Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Vivienne Westwood: Julian Assange to ask for prison leave for funeral, says wife

Vivienne Westwood: Julian Assange to ask for prison leave for funeral, says wife

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will request leave from the high-security Belmarsh Prison to attend Dame Vivienne Westwood's funeral, his wife says.

Dame Vivienne was a vocal supporter and friend of Mr Assange for more than a decade, famously protesting against his incarceration suspended in a bird cage.

She died in London on Thursday aged 81.

Mr Assange is fighting extradition to the US on charges related to the publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011.

His wife Stella Assange, who has described Dame Vivienne as "irreplaceable", told the BBC her husband and the designer had a close personal relationship.

Having known Mr Assange for more than ten years, she said Dame Vivienne was a strong supporter of WikiLeaks' work.

"I know that Julian would want to honour her," said Ms Assange, adding that her husband's solicitor had been asked to put in a request for him to attend.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told the BBC that it was unlikely such a request would be granted as this kind of leave was only meant for close relatives.

However, there was no explicit ban, he said, and it was up to prison governors to decide on a case-by-case basis.

A relevant guidance document states that applications should "balance security considerations with those of decency, and should only be refused on security grounds".

Mrs Assange insisted there was "no obvious reason" why the prison would not be able to grant the request, arguing there were "good compassionate reasons why it should".

Details of Dame Vivienne's funeral have not yet been made public.

The Derbyshire-born designer made her name with her controversial punk and new wave styles in the 1970s and went on to dress a number of big stars.

Mr Assange himself described her as a "pillar of the anti-establishment", in comments released by his wife on Twitter.

He saluted Dame Vivienne's creativity and friendship, saying she would be "missed terribly by me and many others".

One headline-grabbing show of support for the Wikileaks founder saw Dame Vivienne suspending herself inside a large cage outside the Old Bailey in 2020.

She condemned her friend's detention as a "stitch-up", and led other protesters in chanting for his release.


Dame Vivienne also designed the wedding dress seen during Julian and Stella Assange's small wedding ceremony in Belmarsh earlier this year.

She cemented her friendship with Mr Assange by visiting him regularly during his long stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London as well as in Belmarsh, Mrs Assange said.

The two saw in the 2015 New Year together at the embassy, she added.

Mr Assange took refuge there for seven years, seeking asylum to avoid extradition. As well as his work with Wikileaks, he faced a rape allegation in Sweden. That investigation was later dropped.

But he was removed from the embassy in 2019 and imprisoned, and now faces a US trial over a leak of military information.

A request to hand him over has been approved by the UK government. However, Mr Assange is battling this, and has said the case against him is politically motivated.

Stella Assange wore a dress designed by Dame Vivienne during her small-scale wedding at Belmarsh Prison earlier this year

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say
Retired British police officer arrested over ‘thought crime’ tweet
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at ICE Facility Amid Congressional Visit
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Bill Gates Announces Plan to Wind Down Philanthropic Foundation and Disperse Wealth
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
×