Alwaght- The full-size statues of Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, were unveiled on Friday in the capital of Germany.
All three figures whose bronze statues are erected in Berlin's Alexanderplatz are considered heroes on the political left for leaking US intelligence documents.
The Euronews cited Italian sculptor Davide Dormino, artist behind the work, as saying that he wanted to “represent three contemporary heroes who have lost their freedom for the truth.” He described their measure as a reminder of “how important it is to know the truth and have the courage to know the truth."
Entitled Anything to Say the sculpture encourages supporters to stand up for freedom of speech and information.
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange published in 2010 US military and diplomatic documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. In 2012, facing extradition to Sweden and fearing that he will be extradited to the US, he sought refuge at the Embassy of Ecuador in London and was granted political asylum by Ecuador. US soldier Chelsea Manning was convicted in 2013 on charges relating to the Espionage Act for leaking US intelligence and military documents to Wikileaks. She is currently serving a 35 year prison sentence. Edward Snowden is currently evading extradition to the US by taking asylum in Russia. He released classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) to journalists revealing the scale of the US global espionage programs.
Recent years revelations show that the US government has been busy spying systematically even on its so-called allies, including, Brazil, Germany, France and Japan.
