A PEOPLE’S tribunal to put “US imperialism on trial” and in defence of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange held its first hearing yesterday. 

Speakers at the Belmarsh Tribunal — named after the prison where Mr Assange is being held — included Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters, former Brazilian president Lula da Silva, prominent campaigner Tariq Ali and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. 

The online event was inspired by the famous Russell Tribunal of the 1960s, which investigated the US military intervention in Vietnam and concluded that the government was guilty of acts of genocide. 

Similarly, the Belmarsh Tribunal, organised by Progressive International, seeks to hold the US accountable for its crimes of the 21st century, spotlighting Mr Assange’s extradition case for revealing them.

“Imperialism is on trial,” Srecko Horvat, a philosopher and political activist, said as he opened the tribunal. 

Mr Horvat said that, unlike the Russell Tribunal, the sessions would not call for witnesses.

“Why? Again the answer is very simple, because WikiLeaks already revealed the crimes which are going on all across the world,” he said.

“It revealed the assassination of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. It revealed the torture in Guantanamo. It revealed the mass surveillance system by the CIA, and these are the real and only reasons why Julian Assange is now in Belmarsh prison.”

The tribunal also heard from Rafael Correa, the former Ecuadorian president who granted Mr Assange asylum in his country’s embassy in London.

Mr Correa said of his decision to offer Mr Assange refuge: “There was no guarantee of a fair trial if he was extradited to the US. Our intention was never to interfere with Swedish justice.”

He accused his successor Lenin Moreno of breaking international law by allowing British police to enter the embassy last year to arrest Mr Assange. 

The WikiLeaks founder’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, thanked Mr Correa for making the decision, saying that he had been vindicated by the current trial. 

On a personal note, she said she found it “incredibly upsetting” that “I have to visit a Nobel Prize-nominated publisher and journalist in a high-security prison in Britain which is supposed to be the world’s leading democracy.”

Mr Assange is fighting extradition to the US, where he could face a 175-year prison sentence on 17 charges of espionageand one of computer misuse in relation to the publication of secret military documents a decade ago.

The verdict is expected in February.