Beccles, a small and quite town about two and half hours northeast of London, has been the new home of whistleblower Wikileaks’ founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange since December last year. The town in the first few days of Assange moving in had been at the centre of world media’s attention. If a stranger had been spotted with a camera and a map, he or she is more likely to be taken for a journalist than a tourist, thanks to Assange. Less than four months later, Assange is still there, signing his attendance at the local police station every morning, but the local population is surprisingly unaware of this.
Eveleigh House on London Road, one of the dozen or so break & breakfast joints in Beccles, is barely five minutes walk from the police station where Assange comes in to sign every day. Yet its owners Sally and Robert Breakspear have no idea that the platinum-haired celebrity visitor to their town has overstayed his invitation by a few months. In all fairness, nobody would more willing to leave Beccles than Assange himself.
At his extradition case that came up for hearing at a lower court in London in the last week of February, the judge ruled that Assange can be extradited to Sweden, pending appeal. It will be a long journey up to the highest court where both Assange and the Crown Prosecution Service can appeal depending on what ruling each court declares. Until a final verdict is reached Assange is not going anywhere and his daily ritual at the police station in Beccles will continue.
“Mr Wiki Leaky is still here,” asks a surprised Robert Breakspear, co-host at Eveleigh House. Breakspear suspects the US has something to with the mess Assange has landed himself in. But he is more curious to know what kind of man Assange is. “Very intelligent eh,” he says tapping his temple with this right index finger.
Carmela Sabatini, a waitress at the Swan House restaurant in the town centre is equally surprised like the Breakspears that Assange is still living in Beccles. “What do you think of all this (WikiLeaks)?,” she asks. She offers the answer as well. “Good, very good. Freedom of speech, hey hey.” Assange sure can count on Sabatini’s unwavering support. In December in an interview to Business Standard, he had expressed hope that Wikileaks survives this challenging phase. “I hope we can standardise a certain type of publishing freedom for the little guys and the big guys,” he had said.
Earlier this week, addressing students at the Cambridge Union Society (CUS), Assange had claimed the pro-democracy uprising in the Middle East was in part helped by Wikileaks. Strangely, the man who has provides unlimited fodder to the sensation hungry media around the world was not allowed to be covered by the CUS.
Not everyone in Beccles, however, seem to care too much about Assange and his unending campaign against the western powers. Ian, owner of The Butchers Arms pub, says Assagne’s arrival at Beccels has made very little difference to the locals. Except for the never-ending queue of journalists visiting this little down, life has pretty much been the same as it was before Mr Wiki Leaky arrived.