screen, talking to the crowd at New York City’s Terminal 5.
Appearing via Skype from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he is still living in exile, Assange spoke for ten minutes, Rolling Stone reported.
"It’s a great pleasure to speak to M.I.A and our fans," he said. "I have become a fan of M.I.A because I think she is the most courageous woman working in western music, without exception."
Assange spoke about press freedom and privacy in the light of recent revelations about US spying brought to world attention by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
He said: "American journalists that are actually trying to do something really pretty significant – namely, stop the United States and other countries along with it turning into a military dictatorship slowly, inevitably, inexorably – they’re in exile now," he said.
He also talked about what he called the “military occupation of cyberspace”.
M.I.A has worked with Assange before. She created music for Assange’s short-lived interview show, The World Tomorrow.
The British-Sri Lankan artist also named a 2011 mixtape Vicki Leekx in honour of Assange’s organisation.
