• Julian Assange wants to attend a friend’s funeral.
• Dame Vivienne Westwood passed away on Thursday, age 81, in London.
• She was Julian Assange’s friend and ally before he hung himself.

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, will ask for release from the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison to attend Dame Vivienne Westwood’s funeral, says his wife.

For more than a decade, Dame Vivienne was an outspoken ally and friend of Mr. Assange, memorably speaking out against his detention while hung in a bird cage.

She passed away on Thursday, age 81, in London.

Due to allegations relating to the release of thousands of confidential papers in 2010 and 2011, Mr. Assange is contesting his extradition to the US.

Dame Vivienne was “irreplaceable,” according to his wife Stella Assange, who spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age of Australia.

“She was a huge friend, a great supporter, and it’s an enormous loss,” she added.

Asked how she intended to represent her husband at the funeral, she said: “Julian’s going to put in a request to be able to attend.”

Prison service spokesman Alan Selby told the Media 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”.

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.

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

Dame Vivienne hung from a cage outside the Old Bailey in 2020 to support Wikileaks.

She called her friend’s detention a “stitch-up” and chanted for his release.

Dame Vivienne also designed Julian and Stella Assange’s wedding dress.

Mrs. Assange said she bonded with Mr. Assange by visiting him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Assange sought asylum to avoid extradition for seven years. Along with Wikileaks, he was accused of rape in Sweden. It was dropped.

He was removed from the embassy in 2019 and jailed; he now faces a US military leak prosecution.

The UK government approved his extradition. Mr. Assange says his lawsuit is politically motivated.

One eye-catching demonstration of Dame Vivienne’s support for the Wikileaks founder took place in 2020 outside the Old Bailey when she was suspended within a sizable cage.

She referred to her friend’s arrest as a “stitch-up” and led the crowd in calling for her friend’s release.

The wedding dress worn by Julian and Stella Assange during their intimate Belmarsh ceremony earlier this year was also created by Dame Vivienne.

By paying him a visit during his protracted stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, she solidified her bond with Mr. Assange, according to Mrs. Assange.

For seven years, Mr. Assange sought shelter there in order to evade extradition. Along with his involvement with Wikileaks, he was accused of rape in Sweden. Later, that probe was abandoned.

However, he was expelled from the embassy in 2019 and detained; as a result, he is currently being tried in the US for leaking military intelligence.

The UK government has granted a request to deliver him. Mr. Assange, who is challenging this, has claimed that the prosecution of him is politically motivated.

[embedpost slug=”uk-court-allows-extradition-of-julian-assange-to-us/”]