Rome first capital city in world to confer honour on Assange.

Rome city councillors on Tuesday approved a motion to grant honorary citizenship to imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, weeks after Naples voted to do the same.

The resolution to give honorary citizenship to Assange, an Australian citizen being held in the UK, was approved with 22 votes in favour out of 22 voters, with 34 present in the council chamber.

Rome will become the first city to award the honour to Assange who is battling extradition to the US where he is wanted on 18 charges over the release of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables in 2010.

E' stato un percorso complesso che ci ha visti impegnati con due esponenti della maggioranza e con le associazioni Free Assange, Articolo 21, La mia Voce per Assange e Italiani per Assange…segui il linkhttps://t.co/MfCm78uP0k pic.twitter.com/RzjRbc71LL

— Virginia Raggi (@virginiaraggi) October 18, 2023

The first signatory of the motion to grant Assange honorary citizenship was former Rome mayor Virginia Raggi along with four other Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) councillors, reports La Repubblica newspaper.

In a social media post, Raggi said that she has already initiated the procedure to formalise the honorary citizenship of Assange whose story, she said, "concerns all of us, our role as free and informed citizens and the future of our own democracy."