Thread: Julian Assange, on the Cross

Originally Posted by DrWilly

By his choice.

Bradley Manning has already completed her sentence.

Obama pardoned him/her/it.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel has authorized the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to be tried under the Espionage Act in a case which seeks to set a legal precedent for the prosecution of any publisher or journalist, anywhere in the world, who reports inconvenient truths about the US empire.
Assange's legal team will appeal the decision, reportedly with arguments that will include the fact that the CIA spied on him and plotted his assassination.

"It will likely be a few days before the (14-day appeal) deadline and the appeal will include new information that we weren't able to bring before the courts previously. Information on how Julian lawyers were spied on, and how there were plots to kidnap and kill Julian from within the CIA," Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton told Reuters on Friday.

And thank goodness. Assange's willingness to resist Washington's extradition attempts benefit us all, from his taking political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 until British police forcibly dragged him out in 2019, to his fighting US prosecutors in the courtroom tooth and claw during his incarceration in Belmarsh Prison.

Assange's fight against US extradition benefits us not just because the empire's war against truth harms our entire species and not just because he cannot receive a fair trial under the Espionage Act, but because his refusal to bow down and submit forces the empire to overextend itself into the light and show us all what it's really made of.

Washington, London and Canberra are colluding to imprison a journalist for telling the truth: the first with its active extradition attempts, the second with its loyal facilitation of those attempts, and the third with its silent complicity in allowing an Australian journalist to be locked up and persecuted for engaging in the practice of journalism. By refusing to lie down and forcing them to come after him, Assange has exposed some harsh realities of which the public has largely been kept unaware.

The fact that London and Canberra are complying so obsequiously with Washington's agendas, even while their own mainstream media outlets decry the extradition and even while all major human rights and press freedom watchdog groups in the western world say Assange must go free, shows that these are not separate sovereign nations but member states of a single globe-spanning empire centralized around the US government. Because Assange stood his ground and fought them, more attention is being brought to this reality.

By standing his ground and fighting them, Assange has also exposed the lie that the so-called free democracies of the western world support the free press and defend human rights. The US, UK and Australia are colluding to extradite a journalist for exposing the truth even as they claim to oppose tyranny and autocracy, even as they claim to support world press freedoms, and even as they loudly decry the dangers of government-sponsored disinformation.

Because Assange stood his ground and fought them, it will always reek of hypocrisy when US presidents like Joe Biden say things like, "The free press is not the enemy of the people — far from it. At your best, you're guardians of the truth."

Because Assange stood his ground and fought them, people will always know British prime ministers like Boris Johnson are lying when they say things like, "Media organisations should feel free to bring important facts into the public domain."

Because Assange stood his ground and fought them, more of us will understand that they are being deceived and manipulated when Australian prime ministers like Anthony Albanese say things like "We need to protect press freedom in law and ensure every Australian can have their voice heard," and "Don't prosecute journalists for just doing their jobs."

Because Assange stood his ground and fought them, US secretaries of state like Antony Blinken will have a much harder time selling their schtick when they say things like "On World Press Freedom Day, the United States continues to advocate for press freedom, the safety of journalists worldwide, and access to information on and offline. A free and independent press ensures the public has access to information. Knowledge is power."

Because Assange stood his ground and fought them, UK home secretaries like Priti Patel will be seen for the frauds they are when they say things like "The safety of journalists is fundamental to our democracy."

Extraditing a foreign journalist for exposing your war crimes is as tyrannical an agenda as you could possibly come up with. The US, UK and Australia colluding toward this end shows us that these are member states of a single empire whose only values are domination and control, and that all its posturing about human rights is pure facade. Assange keeps exposing the true face of power.

There is in fact a strong argument to be made that even all these years after the 2010 leaks for which he is currently being prosecuted, Assange is doing his most important work yet. As important as his WikiLeaks publications were and are, none of them exposed the depravity of the empire as much as forcing them to look us in the eye and tell us they'll extradite a journalist for telling the truth.

Assange accomplished this by planting his feet and saying "No," even when every other possible option would have been easier and more pleasant. Even when it was hard. Even when it was terrifying. Even when it meant being locked away, silenced, smeared, hated, unable to fight back against his detractors, unable to live a normal life, unable to hold his children, unable even to feel sunlight on his face.

His very life casts light on all the areas where it is most sorely needed. We all owe this man a tremendous debt. The least we can do is try our best to get him free.

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.co...most-important

Who gives a flying fuck what your BBW crush thinks?

We all owe this man a tremendous debt.

We all owe him fuck all.

Who is we.....?

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Who is we.....?

Originally Posted by huanglao

who is we.....?

foj…
…

i expect a re-trial as the judge won't be able to pass judgement as too much of the detail will be redacted.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Who is we.....?

Can't you read Jeff?

We "all".

Nothing more despicable and deluded than an imperial apologist.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Nothing more despicable and deluded than an imperial apologist.

Indeed so. Sabang and Ohwoe come to mind.

Next up in the despicable stakes are pretentious academics that pretend they know it all and are above it all.

Originally Posted by pickel

Obama pardoned him/her/it.

him/her/they

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Who is we.....?

Read the article, it kind of gives a guide as to who 'we' is.


If we look at what he actually did and who is so upset with him and for what:

Assange came to prominence in mid-2010 after WikiLeaks published US military logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, and US cable leaks in November that year.Former US military personnel Chelsea Manning sent the information to Assange.
Manning was charged and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment in 2013 for violating the Espionage Act of 1917, and other offences.

Let's see what pissed off the Americans more than anything:

WikiLeaks shot to fame in April 2010 after the website released a 39-minute video of a US military Apache helicopter firing over and killing more than a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists.The footage leaked by private Manning led to global outrage, reigniting a debate over the US’s occupation of Iraq and wider presence in the Middle East.
In July that year, WikiLeaks, together with several media outlets, such as the New York Times, published more than 90,000 US military documents related to the War in Afghanistan.
These included previously unreported details about civilian deaths, friendly-fire casualties, US air raids, al-Qaeda’s role in the country, and nations providing support to Afghan leaders and the Taliban.

So, the UK is giving in to US demands after having held him in custody and 'exile' on spurious 'rape' allegations, which were dropped in 2019.

Says a lot, really.

The UK & AUS are really just vassal states. May as well accept the fact.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

i expect a re-trial as the judge won't be able to pass judgement as too much of the detail will be redacted.

Brilliant. They haven't had a trial yet. That's in America you buffoon.

April 20th:

A British judge on Wednesday formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges.

This is just an appeal.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

i expect a re-trial

Are you drunk again or just plunging to new idiocy levels:

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

They haven't had a trial yet. That's in America you buffoon.

Originally Posted by sabang

The UK & AUS are really just vassal states. May as well accept the fact.

Certainly in issues such as these, yes.

We all owe him fuck all.

Oh, I wouldn't say that....

Originally Posted by sabang

The UK & AUS are really just vassal states. May as well accept the fact.

An extension of The Anglophone Evil Empire.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

An extension of The Anglophone Evil Empire.

Whiny old Jeff, can't help himself.

What nationality are you, Jeff?

Craig Murray -
@CraigMurrayOrg

Australians - are you not ashamed that Mexico is doing more for your fellow citizen than the government of Australia?


Quote Tweet
WikiLeaks
· Jun 21


President of Mexico shows Collateral Murder, detailing the gunning down of civilians including two @Reuters journalists by US forces, revealed by Julian Assange, in his morning conference, as he calls for the publishers' release #AMLO#FreeAssangeNOW

Ithaka is a heart-rending film that offers an important rebuttal to more than a decade of propaganda aimed at dehumanizing the WikiLeaks publisher.


Away from the Tory Babel over who will be the top “world-leading” sociopath, I just spent two evenings in the company of decent people. John and Gabriel Shipton, Julian’s father and brother, were in Glasgow and Edinburgh for the screening of Ithaka, the documentary that follows the fight by Julian Assange’s family to have him freed. I was moderating the Q & A.

The odd pub may also have been visited.

Ithaka is heart-rending, and it has an important message in rehumanizing Julian after over a decade of concerted (I use that word advisedly) propaganda aimed at dehumanizing him.

[Related: WATCH: CN Live! — ‘The Assange Family Struggle’]

The sheer baseness of the extraordinary lies told by the mainstream media about his personal hygiene — leaving toilets unflushed and even smearing Embassy walls with excrement — is something straight out of Joseph Goebbels’ playbook.

The cold calculation behind Assange’s treatment in his last months in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, when he was denied access to wash and shave, in order to produce the apparent monster for the photos of his arrest, is a true example of evil unfolding.

Two days before his expulsion I telephoned the embassy and spoke to the first secretary (a call I recorded). I explained that if, as we understood, Julian were no longer welcome, they only had to say so and he would leave voluntarily to the police station. Instead, we had that calculated piece of theater.

Presentation aside, it also enabled them to retain all of Julian’s possessions, including all his legal papers covered by client-attorney privilege relating to his defence.

As we heard in the extradition hearing, all of those papers were taken to Quito and then given to the C.I.A. This was admitted by counsel for the U.S. government who claimed that “Chinese walls” — a direct quote — within the U.S. government prevented the C.I.A. from passing any of that information to the Justice Department, which is running the case.

If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. But the fact is that it is the U.S. government that is applying for extradition and the U.S. government has stolen the legal papers of the other party in the case. In any other case this would lead to the case being kicked out immediately.

If you add that together with the fact that the extradition treaty specifically bars political extradition, that the U.S. government’s key witness is a convicted fraudster and pedophile who was paid for his evidence (which he has since denounced), and that no journalist in the U.S. has ever been charged with espionage before, you begin to start to understand the depth of state depravity that has kept Julian in the U.K.’s strongest security prison for four birthdays.

Pompeo Calls on Patel

I found this curious. Mike Pompeo, former U.S. secretary of state, who oversaw the plot to kidnap or potentially assassinate Julian in the Ecuadorian embassy, called on U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel on June 30, just after she signed Julian’s extradition order and also just after Pompeo had been summoned by a Spanish court to give evidence on the plot.


That photo is more unusual than might be immediately realized. With a Democrat in the White House, it is extremely rare for a senior British cabinet minister, acting in an official capacity, openly to flaunt friendship with senior Republicans from the defeated administration and to hold official meetings with them.

Pompeo is now a private citizen. He could quite naturally be meeting Patel as a friend in her home — but officially, at the Home Office? This is really not done, or if exceptionally needed, it is done quietly.

What did they discuss in the Home Office?

Here is something else downright peculiar. According to The Wall Street Journal, Priti Patel asked the U.S. government to give her public congratulations for agreeing the extradition of Julian Assange:

“After Ms. Patel’s ruling on June 17, for example, a U.K. official asked the U.S. Embassy in London if officials there or at the Justice Department could release a statement welcoming Ms. Patel’s ruling, adding that she would appreciate such a show of support, according to people familiar with the request.”

The Justice Department declined to issue such a statement.

There is a very strange smell surrounding this extradition.

The film Ithaka is not a dissection of the legal issues, nor an in-depth recounting of the Assange case. It rather focuses on the devastating effect of his cruel imprisonment on his family, both his wife and children, and on his father John Shipton.

[Related: WATCH: CN Covers Assange Movie Premiere in Sydney]

John’s personal crusade to save his son is the main focus. The insight into the fundamentals of the case — that the man who did most to expose war crimes is the man locked up and tortured, not the people who committed the war crimes — mostly come from interviews with Professor Nils Melzer, then U.N. special rapporteur on torture.

FULL Article- https://consortiumnews.com/2022/07/1...ulian-assange/

The contrast with the treatment of another Australian whistleblower is interesting, to say the least-


‘Witness K and Bernard Collaery are heroes’: how Australia made two men pay for its dirty secrets


Decision by new government to abandon prosecution prompts widespread relief from lawyers and supporters in Australia and Timor-Leste


Full Article- ‘Witness K and Bernard Collaery are heroes’: how Australia made two men pay for its dirty secrets | Witness K case | The Guardian

We all know why sabang wets his pants about Assange. He's a putin arselicker too.

Originally Posted by sabang

As we heard in the extradition hearing, all of those papers were taken to Quito and then given to the C.I.A. This was admitted by counsel for the U.S. government who claimed that “Chinese walls” — a direct quote — within the U.S. government prevented the C.I.A. from passing any of that information to the Justice Department, which is running the case.

It is stuff like this and as in the Aus NSI Act that ensure justice and the rule of law is nonexistant when a government decides it must protect the guilty and silence the truth.

Originally Posted by Norton

It is stuff like this and as in the Aus NSI Act that ensure justice and the rule of law is nonexistant when a government decides it must protect the guilty and silence the truth.

The real tragedy is that such nasty things have been ongoing for ages........and perfectly accepted and understood by the reasonable populations and their questionable mores.