The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka is holding a public meeting in Colombo on December 21 to defend the democratic rights of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange and discuss the political significance of the WikiLeaks’ exposures for the Sri Lankan and international working class.

WikiLeaks and Assange are being subjected to a vicious international witch-hunt for exposing the criminal activities and political conspiracies of the US and other governments as they each seek to defend their economic and strategic interests from their rivals.

US cables relating to Sri Lanka have revealed the Obama administration’s complicity in the crimes committed the Colombo government during its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Washington is well aware that President Mahinda Rajapakse and other top leaders were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Tamil civilians but has never publicly named them.

The persecution of WikiLeaks is part a deepening international assault on free speech, open Internet access and basic democratic rights. The US and other governments are determined to keep people in the dark as they discuss the preparations for war and impose the burdens of the financial crisis on the working class.

The defence of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange is therefore part of the broader struggle to defend the democratic rights and social needs of working people all around the world. We urge all our readers and SEP supporters to attend the Colombo meeting to discuss these issues.

Venue: Jayawardena Centre, Town Hall, Colombo.

Date and Time: December 21, 4.00 p.m.