JULIAN ASSANGE: O ARAUTO PÓS-MODERNO DA PARRHESIA GRECO-ROMANA

Abstract

Greek parrhesia and its Roman equivalent, libertas, was the civic duty to tell the truth, the whole truth, before the powerful (rulers) to defend an important principle or right for the whole society, regardless of the real personal risks that those who exercising it could suffer, including death itself. In the period of classical antiquity, it was defended and practiced by Socrates and by the philosophical schools derived from his thought, especially cynicism and stoicism. Here we focus on parrhesia as a way of exercising stoic community or socio-political action, prioritizing the greater good of the whole, and we bring it to contemporary times, finding in the figure of Julian Assange the greatest living representative of parrhesia who, due to the very nature of concept, in realizing the common good for all by denouncing and showing the truth about the corrupt actions, war crimes and crimes against humanity of various governments and companies, became the target of powerful persecution, smear campaign and attempt, unfortunately successful, to make him an international pariah. Now, at the time of his judgment about his possible extradition to the United States, he has been suffering even more, in a Kafkaesque trial and being subjected to psychological and physical torture. However, even though he has suffered countless injustices for long ten years and may be extradited to the United States and suffer a new unfair trial, inhuman and cruel treatment, as well as being sentenced to a prison sentence of such an extent that it will become capital punishment, a life sentence, everything he gave us courageously in defense of freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the right to know what government officials do in our names without our authorization, will never be forgotten and will continue to be multiplied forever, like a Pandora's box that expels all the evils of the world publicly and without ceasing and can never be closed again, but only to safeguard our hope in a more real, free and human world!