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Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, attended the 78th Cannes Film Festival in France wearing a T-shirt with the names of 4,986 Palestinian children aged five and under, killed by Israeli forces since 2023. 

This marked Assange’s first major public appearance since his release from prison last year. His wife, Stella Assange, speaking to the media, said that he is thinking about how to become politically active again once he has fully recovered from prison. 

Assange is at the festival promoting the documentary “The Six Billion Dollar Man,” by Eugene Jarecki, which recounts the WikiLeaks saga using footage and archives, and previously unpublished evidence. At the red carpet on May 21, his wife Stella wore a brooch with a large message, “Stop Killing.” 

A post by WikiLeaks on Twitter said, “Julian Assange wore a Stop Israel T-shirt. Stella Assange wore a large message saying “Stop Killing”. Two messages. One demand: end the violence.”

Some people reacted positively to the move, calling it a “powerful humanitarian gesture” and saying “Assange has always been a real one. Glad he’s making the most of his freedom.” 

While some praised Assange for his “fearless condemnation of the ongoing genocide in Gaza”. Other people faulted his stance by saying “You think he would rather wear a shirt to encourage the release of hostages” and “More children are dying in Sudan and Congo, but yeah, Palestine is his only concern. ” while others leaned on the other side saying “I agree – however, it’s an easy fix – a better shirt would have been “SURRENDER HAMAS”” 

Julian Assange is known for founding WikiLeaks, a non-profit organisation which aims to increase transparency by publishing leaked documents from anonymous sources.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released thousands of classified U.S. military documents on Washington’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Julian Assange was arrested in 2019 by the London Metropolitan Police after Ecuador revoked his asylum.