Post Tagged with: "Julian Assange"

Educating the US Imperium: Australia’s Mission for Assange

Educating the US Imperium: Australia’s Mission for Assange

An odder political bunch you could not find, at least when it comes to pursuing a single goal.  Given that the goal is the release of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange makes it all the more striking.  Six Australian parliamentarians of various stripes will be heading to Washington ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s October visit to test the ground of[Read More…]

by 06/09/2023 Comments are Disabled World
The Crucifixion of Julian Assange - by Mr. Fish

The Crucifixion of Julian Assange

This is a sermon I gave on Sunday Aug. 20 in Oslo, Norway at Kulturkirken Jakob (St. James Church of Culture). Actor and film director Liv Ullmann read the scripture passages. I dedicate this sermon to my mentor at Harvard Divinity School, Bishop Krister Stendhal. Prophets are notoriously difficult people. They are not saints. They are people of agony, as Rabbi[Read More…]

by 21/08/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Assange Be Wary: The Dangers of a US Plea Deal

Assange Be Wary: The Dangers of a US Plea Deal

At every stage of its proceedings against Julian Assange, the US Imperium has shown little by way of tempering its vengeful impulses.  The WikiLeaks publisher, in uncovering the sordid, operational details of a global military power, would always have to pay.  Given the 18 charges he faces, 17 fashioned from that most repressive of instruments, the US Espionage Act of[Read More…]

by 15/08/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Supporters of Julian Assange protested outside the Old Bailey as the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange resumed on September 7, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images) (Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images)

On the Journalists Who Have Failed to Defend Julian Assange

The failure of too many in the mainstream press is not only inexcusable, but ominous. The persecution of Julian Assange, along with the climate of fear, wholesale government surveillance and use of the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers, has emasculated investigative journalism. The press has not only failed to mount a sustained campaign to support Julian, whose extradition appears imminent, but[Read More…]

by 11/07/2023 Comments are Disabled World
STOP THIS – by Mr. Fish

The Imminent Extradition of Julian Assange and the Death of Journalism

Julian Assange’s legal options have nearly run out. He could be extradited to the U.S. this week. Should he be convicted in the U.S., any reporting on the inner workings of power will become a crime. High Court Judge Jonathan Swift — who previously worked for a variety of British government agencies as a barrister and said his favorite clients are “security and intelligence[Read More…]

by 20/06/2023 Comments are Disabled World
FBI appears to be continuing investigation of Julian Assange

FBI appears to be continuing investigation of Julian Assange

On Thursday, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, prominent Australian publications, reported new information indicating that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is continuing a probe of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. The article reported that the previous week Andrew O’Hagan, a British journalist, had been contacted by the FBI, who asked to interview him about Assange. In 2011, O’Hagan had been[Read More…]

by 03/06/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Stella Assange address National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, May 22, 2023. [Photo: National Press Club]

Visits of Justice: Stella Assange’s Plea to Australia

It certainly got the tongues wagging, the keyboards pressed, and the intellectually dead aroused – at least for a time.  Given how many of those in the Australian press and media stable have been, for the most part, unconcerned, and in some cases celebratory, regarding the prosecution of Julian Assange, it was strikingly poignant to have his wife, Stella, present[Read More…]

by 24/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Stella Assange address National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, May 22, 2023. [Photo: National Press Club]

Australian Prime Minister Albanese refuses to meet with Assange’s wife

In a gratuitous display of contempt, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday refused to meet with Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange, Australia’s most prominent political prisoner. The snub came even as Stella was inside the federal parliament, having travelled to the country to campaign for her husband’s freedom. Asked by independent MP Andrew Wilkie why he would not meet[Read More…]

by 23/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Brazilian President Lula Calls For The Release Of Julian Assange

Brazilian President Lula Calls For The Release Of Julian Assange

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticized the UK for its treatment of Julian Assange. He said the WikiLeaks founder has been imprisoned for his professional activities as a journalist and called on the government to release him. “It is an embarrassment that a journalist who denounced trickery by one state against another is arrested, condemned to die[Read More…]

by 09/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Why Julian Assange Is at the Vanguard for World Press Freedom

Why Julian Assange Is at the Vanguard for World Press Freedom

We celebrate World Press Freedom Day in May as a reminder that the role of news organizations is to speak truth to power. Not for manufacturing consent—to use Chomsky’s famous words—for the government and the ruling classes. It’s an occasion to remember three people who exemplify the need to speak the truth: Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks; and[Read More…]

by 06/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Foiled Escape: UC Global, the CIA and Julian Assange

Foiled Escape: UC Global, the CIA and Julian Assange

However described, the shabby treatment of Julian Assange never ceases to startle.  While he continues to suffer in Belmarsh prison awaiting the torments of an interminable legal process, more material is coming out showing the way he was spied upon while staying at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.  Of late, the Spanish daily El País has been keeping up its[Read More…]

by 30/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Secrecy Versus Democracy: New Developments

Secrecy Versus Democracy: New Developments

  A government with many secrets is not a democracy What are we to think when governments make every effort to keep their actions secret from their own citizens? We can only conclude that although they may call themselves democracies, such governments are in fact oligarchies or dictatorships. In a democracy, the citizens must control the actions of their government.[Read More…]

by 24/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Time Mustn’t Be Allowed to Run out on Julian Assange

Time Mustn’t Be Allowed to Run out on Julian Assange

Review of Guilty of Journalism by Kevin Gosztola Despite whatever charges Julian Assange may be accused of, it is well known that the WikiLeaks publisher was targeted for exposing the war crimes of the US government. In an upside-down Bizarro World, the screws are being ever so gradually tightened on Assange by the war criminals and their criminal accomplices. It[Read More…]

by 22/04/2023 Comments are Disabled Book Review
Four years since the arrest and imprisonment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange

Four years since the arrest and imprisonment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange

April 11 marks four years since WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange was violently dragged from Ecuador’s London embassy and arrested by the British police. Since that time, Assange has been imprisoned, without interruption, in the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison, described by some as “Britain’s Guantanamo Bay.” Assange’s ongoing detention, in a facility designed to hold terrorists and violent criminals, is[Read More…]

by 11/04/2023 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Turning Tides: The US Congress and Julian Assange

Turning Tides: The US Congress and Julian Assange

“Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.” I.F. Stone The US Congress and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, have what can only be regarded as a testy relationship.  Its various members have advocated and condoned his farcical prosecution, demanded his lifelong incarceration, even assassination, taking issue with his appetite for publishing unsavoury, classified[Read More…]

by 04/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Inglorious Inertia: The Albanese Government and Julian Assange

Inglorious Inertia: The Albanese Government and Julian Assange

The sham that is the Assange affair, a scandal of monumental proportions connived in by the AUKUS powers, shows no signs of abating.  Prior to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese assuming office in Australia, he insisted that the matter dealing with the WikiLeaks publisher would be finally resolved.  It had, he asserted, been going on for too long. Since then, it[Read More…]

by 01/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
The betrayers of Julian Assange

The betrayers of Julian Assange

This is an abridged version of a speech John Pilger gave in Sydney on March 10 to mark the launch in Australia of Davide Dormino’s sculpture of Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden: “Figures of Courage.” I have known Julian Assange since I first interviewed him in London in 2010. I immediately liked his dry, dark sense of humour,[Read More…]

by 22/03/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Assange, Snowden, Secrecy And Democracy

Assange, Snowden, Secrecy And Democracy

   “The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.” John Adams, (1735-1826) The Nuremberg Principles According to the Nuremberg Principles, the citizens of a country have a responsibility for the crimes that their governments commit. But to prevent these crimes, the[Read More…]

by 07/03/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Collateral Murder and the Persecution of Julian Assange

Collateral Murder and the Persecution of Julian Assange

Perhaps the greatest crime that Julian Assange committed in the eyes of both Democratic and Republican governments was this: he dared to tell the American people some of the terrible things their government had done. The first time I was asked to comment publicly on Julian Assange and Wikileaks was on MSNBC in April 2010. Wikileaks had just released the Collateral Murder video. The[Read More…]

by 19/02/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Vivienne Westwood: Activism and the Godmother of Punk

Vivienne Westwood: Activism and the Godmother of Punk

There was the punk scene, Malcolm McLaren, their racy clothes shop at 430 King’s Road that started out as Let it Rock, the creation of a look, and the gathering of the earth rumbling Sex Pistols.  In fact, the late Dame Vivienne Westwood was already a proven stirrer, suggesting that she, not Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, a.k.a Johnny Rotten,[Read More…]

by 02/01/2023 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
Julian Assange and Albanese’s Intervention

Julian Assange and Albanese’s Intervention

The unflinching US effort to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange for 18 charges, 17 of which are chillingly based upon the Espionage Act of 1917, has not always stirred much interest in the publisher’s home country.  Previous governments have been lukewarm at best, preferring to mention little in terms of what was being done to convince Washington to change course[Read More…]

by 01/12/2022 Comments are Disabled World
New York Times, Guardian And 3 More Media Outlets Call To End Prosecution Of Assange:  Publishing Is Not A Crime

New York Times, Guardian And 3 More Media Outlets Call To End Prosecution Of Assange:  Publishing Is Not A Crime

 “The U.S. government should end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets,” the editors of the Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El Pais wrote in a joint letter published Monday. The letter was signed by Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and the editors and publishers of the Guardian (Britain), Le Monde (France), Der Spiegel (Germany) and El Pais[Read More…]

by 29/11/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Thuggish Ways: Mike Pompeo, Punishing Leakers and Getting Assange

Thuggish Ways: Mike Pompeo, Punishing Leakers and Getting Assange

Poor, silly, protuberant Mike Pompeo.  The stocky, irritated former CIA director and former Secretary of State is rather upset that those who worked under him dared wag their tongues about Julian Assange.  The wagging so happened to relate to contemplated plans of abduction and assassination, something the US executive formally disallows though permits via various devious mechanisms. It’s not every[Read More…]

by 20/11/2022 Comments are Disabled World
A Political Solution for Assange: Jennifer Robinson at the National Press Club

A Political Solution for Assange: Jennifer Robinson at the National Press Club

It was telling.  Of the mainstream Australian press gallery, only David Crowe of the Sydney Morning Herald turned up to listen to Jennifer Robinson, lawyer extraordinaire who has spent years representing Julian Assange.  Since 2019, that representation has taken an even more urgent note: to prevent the WikiLeaks founder from being extradited to the United States, where he faces 18[Read More…]

by 23/10/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Doctors send open letter to British and US governments demanding Assange’s freedom

Doctors send open letter to British and US governments demanding Assange’s freedom

Doctors for Assange, a group of more than 300 medical experts from around the world, issued an open letter on Monday to British Home Secretary Suella Braveman and US Attorney General Merrick Garland, insisting that they immediately halt the state persecution of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and free him unconditionally. The doctors’ organisation, which has campaigned in defence of Assange[Read More…]

by 19/10/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Facing the Warmongers: An Assange Update

Facing the Warmongers: An Assange Update

On the latest slimed path Julian Assange has been made to trod, a few things have presented themselves.  The rusty sword of Damocles may be suspended above him (he, we are informed, has contracted COVID-19), but there are those, in the meantime, willing to defend him with decent conviction against his dispatch to the United States, where he is certain[Read More…]

by 11/10/2022 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
‘End the War on Journalism and Free Assange’: Thousands Demand Release of WikiLeaks Founder

‘End the War on Journalism and Free Assange’: Thousands Demand Release of WikiLeaks Founder

Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange held a massive transatlantic protest on Saturday to demand freedom for the incarcerated journalist. In London, thousands of people formed a giant human chain around Britain’s parliament and called for Assange’s immediate release from the nearby maximum-security Belmarsh prison, where he has suffered for years under conditions that experts have condemned as torture. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C.,[Read More…]

by 09/10/2022 Comments are Disabled World
How can Americans tolerate U.S. Government’s crucifixion of Julian Assange?

How can Americans tolerate U.S. Government’s crucifixion of Julian Assange?

Julian Assange has long been in solitary-confinement imprisonment in Britain awaiting extradition to America on charges which could bring him 175 years in prison, but he has never been convicted of anything, and the U.S. Government has violated both the U.S. Constitution and U.S. laws by having thus imprisoned him for over a decade without his ever having faced a[Read More…]

by 31/08/2022 Comments are Disabled World
It’s All Political: Julian Assange Appeals his Extradition

It’s All Political: Julian Assange Appeals his Extradition

Julian Assange’s legal team has taken its next step along their Via Dolorosa, filing an appeal against the decision to extradite their client to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 based on the odious US Espionage Act of 1917. Since his violent eviction from the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019, much to the delight of the national security[Read More…]

by 28/08/2022 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
 Justice in the Land of the FreeTM: The cases of Griner and Assange

 Justice in the Land of the FreeTM: The cases of Griner and Assange

I feel for American basketball player Brittney Griner. Did she break the law? Yes, she did, and she pled guilty at trial. But a sentence of nine years — to be spent in what the New York Times calls a “penal colony” — for bringing hashish into Russia for self-treatment (assuming this is true) seems overly harsh. But the law[Read More…]

by 05/08/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Penal Assassination: The Gradual Effort to Kill Assange

Penal Assassination: The Gradual Effort to Kill Assange

They really do want to kill him.  Perhaps it is high time that his detractors and sceptics, proven wrong essentially from the outset, admit that the US imperium, along with its client states, is willing to see Julian Assange perish in prison.  The locality and venue, for the purposes of this exercise, are not relevant.  Like the Inquisition, the Catholic[Read More…]

by 31/07/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Assange was stripped and placed in “suicide watch” isolation cell after British extradition announcement

Assange was stripped and placed in “suicide watch” isolation cell after British extradition announcement

Immediately after British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Friday last week that she had approved Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States, the publisher and journalist was stripped naked and placed in a bare cell of London’s maximum-security Belmarsh Prison. This latest abuse of Assange’s democratic and human rights was reported by his father John Shipton to a rally[Read More…]

by 24/06/2022 1 comment World
Predictable Monstrosities: Priti Patel Approves Assange’s Extradition

Predictable Monstrosities: Priti Patel Approves Assange’s Extradition

The only shock about the UK Home Secretary’s decision regarding Julian Assange was that it did not come sooner.  In April, Chief Magistrate Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring expressed the view that he was “duty-bound” to send the case to Priti Patel to decide on whether to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States to face 18 charges, 17[Read More…]

by 18/06/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Jennifer Robinson (center) with Kristinn Hrafnsson (left), editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, address the media at Westminster Magistrate Court in London May 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain admits to spying on Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson

On Saturday, renowned international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson announced a settlement with the British government over its surveillance of her while she has acted as a legal representative of persecuted WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. The same day, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), where a case by Robinson against the British government was pending, took note of the[Read More…]

by 15/06/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange in Ithaka

Julian Assange in Ithaka

“Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is where you’re destined for.” C. P. Cavafy, trans. Edmund Keeley John Shipton, despite his size, glides with insect-like grace across surfaces.  He moves with a hovering sense, a holy man with message and meaning.  As Julian Assange’s father, he has found himself a bearer of messages and meaning, attempting to convince[Read More…]

by 15/06/2022 1 comment World
Australian Labor government stonewalls demands to free Assange

Australian Labor government stonewalls demands to free Assange

During its first three weeks in office, Australia’s Labor government has responded with a quiet hostility to demands that it defend Julian Assange. Labor ministers have not mentioned Assange, unless directly questioned. And in response to those inquiries, they have made plain that they will continue the bipartisan complicity of the political establishment and state apparatus in the persecution of[Read More…]

by 13/06/2022 Comments are Disabled World
United States representative Mike Pompeo speaks to a rally of general aviation workers at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan., Monday, March. 21, 2011. The rally was attended by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Governor Sam Brownback, Senator Jerry Moran and an estimated 2,000 aircraft workers of general aviation companies in the Wichita area. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Mike Hutmacher)

A Spanish Court Calls: Mike Pompeo, We Want You

On June 3, Judge Santiago Pedraz of Spain’s national court, the Audienca Nacional, issued a summons for former CIA director and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify in an ongoing investigation into the conduct of private security firm UC Global and its founder, David Morales. The security firm is said to have been hired by US intelligence operatives[Read More…]

by 08/06/2022 Comments are Disabled World
New Brooms, Old Stories: The Australian Labor Party and Julian Assange

New Brooms, Old Stories: The Australian Labor Party and Julian Assange

After having a few lunches with Australia’s then opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, John Shipton felt reason to be confident.  Albanese had promised Assange’s father that he would do whatever he could, should he win office, to bring the matter to a close. In December 2019, before a gathering at the Chifley Research Centre, Albanese also referred to Assange.  “You don’t[Read More…]

by 03/06/2022 1 comment Human Rights
The Future of Gen Z Journalism Depends on Julian Assange’s Freedom

The Future of Gen Z Journalism Depends on Julian Assange’s Freedom

The world’s most powerful government will be able to suppress scrutiny and accountability from journalists anywhere in the world if Assange is successfully extradited, tried, and sentenced. Just thirteen days before World Press Freedom Day 2022 the very existence of world press freedom inched closer to its possible demise. On April 20, a U.K. court formally approved extradition of WikiLeaks founder[Read More…]

by 01/05/2022 Comments are Disabled World
To the Home Office We Go: The Extradition of Julian Assange

To the Home Office We Go: The Extradition of Julian Assange

It was a dastardly formality.  On April 20, at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Julian Assange, beamed in via video link from Belmarsh Prison, his carceral home for three years, is to be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 based on the US Espionage Act of 1917. The final arbiter will be the UK Secretary[Read More…]

by 21/04/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Outrage as Judge Approves Assange Extradition to US

Outrage as Judge Approves Assange Extradition to US

A British judge on Wednesday officially approved the U.S. government’s request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces espionage charges for publishing classified material that exposed war crimes by American forces. The judge’s new and widely expected procedural order, the culmination of a drawn-out legal battle, places the final decision on Assange’s extradition in the hands of U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel,[Read More…]

by 20/04/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Rotten Rulings: Julian Assange and the UK Supreme Court

Rotten Rulings: Julian Assange and the UK Supreme Court

Julian Assange, even as he is being judicially and procedurally tormented, has braved every legal hoop in his effort to avoid extradition to the United States.  Kept and caged in Belmarsh throughout this farce of judicial history, he risks being extradited to face 18 charges, 17 based on the US Espionage Act of 1917. District Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser initially[Read More…]

by 15/03/2022 1 comment Human Rights
Off to the Supreme Court: Assange’s Appeal Continues

Off to the Supreme Court: Assange’s Appeal Continues

With December’s High Court decision to overturn the lower court ruling against the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, lawyers of the WikiLeaks founder immediately got busy.  The next avenue of appeal, strewn less with gold than obstacles, would be to the Supreme Court.  The central question remained: Should the publisher be extradited to face 18 charges, 17[Read More…]

by 26/01/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange: A Thousand Days in Belmarsh

Julian Assange: A Thousand Days in Belmarsh

Julian Assange has now been in the maximum-security facilities of Belmarsh prison for over 1,000 days.  On the occasion of his 1,000th day of imprisonment, campaigners, supporters and kindred spirits gathered to show their support, indignation and solidarity at this political detention most foul. Alison Mason of the Julian Assange Defence Committee reiterated those observations long made about the imprisonment[Read More…]

by 13/01/2022 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Voices of Concern: Aussies for Assange’s Return

Voices of Concern: Aussies for Assange’s Return

With Julian Assange now fighting the next stage of efforts to extradite him to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 of which are based on the brutal, archaic Espionage Act, some Australian politicians have found their voice.  It might be said that a few have even found their conscience. Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was sufficiently exercised[Read More…]

by 23/12/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
The execution of Julian Assange

The execution of Julian Assange

He exposed empire as a criminal enterprise. He documented its lies, its callous disregard for human life, its rampant corruption, and its innumerable war crimes. But, as history shows, empires kill those who inflict deep wounds. Let us name Julian Assange’s executioners. Joe Biden. Boris Johnson. Scott Morrison. Theresa May. Lenin Moreno. Donald Trump. Barack Obama. Mike Pompeo. Hillary Clinton.[Read More…]

by 14/12/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange suffered stroke during High Court appeal for extradition

Julian Assange suffered stroke during High Court appeal for extradition

Doctors have confirmed that Julian Assange suffered a “mini stroke” inside Belmarsh Prison during a High Court appeal in October, his fiancée Stella Moris revealed over the weekend. She made clear that a pseudo-legal conspiracy by the US and UK governments to secure Assange’s extradition is pushing the WikiLeaks publisher to breaking point. Moris spoke to the Daily Mail on Saturday, just[Read More…]

by 13/12/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Assange nullifies the “freedom” imperialism propagates

Assange nullifies the “freedom” imperialism propagates

Julian Assange, a standard-bearer of freedom, has effectively nullified the “freedom” imperialist media propagates round the clock. Today, the imperialist “freedom” is on the dock. Voices across continents are calling to defend the freedom Assange stands for – the freedom to information, the freedom to know facts related to thousands of innocent civilian lives in countries, the freedom to present[Read More…]

by 11/12/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Journalism, Assange and Reversal in the High Court

Journalism, Assange and Reversal in the High Court

British justice is advertised by its proponents as upright, historically different to the savages upon which it sought to civilise, and apparently fair.  Such outrages as the unjust convictions of the Guilford Four and Maguire Seven, both having served time in prison for terrorist offences they did not commit, are treated as blemishes. In recent memory, fewer blemishes can be[Read More…]

by 11/12/2021 Comments are Disabled World
British Court Rules Assange Can Be Extradited to US

British Court Rules Assange Can Be Extradited to US

A British court ruled Friday that WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States to face charges of violating the Espionage Act, a decision that rights groups say poses a profound threat to global press freedoms. “This is an utterly shameful development that has alarming implications not only for Assange’s mental health, but also for[Read More…]

by 10/12/2021 1 comment Human Rights
The Baghuz Massacre Underlines the Necessity for Freeing Julian Assange

The Baghuz Massacre Underlines the Necessity for Freeing Julian Assange

The implications of the Baghuz Massacre should deeply underscore the integrity, morality, and vital importance of WikiLeaks and its heroic publisher and political prisoner Julian Assange. The Baghuz Massacre was a failed cover-up by the United States. WikiLeaks is the journalistic enterprise that shines a spotlight on the egregious crimes of states. Assange is imprisoned under tortuous conditions because he[Read More…]

by 21/11/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Why Julian Assange’s Inhumane Prosecution Imperils Justice for Us All

Why Julian Assange’s Inhumane Prosecution Imperils Justice for Us All

When I first saw Julian Assange in Belmarsh prison, in 2019, shortly after he had been dragged from his refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy, he said, “I think I am losing my mind.” He was gaunt and emaciated, his eyes hollow and the thinness of his arms was emphasized by a yellow identifying cloth tied around his left arm, an[Read More…]

by 02/11/2021 1 comment World
Human Rights are for Everyone! Including Julian Assange

Human Rights are for Everyone! Including Julian Assange

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people … The General Assembly, Proclaims this Universal[Read More…]

by 31/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
The Most Important Battle for Press Freedom of Our Time

The Most Important Battle for Press Freedom of Our Time

For the past two days, I have been watching the extradition hearing for Julian Assange via video link from London. The United States is appealing a lower court ruling that denied the US request to extradite Assange not, unfortunately, because in the eyes of the court he is innocent of a crime, but because, as Judge Vanessa Baraitser in January[Read More…]

by 30/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
The CIA, Empty Assurances and Assange’s Defence

The CIA, Empty Assurances and Assange’s Defence

The second day of appellate proceedings by the United States against Julian Assange saw the defence make their case against the overturning of District Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s January ruling.  Any extradition to the US, she concluded, would be so oppressive to the publisher as to render it unjust under UK extradition law.  Before the UK High Court, both Edward[Read More…]

by 29/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Uncategorized
Julian Assange's partner, Stella Morris, addresses protestors outside the High Court in London, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

The horrific persecution of Julian Assange continues

The attempted US extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange resumed yesterday with the opening of a hearing into a US government appeal. It is a legal abomination in pursuit of a heinous crime. Assange is being targeted for his and WikiLeaks’s exposure of war crimes, torture and other human rights abuses, mass surveillance, coup plots, and state corruption. The architects[Read More…]

by 28/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Crystal Ball Jurisprudence: The US Appeal Against Assange Opens

Crystal Ball Jurisprudence: The US Appeal Against Assange Opens

It’s time to ready yourself for ghoulishly bad behaviour.  Shred your bill of rights or whatever charter of liberties you have handy. Flatulent, dangerous and fatuous, the US prosecution of Julian Assange took to the UK High Court on October 27, opening its effort to overturn the January ruling by District Judge Vanessa Baraitser.  In a judgment poor on press[Read More…]

by 28/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Assange in jeopardy: US extradition appeal hearing begins in London

Assange in jeopardy: US extradition appeal hearing begins in London

Today the UK High Court begins a two-day hearing of a United States government appeal aimed at securing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the US. The hearing is the culmination of a campaign of rampant criminality by American imperialism and its allies, stretching over a decade. Its character is summed up in revelations during the last two years that[Read More…]

by 27/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Congress, Skulduggery and the Assange Case

Congress, Skulduggery and the Assange Case

Is the imperium showing suspicions about its intended quarry?  It is hard to believe it, but the US House Intelligence Committee is on a mission of discovery.  Its subject: a Yahoo News report disclosing much material that was already in the public domain on the plot to kidnap or, failing that, poison Julian Assange.  Given that such ideas were aired[Read More…]

by 27/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Press freedom groups call for charges against Assange to be dropped ahead of US appeal

Press freedom groups call for charges against Assange to be dropped ahead of US appeal

A coalition of over two dozen press freedom and human rights organisations has called on the Biden administration to drop all charges against Julian Assange. This is ahead of a US appeal that will be heard next week, challenging a British court decision that blocked the WikiLeaks publisher’s extradition. The statement, delivered last week to Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland,[Read More…]

by 24/10/2021 2 comments Human Rights
Fate Of Anti-War Journalism Lies in Upcoming Assange Hearings

Fate Of Anti-War Journalism Lies in Upcoming Assange Hearings

Within just a few days, the United States will once again make its case in a UK court that it has a right to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be tried under the Espionage Act, in what remains this century’s most dangerous attack on global press freedom. These hearings, taking place on October 27 and 28, are an attempt[Read More…]

by 22/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Fifteen years since Assange established WikiLeaks

Fifteen years since Assange established WikiLeaks

Today marks fifteen years since WikiLeaks was founded by Australian publisher Julian Assange on October 4, 2006. In the years since, the small media organisation, founded on a shoestring, has become synonymous with the courageous exposure of government and corporate crimes, as well as the ever-more ferocious attempts of state agencies and the ruling elites to censor the internet and[Read More…]

by 04/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
CIA plan to poison Assange wasn’t needed. The US found a ‘lawful’ way to disappear him

CIA plan to poison Assange wasn’t needed. The US found a ‘lawful’ way to disappear him

A Yahoo News’ investigation reveals that, through much of 2017, the CIA weighed up whether to use wholly extrajudicial means to deal with the supposed threat posed by Julian Assange and his whistleblowers’ platform Wikileaks. The agency plotted either to kidnap or assassinate him. Shocking as the revelations are – exposing the entirely lawless approach of the main US intelligence[Read More…]

by 01/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Murderous Fantasies: The US Intelligence Effort Against Assange

Murderous Fantasies: The US Intelligence Effort Against Assange

If there was any reason to halt a farcical train of legal proceedings, then the case against Julian Assange would have to be the standard bearing example.  Since last year, the efforts by the US government to pursue his extradition to the vicious purgatory of American justice has seen more than a fair share of obscene revelations.  While prosecutors for[Read More…]

by 30/09/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
US government, CIA plotted to kidnap or assassinate Assange in London

US government, CIA plotted to kidnap or assassinate Assange in London

An explosive investigative report by Yahoo News has revealed plans at the highest levels of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Trump administration to illegally kidnap or even assassinate WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange when he was an internationally recognised political refugee in Ecuador’s London embassy. Based on discussions with more than 30 former US officials, the report alleges conduct on[Read More…]

by 27/09/2021 Comments are Disabled World
A Day in the Death of British Justice

A Day in the Death of British Justice

I sat in Court 4 in the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday with Stella Moris, Julian Assange’s partner. I have known Stella for as long as I have known Julian. She, too, is a voice of freedom, coming from a family that fought the fascism of Apartheid. Today, her name was uttered in court by a barrister and[Read More…]

by 15/08/2021 1 comment Human Rights
Targeting the Medical Evidence: The US Challenge on Assange’s Health

Targeting the Medical Evidence: The US Challenge on Assange’s Health

The desperate attempt by the US imperium to nab Julian Assange was elevated to another level on August 11 in a preliminary hearing before the UK High Court.  The central component to this gruesome affair was the continuing libel of the expert witness upon which District Justice Vanessa Baraitser placed so much emphasis in her January 4 decision not to[Read More…]

by 12/08/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange’s Ecuadorian citizenship revoked

Julian Assange’s Ecuadorian citizenship revoked

Ecuador has stripped Julian Assange of his citizenship. The move is another outrageous assault on the WikiLeaks founder’s democratic rights, made in preparation for his extradition to the United States on charges under the Espionage Act. He is currently held in the UK’s Belmarsh maximum security prison, pending a case in the High Court. The decision to revoke citizenship was[Read More…]

by 29/07/2021 1 comment Human Rights
The US Appeals the Assange Ruling

The US Appeals the Assange Ruling

It took over half a year, but the US government’s case against Julian Assange continues its draining grind.  Even the Biden administration, which claims to tolerate a free press and truthful dialogue with the fourth estate, has decided to exhaust its legal options in seeking the publisher’s scalp. On July 7, the UK High Court of Justice agreed to hear[Read More…]

by 08/07/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Thordarson’s Fabrications: Another Hole in the Julian Assange Prosecution

Thordarson’s Fabrications: Another Hole in the Julian Assange Prosecution

The tyrannical, brutal cynicism of keeping Julian Assange in Belmarsh prison remains one of the more inglorious marks of the British legal system and, it should be said, its sponsors and colluders. Having won his case against extradition to the US, if only in deeply qualified terms, the UK keeps the WikiLeaks publisher banged up as the appeals process stutters.[Read More…]

by 05/07/2021 Comments are Disabled World
BBC, Free Media, and Julian Assange

BBC, Free Media, and Julian Assange

A video in which Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is interviewed by Orla Guerin has resurfaced; the interview took place in November 2020. (The BBC version.) Revealing is what is not seen in the BBC version. When Aliyev held up the mirror to Guerin’s “accusation” that there was no free media in Azerbaijan, the BBC responded by censoring Aliyev’s reference to[Read More…]

by 09/05/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Continuing Prosecutions: Assange and the Biden Administration

Continuing Prosecutions: Assange and the Biden Administration

With changes of presidential administrations, radical departures in policy are always exaggerated.  Continuity remains, for the most part, a standard feature.  It is precisely that continuity being challenged by groups fearful of the continuing prosecution of Julian Assange. The effort by the US Justice Department to extradite Assange from the UK on eighteen charges based on the Espionage Act and[Read More…]

by 11/02/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and Australia’s Complicity

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and Australia’s Complicity

Australia’s Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, said little in the statement from her department, which was a good thing, as it might have been dangerously useful.  The finding of a UK court on whether Julian Assange would be extradited to the United States was made “on the grounds of his mental health and consequent suicide risk.”  She does not care to[Read More…]

by 13/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
 The US and UK may not will Assange’s death, but everything they are doing makes it more likely

 The US and UK may not will Assange’s death, but everything they are doing makes it more likely

There was a hope in some quarters after Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday against an application to extradite Julian Assange to the US, where he faced being locked away for the rest of his life, that she might finally be changing tack. Washington has wanted Assange permanently silenced and made an example of – by demonstrating to other journalists[Read More…]

by 08/01/2021 1 comment Human Rights
Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail

Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail

History, while not always a telling guide, can be useful.  But in moments of flushed confidence, it is not consulted and Cleo is forgotten.  A crisp new dawn can negate a glance to the past.  Having received the unexpected news that Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States for charges of breaching the Espionage Act of 1917 and computer intrusion[Read More…]

by 07/01/2021 1 comment Human Rights
“It’s not as bad as Iwo Jima, I suppose”: The Julian Assange Extradition Verdict

“It’s not as bad as Iwo Jima, I suppose”: The Julian Assange Extradition Verdict

The barrister-brewed humour of Edward Fitzgerald QC, one of the solid and stout figures defending a certain Julian Assange of WikiLeaks at the Old Bailey in London, was understandable.  Time had worn and wearied the parties, none more so than his client.  Fitzgerald had asked for water, but then mused that its absence could hardly have been as bad as[Read More…]

by 05/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
The Struggle To Free Julian Assange Is Not Finished

The Struggle To Free Julian Assange Is Not Finished

On January 4, 2021, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser gave a ruling wherein she blocked Julian Assange’s extradition to the US under Section 91 of UK’s Extradition Act (EA) 2003, citing health reasons.  The US government has decided to appeal this decision. Section 91 of EA 2003 prohibits extradition if “the physical or mental condition of the person is such that it would be unjust[Read More…]

by 05/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
 Assange wins. The cost: The crushing of press freedom, and the labelling of dissent as mental illness

 Assange wins. The cost: The crushing of press freedom, and the labelling of dissent as mental illness

The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply. Those who campaigned so vigorously to keep Assange’s case in the spotlight,[Read More…]

by 04/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
British Judge Rejects US Attempt to Extradite Julian Assange

British Judge Rejects US Attempt to Extradite Julian Assange

A British judge on Monday rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected allegations that Assange is being prosecuted for political reasons or would not receive a fair trial in the United States. But[Read More…]

by 04/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
The Julian Assange Pardon Drive

The Julian Assange Pardon Drive

The odds are stacked against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher who faces the grimmest of prospects come January 4.  On that day, the unsympathetic judicial head of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser will reveal her decision on the Old Bailey proceedings that took place between September and October this year.  Despite Assange’s team being able to marshal an impressive, even astonishing[Read More…]

by 30/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
UK Parliamentarians, the British Press and Julian Assange

UK Parliamentarians, the British Press and Julian Assange

The number of figures extolling the merits of Britain’s Westminster system and how it supposedly embodies a glorious model of democracy are too numerous to mention.  This is despite exploits by the government of Boris Johnson, marked by the appointment of unelected advisers with enviable, unaccountable powers and a record of assault on Parliament’s scrutineering functions.  “As the government blunders[Read More…]

by 18/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange: Covid Risks and Campaigns for Pardon

Julian Assange: Covid Risks and Campaigns for Pardon

Before the January 4 ruling of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in the extradition case of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher will continue to endure the ordeal of cold prison facilities while being menaced by a COVID-19 outbreak.  From November 18, Assange, along with inmates in House Block 1 at Belmarsh prison in south-east London, were placed in lockdown conditions.  The[Read More…]

by 10/12/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 The Slow-motion Assassination of Julian Assange – People of Conscience Must Stop It

 The Slow-motion Assassination of Julian Assange – People of Conscience Must Stop It

Another Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by an elaborately planned and executed ambush. The complexity of the attack and the resources required to carry it out strongly indicate a state actor. Fingers of blame quickly pointed at a likely assassin: Israel. The United States was probably in some form of collaboration since it is widely[Read More…]

by 30/11/2020 2 comments Human Rights
Begging Outrage: British Journalists for Assange

Begging Outrage: British Journalists for Assange

Even that title strikes an odd note.  It should not.  The Fourth Estate, historically reputed as the chamber of journalists and publishers keeping an eye on elected officials, received a blast of oxygen with the arrival of WikiLeaks.  This was daring, rich stuff: scientific journalism in the trenches, news gathering par excellence.  But what Julian Assange and WikiLeaks did was[Read More…]

by 30/10/2020 1 comment World
Julian Assange and the fight against digital capitalism

Julian Assange and the fight against digital capitalism

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is facing potential extradition to the United States for exposing the US empire’s war crimes. Assange faces charges under the US Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The warrant lists 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act on which he could be jailed for up to 175 years, and one count of conspiracy with Chelsea Manning[Read More…]

by 20/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Eighteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Abuse of Power, Breaching Attorney-Client Privilege and Adjournment

Assange’s Eighteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Abuse of Power, Breaching Attorney-Client Privilege and Adjournment

October 1, 2020.  Central Criminal Court, London: The Old Bailey has been the venue for a trial that should never have taken place. But during the course of these extradition proceedings against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder accused by the US Department of Justice for violating the US Espionage Act (17 charges) and one under the Computer Fraud and Abuse[Read More…]

by 02/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Seventeenth Day at the Old Bailey: Embassy Espionage, Contemplated Poisoning and Proposed Kidnapping

Assange’s Seventeenth Day at the Old Bailey: Embassy Espionage, Contemplated Poisoning and Proposed Kidnapping

September 30.  Central Criminal Court, London: Today will be remembered as a grand expose.  It was a direct, pointed accusation at the intentions of the US imperium which long for the scalp of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.  For WikiLeaks, it was a smouldering triumph, showing that the entire mission against Assange, from the start, has been a political one. [Read More…]

by 01/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Sixteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Special Administrative Measures, Unreliable Assurances and Espionage

Assange’s Sixteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Special Administrative Measures, Unreliable Assurances and Espionage

September 29.  Central Criminal Court, London.: Julian Assange’s defence team spent the day going over, reemphasising and sharpening the focus on what awaited their client should he, with the blessing of Her Majesty’s Government, make his way to the United States.  Not only will he confront 17 charges under the US Espionage Act and one under the Computer Fraud and[Read More…]

by 30/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Fifteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Solitary Confinement and Parlous Health Care

Assange’s Fifteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Solitary Confinement and Parlous Health Care

September 28.  Central Criminal Court, London.: Throughout the sham process formally known as the Julian Assange extradition trial, prosecutors representing the United States have been adamant: the carceral conditions awaiting him in freedom’s land will be pleasant, accommodating and appropriate.  Confronting 17 charges under the US Espionage Act and one under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Assange and his[Read More…]

by 29/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 The Guardian’s deceit-riddled new statement betrays both Julian Assange and journalism

 The Guardian’s deceit-riddled new statement betrays both Julian Assange and journalism

In my recent post on the current hearings at the Old Bailey over Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States, where he would almost certainly be locked away for the rest of his life for the crime of doing journalism, I made two main criticisms of the Guardian. A decade ago, remember, the newspaper worked closely in collaboration with Assange[Read More…]

by 28/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Fourteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Elections, Cracking Passwords and Failures of Proof

Assange’s Fourteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Elections, Cracking Passwords and Failures of Proof

September 25.  Central Criminal Court, London: On this Friday, the Assange trial moved into the rarefied realm of computer hacking and the less than rarefied world of when final arguments will be made.  The WikiLeaks publisher is confronting the prospect of extradition to the United States for 17 charges under the US Espionage Act and one under the Computer Fraud[Read More…]

by 27/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Thirteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Mental Health, Managed Risk and Publication Chronologies

Assange’s Thirteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Mental Health, Managed Risk and Publication Chronologies

September 24.  Central Criminal Court, London: The lion’s share of today’s Old Bailey proceedings in Julian Assange’s extradition trial was spent on battles over mental health and dire risk.  The prosecution continued its attempt to minimise the dangers facing Assange were he to be extradited to the United States for 17 charges under the US Espionage Act and one under[Read More…]

by 25/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Twelfth Day at the Old Bailey: Autism, Suicide and Prisons

Assange’s Twelfth Day at the Old Bailey: Autism, Suicide and Prisons

September 23.  Central Criminal Court, London.: Following the script sheet of the previous day, the non sequitur, pop medical view of the prosecution was again in sharp evidence at the Old Bailey.  In an effort to make the road for Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States for 17 charges under the US Espionage Act and one under the Computer[Read More…]

by 24/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. Why is the paper so silent?

 The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. Why is the paper so silent?

Julian Assange is not on trial simply for his liberty and his life. He is fighting for the right of every journalist to do hard-hitting investigative journalism without fear of arrest and extradition to the United States. Assange faces 175 years in a US super-max prison on the basis of claims by Donald Trump’s administration that his exposure of US[Read More…]

by 23/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Eleventh Day at the Old Bailey: Suicide, Hallucinations and Psychological Torture

Assange’s Eleventh Day at the Old Bailey: Suicide, Hallucinations and Psychological Torture

September 22.  Central Criminal Court, London: Today, the prosecutors in the Julian Assange case did their show trial predecessors from other legal traditions proud.  The ghosts of such figures as Soviet state prosecutor Andrey Vyshinsky, would have approved of the line of questioning taken by James Lewis QC: suggest that Assange, accused of 17 counts of violating the US Espionage[Read More…]

by 23/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Tenth Day at the Old Bailey: Bolting Horses, Death Penalties and Plots of Eviction

Assange’s Tenth Day at the Old Bailey: Bolting Horses, Death Penalties and Plots of Eviction

September 21.  Central Criminal Court, London: Today was one of reiteration and expansion.  Computer scientist Christian Grothoff of the Bern University of Applied Sciences supplied the relevant chronology on what led to the publication of unredacted US State Department cables, the subject of such concern for the prosecution.  This proved a mild taster of what was to come: the alleged[Read More…]

by 22/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Ninth Day at the Old Bailey: Torture Testimonies, Offers of Pardon and Truth Telling

Assange’s Ninth Day at the Old Bailey: Torture Testimonies, Offers of Pardon and Truth Telling

September 18.  Central Criminal Court, London. The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey moved into a higher gear today.  Testimonies spanned the importance of classified information in war journalism, the teasing offer of a pardon for Assange by US President Donald Trump, torture inflicted by the US Central Intelligence Agency, the chilling effect of indictments under the[Read More…]

by 20/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Eighth Day at the Old Bailey: Software Redactions, the Iraq Logs and the Extradition Act

Assange’s Eighth Day at the Old Bailey: Software Redactions, the Iraq Logs and the Extradition Act

September 17.  Central Criminal Court, London. The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey struck similar notes to the previous day’s proceedings: the documentary work and practise of WikiLeaks, the method of redactions, and the legacy of exposing war crimes.  In the afternoon, the legal teams returned to well combed themes: testimony on the politicised nature of the[Read More…]

by 18/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Seventh Day at the Old Bailey: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm

Assange’s Seventh Day at the Old Bailey: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm

September 16.  Central Criminal Court, London.  Proceedings today at the Old Bailey regarding Julian Assange’s extradition returned to journalistic practice, redaction of source names and that ongoing obsession with alleged harm arising from WikiLeaks releases.  John Goetz of Der Spiegel added his bit for the defence, making an effort to set the record straight on the events leading up to[Read More…]

by 17/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Sixth Day at the Old Bailey: US Prison Conditions and Politicised Prosecutions

Assange’s Sixth Day at the Old Bailey: US Prison Conditions and Politicised Prosecutions

September 15.  Central Criminal Court, London.  Today, witnesses appearing in the extradition trial of Julian Assange fleshed out some points touched upon the previous day: the fate awaiting the WikiLeaks publisher in the US prison system, and the political nature of process.  Before commencing, Judge Vanessa Baraitser was a touch peeved.  She noted that one defence witness who took the[Read More…]

by 16/09/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Assange’s Fifth Day at the Old Bailey: Supermax Prisons and Special Administrative Measures

Assange’s Fifth Day at the Old Bailey: Supermax Prisons and Special Administrative Measures

Having had a coronavirus scare towards the end of last week, necessitating a brief suspension of proceedings for September 11, the extradition proceedings for Julian Assange resumed with Eric Lewis.  The chairman of the board of Reprieve, who has cut his teeth on representing Afghan detainees in US custody and those in Guantánamo, has not been shy in arguing against[Read More…]

by 15/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Fourth Day at the Old Bailey: COVID in the Courtroom

Assange’s Fourth Day at the Old Bailey: COVID in the Courtroom

As James Lewis QC for the prosecution, representing the US government, revealed, “I’m just saying about my charger.  It’s in court and I’m going to run out of battery.”  It was one of those moments that said much about the fourth day of proceedings at the Old Bailey regarding one Julian Assange, publisher, Australian national and wanted by the US[Read More…]

by 11/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Third Day at the Old Bailey: Bias, Politics and Wars on Journalism

Assange’s Third Day at the Old Bailey: Bias, Politics and Wars on Journalism

The third day of extradition proceedings against Julian Assange at the Old Bailey resumed on the point of politics.  Assange as a figure of political beliefs; Assange as a target of the Trump administration precisely for having them.  The man sketching the portrait was Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University. It is no mean feat trying[Read More…]

by 10/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Assange’s Second Day at the Old Bailey: Torture, Drone Strikes and Journalism

Assange’s Second Day at the Old Bailey: Torture, Drone Strikes and Journalism

The highlights of the second day of Julian Assange’s extradition proceedings at the Central Criminal Court in London yielded an interesting bounty.  The first was the broader public purpose behind the WikiLeaks disclosures, their utility in legal proceedings, and their importance in disclosing instances of US extrajudicial killings, torture and rendition.  The second involved a discussion about the practice of[Read More…]

by 09/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Sinking Transparency at the Old Bailey: The Assange Extradition Hearing Resumes

Sinking Transparency at the Old Bailey: The Assange Extradition Hearing Resumes

The fine circus that is British justice resumed at London’s Central Criminal Court on September 7, with the continued extradition proceedings against Julian Assange.  Judge Vanessa Baraitser was concerned that approximately 40 individuals had received remote video access they apparently should not have.  “In error, the court sent out orders to others who had sought access.  I remain concerned about[Read More…]

by 08/09/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
 Will Trump Pardon Snowden and Assange?

 Will Trump Pardon Snowden and Assange?

Speculations about a presidential pardon for the whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked National Security Agency’s classified information to the press in 2013, have grown since last month after Donald Trump commented on the case in an interview [1] with The New York Post on August 13. “There are a lot of people that think that he is not being treated[Read More…]

by 08/09/2020 1 comment World
 For years, journalists cheered Assange’s abuse. Now they’ve paved his path to a US gulag

 For years, journalists cheered Assange’s abuse. Now they’ve paved his path to a US gulag

Court hearings in Britain over the US administration’s extradition case against Julian Assange begin in earnest next week. The decade-long saga that brought us to this point should appall anyone who cares about our increasingly fragile freedoms. A journalist and publisher has been deprived of his liberty for 10 years. According to UN experts, he has been arbitrarily detained and[Read More…]

by 03/09/2020 1 comment Uncategorized
Waiting for the Old Bailey: Julian Assange and Britain’s Judicial Establishment

Waiting for the Old Bailey: Julian Assange and Britain’s Judicial Establishment

On September 7, Julian Assange will be facing another round of gruelling extradition proceedings, in the Old Bailey, part of a process that has become a form of gradual state-sanctioned torture.  The US Department of Justice hungers for their man.  The UK prison authorities are doing little to protect his health.  The end result, should it result in his death,[Read More…]

by 28/08/2020 1 comment Human Rights
Julian Assange’s Political Indictment: Old Wine in Older Bottles

Julian Assange’s Political Indictment: Old Wine in Older Bottles

The book of hours on Julian Assange is now being written.  But the scribes are far from original.  Repeated rituals of administrative hearings that have no common purpose other than to string things out before the axe are being enacted.  Of late, the man most commonly associated with WikiLeaks’ publication project cannot participate in any meaningful way, largely because of[Read More…]

by 29/07/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
The Kafkaesque Imperium: Julian Assange and the Second Superseding Indictment

The Kafkaesque Imperium: Julian Assange and the Second Superseding Indictment

The Kafkaesque Imperium has taken yet another absurd step towards mean absurdity with another superseding indictment against Julian Assange.  This move by the US Department of Justice seems to have surprised those involved in his extradition proceedings.  Mark Summers QC, one of the members of the Assange legal team, did not conceal his astonishment at the call over hearing at[Read More…]

by 30/06/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
The Narrative of the Leakers: Collateral Murder and the Assange Indictment

The Narrative of the Leakers: Collateral Murder and the Assange Indictment

When the superseding indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia against Julian Assange on May 23, 2019, there was one glaring omission.  It was an achievement, it might even be said the achievement, that gave the WikiLeaks publisher and the organisation justified notoriety.  Collateral Murder, as the leaked video came to be called,[Read More…]

by 16/06/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Muting Justice: Rescheduling Julian Assange’s Hearing

Muting Justice: Rescheduling Julian Assange’s Hearing

“When we think of the repression of journalists, we automatically evoke foreign lands.  We rarely, however, evoke or remember our own dissidents.” Peter Oborne, Middle East Eye, May 5, 2020 It all spoke well of British justice, which meant poorly.  As one correspondent from the Australian Associated Press put it in describing the latest case hearing for Julian Assange, “There[Read More…]

by 06/05/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange: One Year In Belmarsh

Julian Assange: One Year In Belmarsh

It should not be a matter of distinction, but Julian Assange is a figure who is becoming the apotheosis of political imprisonment.  This seems laughable to those convinced he is an agent without scruple, a compromiser of the Fourth Estate, a figure best packed off to a prison system that will, in all assuredness, kill him. That’s if he even[Read More…]

by 12/04/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange and Lockdown Injustice

Julian Assange and Lockdown Injustice

Scribes of the Julian Assange case must surely gawk with a sense of horrified wonder at each proceeding unfolding at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.  Assange is in a battle that can only be described as titanic, seeking to avoid the clutches of the US Justice Department, not to mention its legal system, and convince District Judge Vanessa Baraitser[Read More…]

by 08/04/2020 Comments are Disabled World
As it releases thousands of prisoners, UK government keeps Julian Assange locked-up in danger

As it releases thousands of prisoners, UK government keeps Julian Assange locked-up in danger

In response to the coronavirus crisis, the British Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced plans for the early release of up to 4,000 prisoners in England and Wales—just under 5 percent of the prison population. The selected “low-risk” prisoners in the last two months of their sentences will be electronically tagged and allowed back into the population to ease overcrowding.[Read More…]

by 06/04/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange, the Glass Cage and Heaven in a Rage: Day Four of Extradition Hearings

Julian Assange, the Glass Cage and Heaven in a Rage: Day Four of Extradition Hearings

Thursday, February 27, Woolwich Crown Court.  The first round of extradition hearings regarding Julian Assange’s case concluded a day early, to recommence on May 18th.  It ended on an insensible note very much in keeping with the woolly-headed reasoning of Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who is of the view that a WikiLeaks publisher in a cage does not put all heaven[Read More…]

by 28/02/2020 1 comment Human Rights
Julian Assange, Political Offences and Legal Restraints: Day Three of Extradition Hearings

Julian Assange, Political Offences and Legal Restraints: Day Three of Extradition Hearings

Wednesday, February 26, Woolwich Crown Court.  Today, the focus shifted to the protagonist himself and the nature of the US-UK Extradition Treaty of 2003, a contentious document that shines all too favourably for US citizens. Julian Assange, whose deteriorating condition has been noted for months by psychologists, doctors and UN Special Rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer, has been making a[Read More…]

by 27/02/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange Against the Imperium: Day Two of Extradition Hearings

Julian Assange Against the Imperium: Day Two of Extradition Hearings

The second day of extradition hearings against Julian Assange and by virtue of that, WikiLeaks, saw Mark Summers QC deliver a formidable serve for the defence at Woolwich Crown Court.  “It’s difficult to conceive of a clearer example of an extradition request that boldly and blatantly misstates the facts as they are known to be to the US government.”  The[Read More…]

by 26/02/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange and the Imperium’s Face: Day One of the Extradition Hearings

Julian Assange and the Imperium’s Face: Day One of the Extradition Hearings

If we are to believe it, Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, the man behind showing the ugliness of power, is the one responsible for having abused it.  It is a running theme in the US case against this Australian publisher, who has been given the coating of common criminality hiding the obvious point: that the mission is to make journalism on[Read More…]

by 25/02/2020 1 comment World
Pardoning Julian Assange: Donald Trump, WikiLeaks and the DNC

Pardoning Julian Assange: Donald Trump, WikiLeaks and the DNC

The central pillar to Democratic paranoia and vengefulness regarding the loss of Hillary Clinton in 2016 was the link between Russian hacking, the servers of the Democratic National Committee and the release of emails via WikiLeaks.  Over time, that account has become a matter of hagiography, an article of faith, with grave conclusions: WikiLeaks and Russia elected Donald Trump. The[Read More…]

by 20/02/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange Must Be Freed, Not Betrayed

Julian Assange Must Be Freed, Not Betrayed

On Saturday, there will be a march from Australia House in London to Parliament Square, the centre of British democracy. People will carry pictures of the Australian publisher and journalist Julian Assange who, on 24 February, faces a court that will decide whether or not he is to be extradited to the United States and a living death. I know[Read More…]

by 18/02/2020 Comments are Disabled World
The Tribulations of Truth-Teller Julian Assange

The Tribulations of Truth-Teller Julian Assange

When it comes to accurate and responsible publication of vast numbers of secret or suppressed or censored documents, included those revealing state crimes, Julian Assange and Wikileaks have been preeminent since 2006. Not surprisingly, their vital and courageous work, on behalf of truth and transparency in the public interest, earned Julian Assange, and Wikileaks, powerful and dangerous enemies. The focused[Read More…]

by 10/02/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Short of Time: Julian Assange at the Westminster Magistrates Court

Short of Time: Julian Assange at the Westminster Magistrates Court

London: Another slot of judicial history, another notch to be added to the woeful record of legal proceedings being undertaken against Julian Assange.  The ailing WikiLeaks founder was coping as well as he could, showing the resourcefulness of the desperate at his Monday hearing.  At the Westminster Magistrates Court, Assange faced a 12-minute process, an ordinary affair in which he[Read More…]

by 15/01/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

On Christmas Eve, WikiLeaks founder and prize-winning journalist Julian Assange phoned a friend to alert the world that his life is in danger inside London’s notorious maximum-security Belmarsh prison. Vaughan Smith, a freelance video news journalist who gave refuge to Assange in 2010 when he was legally fighting against attempts to extradite him to Sweden, tweeted that Assange called his[Read More…]

by 29/12/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Medical Opinion, Torture and Julian Assange

Medical Opinion, Torture and Julian Assange

On November 27 this year, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, delivered an address to the German Bundestag outlining his approach to understanding the mental health of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.  These comprised two parts, the initial stage covering his diplomatic asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy, the second dealing with his formal detention in the United Kingdom at the[Read More…]

by 21/12/2019 1 comment World
The Lies About Assange Must Stop Now

The Lies About Assange Must Stop Now

If Julian Assange were to succumb to the cruelties heaped upon him, week after week, month after month, year upon year, as doctors warn, newspapers like The Guardian will share the responsibility, writes John Pilger. Newspapers and other media in the United States and Britain have recently declared a passion for freedom of speech, especially their right to publish freely.  They are worried by the “Assange[Read More…]

by 26/11/2019 1 comment Human Rights
The Persecution of Julian Assange

The Persecution of Julian Assange

 “Australia is a glaring absence in this case. They’re just not around, as if Assange was not an Australian citizen”, UN Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Nils Melzer. The Australian political and media establishments attitudes toward Julian Assange is summed up by no other than one of Australia’s most despicable corporate journalists. In early May 2019, The Melbourne Age newspaper published[Read More…]

by 11/11/2019 4 comments Human Rights
Julian Assange’s Life Is at Risk, Says United Nations Expert

Julian Assange’s Life Is at Risk, Says United Nations Expert

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture reiterated Friday a warning that Julian Assange’s life is at risk and said the WikiLeaks founder must not be extradited to the United States as a consequence of  “exposing serious governmental misconduct.” “While the U.S. government prosecutes Mr. Assange for publishing information about serious human rights violations, including torture and murder, the officials[Read More…]

by 03/11/2019 Comments are Disabled World
A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange

A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange

Australian politicians, and the consular staff of the country, are rarely that engaged on the subject of protecting their citizens.  In a couple of notorious cases, Australian authorities demonstrated, not only an indifference, but a consciously venal approach to its citizens in overseas theatres. Mamdouh Ahmed Habib, a dual Australian-Egyptian national, was detained in Pakistan in October 2001 and subsequently[Read More…]

by 14/10/2019 Comments are Disabled World
British judge jails Assange indefinitely, despite end of prison sentence

British judge jails Assange indefinitely, despite end of prison sentence

In a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning, British District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange will remain in prison, despite the fact that his custodial sentence for “absconding” bail expires on September 22. The ruling is the latest in a series of attacks on Assange’s legal and democratic rights by the British judiciary. It means[Read More…]

by 14/09/2019 1 comment World
US federal court exposes Democratic Party conspiracy against Assange and WikiLeaks

US federal court exposes Democratic Party conspiracy against Assange and WikiLeaks

In a ruling published late Tuesday, Judge John Koeltl of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, delivered a devastating blow to the US-led conspiracy against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In his ruling, Judge Koeltl, a Bill Clinton nominee and former Assistant Special Prosecutor for the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, dismissed “with prejudice” a civil lawsuit[Read More…]

by 01/08/2019 2 comments World
Spying on Julian Assange: UC Global, CNN and Russian Couriers

Spying on Julian Assange: UC Global, CNN and Russian Couriers

History’s scope for the absurd and tragic is infinite.  Like Sisyphus engaged in permanent labours pushing a boulder up a slope, the effort of making sense of such scope is likewise, absurdly infinite.  To see images of an exhausted and world-weary Julian Assange attempting to dodge the all-eye surveillance operation that he would complain about is to wade in the[Read More…]

by 17/07/2019 Comments are Disabled World
The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange

The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange

On Friday morning I was in a small courtroom at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Julian Assange, held in Belmarsh Prison and dressed in a pale-blue prison shirt, appeared on a video screen directly in front of me. Assange, his gray hair and beard neatly trimmed, slipped on heavy, dark-frame glasses at the start of the proceedings. He listened intently[Read More…]

by 18/06/2019 Comments are Disabled World
WikiLeaks publisher Assange faces US extradition trial next February

WikiLeaks publisher Assange faces US extradition trial next February

Chief judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled that WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange will face a trial in February 25 next year to determine whether he is extradited to the United States. As far as Britain’s government and judiciary are concerned, the verdict is a forgone conclusion. Assange will be railroaded to Washington, where his persecutors will try him on 18[Read More…]

by 15/06/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Julian Assange and the Scales of Justice: Exceptions, Extraditions and Politics

Julian Assange and the Scales of Justice: Exceptions, Extraditions and Politics

The Home Secretary of the United Kingdom did his thing, which was little in the way of disagreement.  The superpower has issued a request; the retainer would comply.  This week, the US Department Justice Department formally sought the extradition of Julian Assange.  The process was certified by Sajid Javid, a man rather distracted of late.  He is, after all, seeking[Read More…]

by 14/06/2019 1 comment World
British Home Secretary Signs Extradition Order To Send Julian Assange To USA

British Home Secretary Signs Extradition Order To Send Julian Assange To USA

The British Home Secretary has signed a request for the extradition of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US, where he is accused of violating the Espionage Act. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Sajid Javid said that he signed and certified the papers on Wednesday, with the order going before the UK courts on Friday. Javid said, he’s[Read More…]

by 13/06/2019 Comments are Disabled World
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture warns Julian Assange could die in prison

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture warns Julian Assange could die in prison

In a June 1 interview with ABC Radio Adelaide, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer warned that Julian Assange could die in prison if his persecution is not stopped immediately. Last week, Melzer issued a scathing denunciation of Assange’s persecution, calling it “psychological torture.” Reporter Philip Williams asked Melzer, “If your calls are ignored, do you fear that he[Read More…]

by 06/06/2019 Comments are Disabled World
The Murdering of Julian Assange

The Murdering of Julian Assange

  Julian Assange is being slowly murdered by “Her Majesty’s Prison Service” at Belmarsh prison in the south-east of London. The prison is notorious for holding people who have never been charged with a crime indefinitely. It is also called the British version of Guantanamo, and, typically used to detain so-called terrorists, thus called by the British police and secret[Read More…]

by 04/06/2019 1 comment Human Rights
Britain and Australia dismiss UN report that Assange has been tortured

Britain and Australia dismiss UN report that Assange has been tortured

The British and Australian governments have blithely dismissed a May 31 report by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer, which established that WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange has been the victim of a protracted campaign of “psychological torture.” The brazen responses demonstrate the criminality of the US-led vendetta against Assange, which is proceeding in violation of due[Read More…]

by 03/06/2019 1 comment Human Rights
Findings of Torture: The UN Rapporteur and Julian Assange

Findings of Torture: The UN Rapporteur and Julian Assange

Another crude and sad chapter, yet more evidence of a system’s vengeance against its challengers.  Julian Assange, like they dying Roman emperor Vespasian, may be transforming into a god of sorts, but the suffering of his mortal physical is finding its mark.  While some in the cynical, narcissistic press corps still find little to commend his case, the movement to[Read More…]

by 01/06/2019 1 comment Human Rights
Assange BULLETIN: The journalist can barely talk, moved to prison hospital

Assange BULLETIN: The journalist can barely talk, moved to prison hospital

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder now imprisoned in the UK, has been moved to the hospital wing of the Belmarsh prison in the UK, prompting concerns about his health pending the hearing on his extradition to the US. “The decision of prison authorities to move him to the health ward speaks for itself,” said WikiLeaks. It said Assange has lost[Read More…]

by 30/05/2019 1 comment World
Assange BULLETIN: The journalist faces 175 yrs in prison with 17 more charges

Assange BULLETIN: The journalist faces 175 yrs in prison with 17 more charges

The U.S. justice department has filed 17 new charges against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange. In reaction, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted: It’s a war on journalism. Journalists have reacted: “Modern fascism is breaking cover”. The new charges expand the original one-count indictment of conspiracy to hack into U.S. government computers, announced in March, prior to Assange’s arrest in London. He[Read More…]

by 24/05/2019 1 comment World
Sweden reopens “preliminary investigation” and seeks extradition of Julian Assange

Sweden reopens “preliminary investigation” and seeks extradition of Julian Assange

Sweden’s reopening of an investigation into a long-discredited rape allegation made against Julian Assange in 2010 deepens the US-led conspiracy to discredit and silence the WikiLeaks founder. Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, announced at a press conference Monday that the “preliminary inquiry” into the allegations against Assange would be reopened and a European Arrest Warrant issued to[Read More…]

by 14/05/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Assange BULLETIN: Ecuador will give US all documents & devices Assange left in London embassy

Assange BULLETIN: Ecuador will give US all documents & devices Assange left in London embassy

Documents and devices Julian Assange left in the London embassy of Ecuador will be handed over to U.S. Media reports said: Ecuador’s attorney general has informed Julian Assange’s lawyer that the WikiLeaks co-founder’s files, computer, mobile phones and other electronic devices will be seized during a search of the London embassy and sent to the U.S. The searches are set[Read More…]

by 13/05/2019 1 comment World
Assange BULLETIN: Bay Watch star Pamela Anderson fears for Assange’s Life

Assange BULLETIN: Bay Watch star Pamela Anderson fears for Assange’s Life

Pamela Anderson speaks to the media as she leaves Belmarsh Prison in London after visiting Julian Assange Pamela Anderson has revealed she fears Julian Assange will be assassinated if he is extradited to the US, hours after visiting him in Belmarsh high-security jail. The former Baywatch star said she was “deeply concerned about his well being” and does not think the Wikileaks founder will[Read More…]

by 08/05/2019 1 comment World
Disproportionate Sentences: Julian Assange, Bail, and Extradition

Disproportionate Sentences: Julian Assange, Bail, and Extradition

Should journalism ever have a deity worth His, Her or Its salt, looking down upon the recent proceedings against Julian Assange will provide endless choking fits of confusion and dismay.  The prosecution continues in the twisted logic that engaging a source to disclose something secret while also protecting anonymity is somehow unnatural in the world of journalism.  Most prosecutions in[Read More…]

by 04/05/2019 1 comment World
On Australian TV, Julian Assange’s father calls for son’s freedom | Oscar Grenfell

On Australian TV, Julian Assange’s father calls for son’s freedom | Oscar Grenfell

On the nationally-televised “60 minutes” program last night, John Shipton, Julian Assange’s father, issued a powerful call for his son’s freedom. The program was aired on Channel Nine some two weeks after Assange was illegally expelled from Ecuador’s London embassy, where he was granted asylum in 2012, and arrested by British police. Shipton responded to footage of the brutal arrest,[Read More…]

by 29/04/2019 1 comment World
UN official visits Julian Assange, investigating Ecuador’s illegal surveillance

UN official visits Julian Assange, investigating Ecuador’s illegal surveillance

The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joe Cannataci, was finally permitted yesterday to meet with Julian Assange inside London’s Belmarsh prison. The WikiLeaks journalist and publisher has been held virtually incommunicado, in denial of his fundamental legal and democratic rights, since the British police dragged him out of Ecuador’s embassy more than two weeks ago. This[Read More…]

by 26/04/2019 1 comment World
Continued Detentions: The Intended Role for Chelsea Manning

Continued Detentions: The Intended Role for Chelsea Manning

The noose is tightening around the WikiLeaks world, yet another dedicated attempt to strangle the channels of information that might cast light over the dastardly deeds of state.   Connections are being targeted; associates are being brought in.  Officials of the United States, having found heart in the revocation of Julian Assange’s asylum courtesy of Ecuadorean weak will and an accommodating[Read More…]

by 25/04/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Binoy Kampmark- Julian Assange as Neuroses

Binoy Kampmark- Julian Assange as Neuroses

Julian Assange continues to ripple and roam as a cipher through the political and media scape of the world.  Detained in Belmarsh maximum security prison, the sort of stately abode only reserved for the most dangerous of criminals, many with indeterminate sentences, he electrifies and concerns. The US political classes continue to simmer with an obsession that has gone feral. [Read More…]

by 19/04/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Unsealed affidavit demonstrates US seeking to prosecute Assange for his journalism

Unsealed affidavit demonstrates US seeking to prosecute Assange for his journalism

An affidavit unsealed by US prosecutors on Monday has underscored the unlawful character of the Trump administration’s request that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be extradited to the US in the wake of his illegal expulsion from Ecuador’s London embassy and arrest by the British police last Thursday. The affidavit was made by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) special agent Megan[Read More…]

by 17/04/2019 1 comment World
Andre Vltchek-Julian Assange’s Victory

Andre Vltchek-Julian Assange’s Victory

Throughout history, dark and reactionary forces have always attempted to control the world; by violence, by deceit, by kidnapping and perverting the mainstream narrative,or by spreading fear among the masses. Consistently, brave and honest individuals have been standing up, exposing lies, confronting the brutality and depravity.Some have fought against insane and corrupt rulers by using swords or guns; others have[Read More…]

by 17/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Robert J. Burrowes-Defending Julian Assange; Defending the Truth

Robert J. Burrowes-Defending Julian Assange; Defending the Truth

On 11 April 2019, WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London by UK police and arrested for breaching a bail condition. See‘Arrest update – SW1’. Upon arrival at a London police station, Julian was ‘further arrested’ on behalf of the United States governmentto satisfy an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the UK Extradition Act.[Read More…]

by 17/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers- The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is A Threat Journalists Everywhere

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers- The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is A Threat Journalists Everywhere

Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers The arrest of Julian Assange not only puts the free press in the United States at risk, it puts any reporters who expose US crimes anywhere in the world at risk. As Pepe Escobar wrote “Let’s cut to the chase. Julian Assange is not a US citizen, he’s an Australian. WikiLeaks is not a US-based[Read More…]

by 15/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Assange BULLETIN – 2

Assange BULLETIN – 2

Assange and Lula the same case to silence their voices, says Chomsky If Assange is criminalized & incarcerated, you’ll never be free again, says George Galloway Assange must face Swedish justice first: 70 UK MPs and peers The US case against Assange could change the future of journalism Journalists in the U.S. are concerned ‘Surreally idiotic’: CAT FOR SPYING Noam[Read More…]

by 15/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Mairead Maguire Requests Permission to Visit Assange

Mairead Maguire Requests Permission to Visit Assange

Mairead Maguire has requested UK Home Office for permission to visit her friend Julian Assange whom this year she has nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. “I want to visit Julian to see he is receiving medical care and to let him know that there are many people around the world who admire him and are grateful for his courage[Read More…]

by 14/04/2019 2 comments Human Rights
Irwin Jerome – Julian Assange: A Scapegoat For History’s Violent Male Aggression

Irwin Jerome – Julian Assange: A Scapegoat For History’s Violent Male Aggression

Historically, the masculine ideological world view – professed by politicians of both gender’s, their counterparts in the corporate and military world’s and all those citizenry who support them – have dominated the evolution of human civilization in both war and peacetime; life on Earth an endless ruthless, violent, aggressive Game of Thrones. Because of this raw, unaddressed male violence and[Read More…]

by 14/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
John Pilger- The Assange Arrest Is A Warning From History

John Pilger- The Assange Arrest Is A Warning From History

The glimpse of Julian Assange being dragged from the Ecuadorean embassy in London is an emblem of the times. Might against right. Muscle against the law. Indecency against courage. Six policemen manhandled a sick journalist, his eyes wincing against his first natural light in almost seven years. That this outrage happened in the heart of London, in the land of[Read More…]

by 13/04/2019 1 comment Human Rights
Craven US Lackey Australia Betrays Australian & World Hero Julian Assange & Free Journalism

Craven US Lackey Australia Betrays Australian & World Hero Julian Assange & Free Journalism

After 7 years of miserable existence as an asylum seeker  under Ecuadorean protection and as an Ecuadorean citizen in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, the founder of WikiLeaks and arguably the world’s most famous journalist, Australian Julian Assange, has been dragged out by British police, has been convicted of the asserted crime of violating bail conditions, and faces extradition to[Read More…]

by 13/04/2019 2 comments World
Assange BULLETIN – 1

Assange BULLETIN – 1

No fair trial awaits Assange, says CIA whistleblower Ecuador failed to notify Assange’s defense of asylum withdrawal, says lawyer Violation of principles of human rights protection Impartial trial? UK judge brands Assange ‘narcissist’ Hillary chuckles over Assange’s arrest “Our property now”: (Most) US lawmakers rejoice over Assange arrest Arrest of Assange met with cheers from UK lawmakers in parliament Assange[Read More…]

by 12/04/2019 2 comments World
In defense of Assange

In defense of Assange

Putin wants Assange’s rights to be observed Atrocious decision, says Maduro Bolivian president condemns persecution of Assange Moreno, the greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history, says Correa Corbyn opposes extradition of Assange Fight chilling’ attack on press Assange’s persecution sends freedom of speech & journalists’ rights into ‘oblivion’ Assange arrest ‘national shame’ and ‘historic error,’ says Ecuador’s ex-FM People around the[Read More…]

by 12/04/2019 Comments are Disabled World
 After 7 years of deceptions about Assange, the US readies for its first media rendition

 After 7 years of deceptions about Assange, the US readies for its first media rendition

For seven years, from the moment Julian Assange first sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, they have been telling us we were wrong, that we were paranoid conspiracy theorists. We were told there was no real threat of Assange’s extradition to the United States, that it was all in our fevered imaginations. For seven years, we have had[Read More…]

by 12/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Shredding Asylum: The Arrest of Julian Assange

Shredding Asylum: The Arrest of Julian Assange

The man seemed like a bearded emissary, a holy figure nabbed in his sleep. He looked similarly pale as to how he did in 2013, but he cut a more shocking figure.  Most prisoners would have had room to move in a compound.  The Ecuadorean embassy in London only offered modest space and access to sun light.  Hospitality of late[Read More…]

by 12/04/2019 Comments are Disabled World
“Keep Assange out of U.S.” – Prof. Francis Boyle

“Keep Assange out of U.S.” – Prof. Francis Boyle

Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois pre-recorded this interview for the tenth Unity4J Vigil which took place on 30 December 2018. Boyle spearheaded the campaign to defeat the U.S./U.K. Supplementary Extradition Treaty of 1986 by Maggie Thatcher which succeeded in ‘castrating’ the treaty, according to Boyle. After 9/11 2001 the British Government re-tendered the original[Read More…]

by 12/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange, a martyr to the truth

Julian Assange, a martyr to the truth

The jaws of power “The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.”  John Adams, (1735-1826) According to the Nuremberg Principles, the citizens of a country have a responsibility for the crimes that their governments commit. But to prevent these crimes, the[Read More…]

by 12/04/2019 1 comment Human Rights
Photo: Mr. Fish / Truthdig

Assange exposed the bourgeois democracy and bourgeois state

Arresting Assange in London is now a world-news. Audience of news media is now fully aware of the developments centering the whistleblower. Therefore, no description of that part of the story is required. From now on, descriptions from court-battles will follow. And, there will be few more descriptions: (1) the crafty way bourgeois states deal the question of free expression.[Read More…]

by 11/04/2019 1 comment World
Julian Assange Arrested At The Ecuadorian Embassy

Julian Assange Arrested At The Ecuadorian Embassy

“Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder was granted refuge in 2012 while on bail in the UK over sexual assault allegations against him in Sweden. “At the time, Assange claimed that if he was extradited to Sweden he might be arrested by the US and face charges relating to WikiLeaks’s publication[Read More…]

by 11/04/2019 2 comments World
UN Special Rapporteur: US extradition of Assange would be violation of international law

UN Special Rapporteur: US extradition of Assange would be violation of international law

Following WikiLeaks’ warning yesterday that Julian Assange faced imminent eviction from Ecuador’s London embassy, widespread opposition has emerged to the illegal plans to terminate his political asylum. Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, issued a statement calling upon the Ecuadorian government of President Lenín Moreno to “abstain from expelling Mr. Assange … or from otherwise ceasing or suspending[Read More…]

by 06/04/2019 Comments are Disabled World
WikiLeaks warns that Julian Assange faces imminent eviction from Ecuador’s London embassy

WikiLeaks warns that Julian Assange faces imminent eviction from Ecuador’s London embassy

WikiLeaks today issued a warning that its founder, Julian Assange, faces imminent eviction from Ecuador’s London embassy, where he sought political asylum in 2012. The publishing organisation indicated that he would then be arrested by the British police. A post by the official WikiLeaks Twitter account at around 5:30 p.m., US Eastern Standard Time, stated: “BREAKING: A high level source[Read More…]

by 05/04/2019 1 comment World
Ecuadorian president threatens to evict Julian Assange from London embassy

Ecuadorian president threatens to evict Julian Assange from London embassy

In a clear threat to expel Julian Assange from Ecuador’s London embassy, the country’s President Lenín Moreno declared in an interview yesterday that the WikiLeaks founder had “repeatedly violated the conditions of his asylum.” Moreno stated that his government would “take a decision” “in the short term” on Assange’s circumstances. The comments are the latest public indication of an advanced[Read More…]

by 03/04/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Photo: Mr. Fish / Truthdig

Terms of Asylum and Distraction: Moreno’s Assange Problem

Political asylum is an accepted if often ignored right. It is also at the mercy of those interests that grant it.  Ecuador’s repeated insistence on conditioning Julian Assange’s stay in its London abode is tantamount to corroding the idea of asylum to vacuity.  You are granted asylum as a political dissident, but political dissident you shall not be, especially when[Read More…]

by 03/04/2019 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
“Julian Assange will never obey Big Brother”

“Julian Assange will never obey Big Brother”

Speech by John Pilger, March 3, 2019 Whenever I visit Julian Assange, we meet in a room he knows too well. There is a bare table and pictures of Ecuador on the walls. There is a bookcase where the books never change. The curtains are always drawn and there is no natural light. The air is still and foetid. This[Read More…]

by 04/03/2019 2 comments World
Shifting the Centre of Gravity: Julian Assange Receives His Passport

Shifting the Centre of Gravity: Julian Assange Receives His Passport

In March 2008, one Michael Horvath of the US Army Counterintelligence Center within the Cyber Intelligence Assessments Branch considered the risks posed by WikiLeaks in a 32 page document.  Created under the auspices of the Department of Defence’s Intelligence Analysis Program.  The overview suggests, importantly, the interest shown in Assange by the defence wing of the United States at the[Read More…]

by 26/02/2019 1 comment World
Stone indictment presents no evidence of links between WikiLeaks and Trump campaign

Stone indictment presents no evidence of links between WikiLeaks and Trump campaign

The indictment of right-wing political operative Roger Stone by special counsel and former FBI director Robert Mueller presented no evidence of “collusion” by WikiLeaks and its publisher Julian Assange with either the Trump campaign or Russian intelligence, after more than 17 months of investigation. The indictment of Stone, dated January 24, 2019, is at the same time a damning indictment[Read More…]

by 30/01/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Photo: Mr. Fish / Truthdig

Assange Takes Legal Action To Force Trump Administration To Reveal Charges Against Him

Lawyers for Julian Assange have filed an urgent application to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), based in Washington D.C., to direct the Trump Administration to unseal the charges it has secretly filed against Mr. Assange. Assange’s lawyers are also asking the Commission to compel Ecuador to cease its espionage activities against Mr. Assange, to stop the isolation imposed[Read More…]

by 23/01/2019 1 comment Human Rights
Corporate media smears WikiLeaks and Julian Assange

Corporate media smears WikiLeaks and Julian Assange

A number of corporate media outlets have begun the year by publishing scurrilous and derisive attacks against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. The coverage has the character of a coordinated political campaign, with the most sinister motives. Its aim is to legitimise the stepped-up persecution of Assange by the US and British governments, which are pursuing the journalist and[Read More…]

by 11/01/2019 6 comments Human Rights
Photo: Mr. Fish / Truthdig

Justice for Julian Assange, Test of Western Democracy

This has been the 7th year that WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange spent Christmas in confinement inside Ecuador’s London embassy. For nearly a decade, the US government’s aggressive witch-hunt of truthtellers has trapped him in the UK. Assange claimed political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012 to mitigate the risk of extradition to the US, relating to his publishing activities. He[Read More…]

by 30/12/2018 2 comments Human Rights
Guardian escalates its vilification of Julian Assange

Guardian escalates its vilification of Julian Assange

It is welcome that finally there has been a little pushback, including from leading journalists, to the Guardian’s long-running vilification of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Reporter Luke Harding’s latest article, claiming that Donald Trump’s disgraced former campaign manager Paul Manafort secretly visited Assange in Ecuador’s embassy in London on three occasions, is so full of holes that even[Read More…]

by 30/11/2018 1 comment Human Rights
Photo: Mr. Fish / Truthdig

Prosecution of Julian Assange, America’s Betrayal of Its Own Ideals

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains arbitrarily detained in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. As he is in a critical situation under a special protocol imposing prison-like surveillance, news emerged that shed light on the grave danger he has been facing.Last week, the Washington Post reported that the US Justice Department, in what appeared to be an error of cut and[Read More…]

by 26/11/2018 Comments are Disabled World
Photo: Mr. Fish / Truthdig

Crucifying Julian Assange

What is happening to Assange should terrify the press. And yet his plight is met with indifference and sneering contempt. Julian Assange’s sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London has been transformed into a little shop of horrors. He has been largely cut off from communicating with the outside world for the last seven months. His Ecuadorian citizenship, granted to[Read More…]

by 14/11/2018 3 comments Human Rights
Julian Assange, Modern Day Political Prisoner

Julian Assange, Modern Day Political Prisoner

Over 7 months have passed since WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was deprived of his ability to communicate with the outside world in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he was granted asylum with the risk of extradition to the US, relating to his organization’s publications. Recently, after UN Special Rapporteurs for Freedom of Expression and Refugees visitedthe country, it appeared that[Read More…]

by 03/11/2018 2 comments Human Rights
Ecuador’s government cuts off all access to Julian Assange

Ecuador’s government cuts off all access to Julian Assange

According to the Courage Foundation, which has campaigned against the persecution of Julian Assange, the Ecuadorian Embassy in London has forbidden access to all visitors to the WikiLeaks publisher, including his lawyers, until Monday, amid an urgent lawsuit. Most immediately, the ban obstructs a legal appeal by Assange against an Ecuadorian judge’s decision last week to uphold a draconian “protocol”[Read More…]

by 02/11/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange, Ecuador and the Dangers of Farce

Julian Assange, Ecuador and the Dangers of Farce

This is the next stage of the Julian Assange chronicles: from the summit of information disclosures and meddlesome revelations on classified state matters, the Australian rabblerouser now finds himself the subject of a new round of jokes and ribbing.  WikiLeaks, in short, must be wary of the dangers posed by a new campaign of farce. Satire, humour and ad hominem[Read More…]

by 29/10/2018 1 comment World
Ecuador to partially restore Julian Assange’s access to communications and visitors

Ecuador to partially restore Julian Assange’s access to communications and visitors

In a statement issued Sunday, WikiLeaks announced that the Ecuadorian embassy in London has informed its publisher Julian Assange that it intends to partially restore his ability to use the Internet and phone services, and receive personal visitors. Ecuador, on the dictates of the Trump administration and US military-intelligence apparatus, stripped Assange of these basic rights on March 28 this[Read More…]

by 15/10/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange appoints Kristinn Hrafnsson as WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief

Julian Assange appoints Kristinn Hrafnsson as WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief

WikiLeaks announced last Wednesday that Julian Assange has appointed Icelandic investigative journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson as editor-in-chief, taking over one of his roles within the whistle-blowing media organisation. Assange remains the site’s publisher. WikiLeaks explained in a brief statement: “Due to the extraordinary circumstances where Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been held incommunicado (except for visits by his lawyers)[Read More…]

by 01/10/2018 Comments are Disabled World
Tortured Solutions: Ecuador, the UK and Julian Assange’s Fate

Tortured Solutions: Ecuador, the UK and Julian Assange’s Fate

The pulse of negotiations, a flurry of communications, and the person central to this is one who threatens to go nowhere – for the moment.  But go somewhere these parties would wish Julian Assange to do.  For six years, cramped within a space in London a stone’s throw away from Harrods, one he has made his tenuous home, a citadel[Read More…]

by 29/09/2018 Comments are Disabled World
Prosecution of Julian Assange Is Persecution of American ideals

Prosecution of Julian Assange Is Persecution of American ideals

Over 50 years ago, in his letter from the Birmingham Jail, addressing a struggle of the civil right era, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” His message is now more prevalent than[Read More…]

by 28/07/2018 1 comment Human Rights
Free Julian Assange

Free Julian Assange

What have Julian Assange, Stephen Hawking and Noam Chomsky in common? They spoke the truth. Stephen Hawking left us with these words of wisdom “In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years.?” Noam Chomsky echoes the same warning. As an 82 year old Global Citizen, I concluded a[Read More…]

by 25/07/2018 2 comments Human Rights
Christine Assange, mother of WikiLeaks editor: “I’ve not been able to speak to my son for four months”

Christine Assange, mother of WikiLeaks editor: “I’ve not been able to speak to my son for four months”

Christine Assange, the mother of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange, spoke at length with the World Socialist Web Site yesterday about the dangerous situation facing her son who, according to recent media reports, confronts imminent eviction from Ecuador’s embassy in London. Christine Assange commented on the US-led efforts to frame-up her son and extradite him to America on bogus espionage charges,[Read More…]

by 24/07/2018 2 comments Human Rights
Imminent threat to Julian Assange underscores need for global defence movement

Imminent threat to Julian Assange underscores need for global defence movement

Credible reports indicate that Ecuador’s government is about to renege on the political asylum it granted to WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange and hand him over to British police, possibly within days. The reports also indicate that Assange would be subjected to lengthy imprisonment by the British authorities, perhaps for two years or more, pending extradition to the US, where he[Read More…]

by 23/07/2018 Comments are Disabled World
Inside WikiLeaks: Working With the Publisher That Changed the World

Inside WikiLeaks: Working With the Publisher That Changed the World

Silenced and cut off from the outside world, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the last six years with no access to sunlight, fresh air, or proper medical treatment. Furthermore, last March President Lenin Moreno’s Ecuadorian government cut his access to the internet, phone calls and even visitors and journalists. For a[Read More…]

by 23/07/2018 1 comment World
Ecuadorian president arrives in Britain as Julian Assange’s fate hangs in the balance

Ecuadorian president arrives in Britain as Julian Assange’s fate hangs in the balance

Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno arrives in London today, with his administration seeking to force WikiLeaks editor and Australian citizen Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy there, where he sought and was granted political asylum in 2012. If Assange leaves the embassy he will be imprisoned by Britain for breaching bail and almost certainly face an application to extradite him[Read More…]

by 21/07/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Ecuador’s Agenda: Squeezing and Surrendering Assange

Ecuador’s Agenda: Squeezing and Surrendering Assange

It is perhaps typical in a time where a star of the fleshy celluloid wonder Baywatch, heavy in bust and known for her sexual adventures, should feature as a political voice.  Pamela Anderson’s views are treated with judicious seriousness – at least in some quarters.  Her association with Julian Assange has given needless room for columns on what, exactly, their[Read More…]

by 21/07/2018 2 comments Human Rights
The War on Assange Is a War on Press Freedom

The War on Assange Is a War on Press Freedom

The failure on the part of establishment media to defend Julian Assange, who has been trapped in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, has been denied communication with the outside world since March and appears to be facing imminent expulsion and arrest, is astonishing. The extradition of the publisher—the maniacal goal of the U.S. government—would set a legal precedent that would[Read More…]

by 17/07/2018 1 comment World
British and Ecuadorian authorities in talks to evict Julian Assange from London embassy

British and Ecuadorian authorities in talks to evict Julian Assange from London embassy

The London-based Times newspaper reported yesterday that the British and Ecuadorian governments have been holding secret discussions on plans to evict WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange from Ecuador’s London embassy, where he sought political asylum six years ago. The article said the talks are “an attempt to remove Assange” from the embassy and are being conducted at the highest levels of government, with[Read More…]

by 16/07/2018 1 comment World
Australia’s foreign interference laws threaten whistleblowers and media freedom

Australia’s foreign interference laws threaten whistleblowers and media freedom

An exchange on June 28 in the parliament, prompted by questions from Green senator Andrew Bartlett, underscored the fact that Australia’s sweeping new “foreign interference” laws have immense implications, not only for whistleblowers, but for the right of media organisations to publish leaked information. Aspects of the legislation, relating to espionage and secrecy, appear to call into question what millions[Read More…]

by 09/07/2018 2 comments Human Rights
Democrats Against Assange: Influencing US-Ecuador Relations

Democrats Against Assange: Influencing US-Ecuador Relations

Such a historical twist, but one that deserves its iniquitous slot in the history books.  No secret has been made about US policy towards Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, which continues its trajectory to seek his apprehension and shutter the organisation.  Despite its cables being used for political effect by interested parties; despite the exposures of corruption within the ranks of[Read More…]

by 29/06/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Bringing Julian Assange Home

Bringing Julian Assange Home

Below is the speech delivered by the well known journalist and documentarian John Pilger to the rally to free Julian Assange held by the Socialist Equality Party of Australia on Sunday, June 17 in Sydney’s Town Hall Center. Thank you for coming for Julian and thank you to the SEP for organizing this very important rally. The persecution of Julian[Read More…]

by 28/06/2018 2 comments World, Video
The Next Step: The Campaign for Julian Assange

The Next Step: The Campaign for Julian Assange

The modern detainee in a political sense has to be understood in the abstract.  Those who take to feats of hacking, publishing and articulating positions on the issue of institutional secrets have become something of a species, not as rare as they once more, but no less remarkable for that fact.  And what a hounded species at that. Across the[Read More…]

by 26/06/2018 1 comment Human Rights
Assange Is A Journalist, Should Not Be Prosecuted For Publishing The Truth

Assange Is A Journalist, Should Not Be Prosecuted For Publishing The Truth

Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Last week, rallies in support of Julian Assange were held around the world. We participated in two #AssangeUnity events seeking to #FreeAssange in Washington, DC. This is the beginning of a new phase of the campaign to stop the persecution of Julian Assange and allow him to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London without[Read More…]

by 25/06/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
John Pilger and Courage Foundation announce “urgent campaign” to free Assange

John Pilger and Courage Foundation announce “urgent campaign” to free Assange

Internationally-acclaimed journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger issued the following statement on behalf of the Courage Foundationyesterday. Pilger is a trustee of the organisation, which raises funds for the legal defense of persecuted whistleblowers, journalists and publications, including Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Pilger will be addressing the June 17 Sydney Town Hall Square rally, called by the Socialist Equality Party, demanding that[Read More…]

by 05/06/2018 1 comment Human Rights
Ecuador hints it may hand over Julian Assange to Britain and the US

Ecuador hints it may hand over Julian Assange to Britain and the US

Julian Assange is in immense danger. Remarks made this week by Ecuador’s foreign minister suggest that her government may be preparing to renege on the political asylum it granted to the WikiLeaks editor in 2012 and hand him over to British and then American authorities. On March 28, under immense pressure from the governments in the US, Britain and other[Read More…]

by 12/05/2018 1 comment World
Precarious Communications: Julian Assange, Internet Access and Ecuador

Precarious Communications: Julian Assange, Internet Access and Ecuador

Being a netizen, to use that popular term of sociological derivation, can be a difficult business. It presumes digital engagement, often of the sharper sort.  To become a fully-fledged member of such citizenry, however, presumes access, a degree of Internet speed and appropriate platforms. Absent those, then different forms of activism must be sought. Governments and authorities the world over[Read More…]

by 30/03/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Julian Assange And His Doppelganger

Julian Assange And His Doppelganger

Walking along Hans Crescent every morning on my way to work, I stop briefly to look up at the balcony fronting the room which Julian Assange occupies in the Ecuadorian Embassy. I’ve been passing his place of residence for five years now and I’ve yet to catch a glimpse of him. What I do see though, are some of Her[Read More…]

by 19/02/2018 4 comments Human Rights
Assange, Judge Arbuthnot and the Arrest Warrant

Assange, Judge Arbuthnot and the Arrest Warrant

Justice is an elastic concept.  Like other terms in law, it has room to expand and contract.  But one weakness burdens legal strictures that supposedly have an objective reality to them: power.  Power brutish, power as a spectral force, and power arbitrarily exercised. Any reading of Julian Assange’s case must be, to that end, understood as a dynamic less of[Read More…]

by 15/02/2018 1 comment World
The UK’s Hidden Hand In Julian Assange’s Detention

The UK’s Hidden Hand In Julian Assange’s Detention

  Nazareth: It now emerges that the last four years of Julian Assange’s effective imprisonment in the Ecuadorean embassy in London have been entirely unnecessary. In fact, they depended on a legal charade. Behind the scenes, Sweden wanted to drop the extradition case against Assange back in 2013. Why was this not made public? Because Britain persuaded Sweden to pretend[Read More…]

by 13/02/2018 1 comment World
Julian Assange Loses Initial Bid To Overturn British Arrest Warrant

Julian Assange Loses Initial Bid To Overturn British Arrest Warrant

A judge in London yesterday rejected an application by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to withdraw a British arrest warrant issued against him in 2012. In a judgment full of obvious contradictions, she ruled that way even though a Swedish-initiated European arrest warrant—the trigger for the British warrant—was cancelled in May 2017. Despite the trumped-up Swedish government “sexual assault” allegations against[Read More…]

by 07/02/2018 2 comments World
Julian Assange Challenges Warrant For His Arrest As doctors Confirm Worsening Of His Health

Julian Assange Challenges Warrant For His Arrest As doctors Confirm Worsening Of His Health

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has asked a UK court to relinquish the arrest warrant that is keeping him confined to the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge, London. If granted, he would be free to leave without fear of arrest, according to a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). “Hypothetically, yes. That would be our interpretation,” he said. Assange would then[Read More…]

by 28/01/2018 1 comment Human Rights
Getting Julian Assange: The Untold Story

Getting Julian Assange: The Untold Story

Julian Assange has been vindicated because the Swedish case against him was corrupt. The prosecutor, Marianne Ny, obstructed justice and should be prosecuted. Her obsession with Assange not only embarrassed her colleagues and the judiciary but exposed the Swedish state’s collusion with the United States in its crimes of war and “rendition”. Had Assange not sought refuge in the Ecuadorean[Read More…]

by 22/05/2017 1 comment World
Julian Assange, Sweden, And Continuing Battles

Julian Assange, Sweden, And Continuing Battles

It had been, from the start, a cruel wait and see game.  Lacking logic and consistency, the Swedish effort to extradite Julian Assange from the United Kingdom, not for formal charges but the pretext of questioning him over sexual assault and rape, collapsed on Friday. The Director of Public Prosecutions Marianne Ny and Chief Prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, in a press[Read More…]

by 20/05/2017 1 comment World
Prosecution of Assange Is Persecution of Free Speech

Prosecution of Assange Is Persecution of Free Speech

  US authorities are reported to have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. This overreach of US government toward a publisher, whose principle is aligned with the U.S. Constitution, is another sign of a crumbling façade of democracy. The Justice Department in the Obama administration could not prosecute WikiLeaks for publishing documents pertaining to the US government, because they struggled[Read More…]

by 26/04/2017 1 comment World
Trump, The DOJ And Julian Assange

Trump, The DOJ And Julian Assange

“I’m glad that the Justice Department has found a way to go after Assange.  He’s gotten a free ride for too long.” Rep. Peter King (R-New York), Apr 20, 2017 There had been some doubts from initial enthusiasts about WikiLeaks once information from leaks released on its site started puncturing holes in an already worn Democratic campaign in 2016.  Accusations[Read More…]

by 21/04/2017 1 comment World
Droning Julian Assange: The Clinton Formula

Droning Julian Assange: The Clinton Formula

“We believe in what we are doing… If you are pushed you push back.” Julian Assange The mutterings have become furious, and it is clear that the Democratic contender for the White House has again shown how traditional her ploys towards power are going to be.  Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have again managed to pull the blinds off an episode[Read More…]

by 05/10/2016 1 comment World
WikiLeaks, 10 Years Of Pushing The Boundaries Of Free Speech

WikiLeaks, 10 Years Of Pushing The Boundaries Of Free Speech

“To me, freedom of speech is something that represents the very dignity of what a human being is… that’s what marks us off from the stones and stars.” These are words spoken by Mario Savio, the spokesperson for the Free Speech Movement in the 60’s. Decades later, the power of free speech has surged onto the global stage and began[Read More…]

by 04/10/2016 1 comment World
Assange, Manning And Snowden; Standing Up For The Conscience Of Truthtellers

Assange, Manning And Snowden; Standing Up For The Conscience Of Truthtellers

Last week, Oliver Stone’s biopic “Snowden” hit the theaters. The film illuminates the life of Edward Snowden between 2004 and 2013, aiming to humanize one of the most wanted men in the world. Just before its release, a public campaign was launched urging President Obama to pardon this renowned NSA whistleblower. The massive US government persecution of truthtellers over the[Read More…]

by 20/09/2016 1 comment Human Rights
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