„[Trump] can achieve a major victory for the principles that this country was founded on & that make it a good place to live.“
„Make a statement in our defense, defend the Bill of Rights.“
Nachrichtenagentur Radio Utopie
Nachrichten direkt von der Quelle. Im Kontext sehen. News Agency of Radio Utopie. News directly from the source. There is context in life. Deutsch, English. 24 h. – Democracy First!
„[Trump] can achieve a major victory for the principles that this country was founded on & that make it a good place to live.“
„Make a statement in our defense, defend the Bill of Rights.“
(June 5, 2020)
The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper, his former role in the Julian Assange case and his membership in the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission.
In one of the most brazenly political sections in her December 4 legal judgment, Westminster district judge Vanessa Baraitser cited a suspect report by CNN that accused Assange of conspiring with Russians to turn Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he was trapped in refuge for roughly seven years, “into a command post for election meddling.”
Baraitser twice pointed to this dubious CNN article in order to justify a 24/7 CIA spying operation that targeted not only Assange, but Ecuador’s embassy and its sovereign operations and internal affairs as well.
What the British judge failed to mention is that the CNN story she relied on was itself based entirely on untrustworthy intelligence reports drafted by a Spanish security firm called UC Global, which secretly worked with the CIA to spy on the WikiLeaks publisher and Ecuadorian embassy staff.
“If extradited to the United States, he faces a sentence of up to 175 years imprisonment under inhumane conditions of near total isolation,” Mr. Melzer added.
According to the news release, the Special Rapporteur repeatedly expressed in individual communications and statements that Mr. Assange has been subjected to more than 10 years of arbitrary detention and political persecution. During a visit conducted to Belmarsh Prison in 2019, the rights expert and a specialized medical team found that Mr. Assange showed all the symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture.
Following victory in his battle to avoid extradition from Britain to the United States, Assange has remained in the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London pending the latest hearing, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.
(04.01.2021)
1. This is a request made by the Government of the United States of America (“the US”) for the extradition of Julian Paul Assange. The US is represented by James Lewis QC, Claire Dobbin and Joel Smith. Mr. Assange is represented by Edward Fitzgerald QC, Mark Summers QC, Ben Cooper QC and Florence Iveson.
Ein britisches Gericht verhandelt heute über die Freilassung des inhaftierten WikiLeaks-Gründers Julian Assange gegen Kaution. Assanges Anwälte reichten einen entsprechenden Antrag ein, nachdem eine britische Richterin gestern ein US-Auslieferungsgesuch für den wegen Geheimnisverrats und Spionage angeklagten Australier wegen dessen psychischen Gesundheitszustands abgewiesen hatte.
The Spanish High Court’s investigation is currently stalled. Six months after Judge De la Mata requested judicial cooperation from US authorities, asking them for identifying information about the IPs that accessed UC Global’s servers, the US justice system has yet to respond. US prosecutors demanded to know the judge’s sources, and De la Mata sent additional information, but no reply has been forthcoming.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has also failed to comply with De la Mata’s request to take statements from the lawyers who were spied on while working with Assange.
Am Handeln des 49-Jährigen übte Baraitser freilich massive Kritik. Die Argumente seiner Verteidigung erkannte sie in großen Teilen nicht an. Weder habe diese belegen können, dass Assange in den USA kein faires Verfahren erwarte, noch, dass der Wikileaks-Gründer Opfer politischer Verfolgung sei,
Stella Morris and Chief Editor of Wiki Leaks Kristinn Hrafnsson speak, after Julian Assange extradition to the United States is blocked, by U.K District Judge. The Old Bailey.
The U.S. government will appeal to the High Court to reverse the judge’s ruling, a process that could take several months — perhaps even longer because of Assange’s poor health and the soaring outbreak of coronavirus in Britain, which has the capital city on near-lockdown.
No one has been brought to book for the crimes exposed by WikiLeaks. Instead, the Trump administration has launched a full-scale assault on the international criminal court for daring to investigate these and other offences, and is pursuing the man who brought them to light. It has taken the unprecedented step of prosecuting him under the Espionage Act for publishing confidential information. (Mike Pompeo, secretary of state and former CIA director, has previously described Wikileaks as a “non-state hostile intelligence agency”). In doing so, it chose to attack one of the very bases of journalism: its ability to share vital information that the government would rather suppress.
But that is what would happen if the UK decides to extradite Julian. It would rewrite the rules of what it is permissible to publish here. Overnight, it would chill free and open debate about abuses by our own government and by many foreign ones, too.
In effect, foreign countries could simply issue an extradition request saying that UK journalists, or Facebook users for that matter, have violated their censorship laws.
Reporters Without Borders and the National Union of Journalists have said that as long as Julian remains in prison facing extradition, the UK is not a safe place for journalists and publishers to work.
The press freedoms we cherish in Britain are meaningless if they can be criminalised and suppressed by regimes in Russia or Ankara or by prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia.
If Westminster Magistrates‘ Court accepts the US arguments tomorrow, every other country can use them, too. It would place an impossible burden on you, me, everyone, not to violate foreign censorship laws.
Those who do not seek to meaningfully dissent or subvert power will usually deny — because they do not perceive — that such dissent and subversion are, in fact, rigorously prohibited. They will continue to believe blissfully that the society in which they live guarantees core civic freedoms — of speech, of press, of assembly, of due process — because they have rendered their own speech and activism, if it exists at all, so innocuous that nobody with the capacity to do so would bother to try to curtail it. The observation apocryphally attributed to socialist activist Rosa Luxemburg, imprisoned for her opposition to German involvement in World War I and then summarily executed by the state, expresses it best: “Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.”
AT A GLANCE
– A UK judge will rule on Julian Assange’s extradition on January 4, 2021.
– The United States government wants to extradite Assange for publishing evidence of war crimes and illegal spying in 2010. He faces a 175-year sentence.
– All major free speech & free press organizations including Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders, major media (including The New York Times, The Guardian, Washington Post and The Times UK) and journalist organizations including US, British, and Australian journalist unions have condemned the U.S. government’s theory of the case as an unprecedented threat to the First Amendment right to publish.
– The decision is expected to be appealed and would then be referred to a higher court.
@amnesty
@hrw
@ACLU
@RSF_inter
@pressfreedom
@IFJGlobal
@NUJofficial
@guardian
@nytimes
#Assange
The United Nations’ top official on torture Tuesday called for British authorities to release or place under house arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, citing the risk of Covid-19 infection in London’s notorious Belmarsh Prison and condemning a decade of “arbitrary deprivation of liberty” that has “severely violated” the jailed journalist’s human rights.
The Agency knew that their best asset for selling their wars was Barack Obama — the same reason so many in the security state were eager to get rid of Donald Trump.
(June 5, 2020)
The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper, his former role in the Julian Assange case and his membership in the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission.
Der Zweck des Journalismus ist es, Wahrheit – insbesondere unbequeme Wahrheit – aufzudecken und zum Wohle der Gesellschaft zu veröffentlichen. In einer freien Gesellschaft müssen wir über die kriminellen Handlungen informiert werden, die von den Regierungen im Namen des Volkes begangen werden. Im Laufe der Geschichte haben Journalisten immer wieder aufgedeckt, auf welch vielfältige Weise Regierungen lügen, betrügen und stehlen – und welche großen Anstrengungen sie unternehmen, damit das Volk nichts davon erfährt.
Große Journalisten wie Seymour Hersh, der uns über die Tragödie des Massakers von Mai Lai und die Schrecken, die im irakischen Gefängnis von Abu Ghraib stattfanden, berichtete, sind unverzichtbar.
The purpose of journalism is to uncover truth – especially uncomfortable truth – and to publish it for the benefit of society. In a free society, we must be informed of the criminal acts carried out by governments in the name of the people. Throughout history, journalists have uncovered the many ways governments lie, cheat, and steal – and the great lengths they will go to keep the people from finding out.
(02.10.2020)
Q: Having watched Julian Assange’s trial firsthand, can you describe the prevailing atmosphere in the court?
The prevailing atmosphere has been shocking. I say that without hesitation; I have sat in many courts and seldom known such a corruption of due process; this is due revenge. Putting aside the ritual associated with ‘British justice’, at times it has been evocative of a Stalinist show trial. One difference is that in the show trials, the defendant stood in the court proper. In the Assange trial, the defendant was caged behind thick glass, and had to crawl on his knees to a slit in the glass, overseen by his guard, to make contact with his lawyers. His message, whispered barely audibly through face masks, was then passed by post-it the length of the court to where his barristers were arguing the case against his extradition to an American hellhole.
Consider this daily routine of Julian Assange, an Australian on trial for truth-telling journalism…
Die Stimmung war erschütternd. Das sage ich, ohne zu zögern; ich habe bereits in vielen Gerichtssälen gesessen und selten so ein unfaires Verfahren erlebt; das hier ist schlicht ein Racheakt. Wenn man einmal von den Ritualen absieht, welche mit der „britischen Justiz“ verbunden sind, hat es einen bisweilen an einen stalinistischen Schauprozess erinnert.
Ein Unterschied dazu war, dass der Angeklagte in den Schauprozessen im Gerichtssaal stand. Im Assange-Prozess war er hinter dickes Glas gesperrt und musste, unter Aufsicht seines Wächters, auf Knien zu einem Schlitz im Glaskasten krabbeln, um Kontakt zu seinen Anwälten aufzunehmen. Seine Nachricht, die er kaum hörbar durch eine Maske flüsterte, wurde dann mittels kleiner Post-it-Zettelchen quer durch den ganzen Gerichtssaal getragen, dorthin, wo seine Anwälte ihn gegen die Auslieferung in ein amerikanisches Drecksloch verteidigten.
Führen Sie sich einmal folgende tägliche Routine von Julian Assange vor Auge …
Editor-in-Chief Joe Lauria was interviewed by BreakThrough News, and he laid out the essential information about WikiLeaks‘ publisher Julian Assange’s extradition case.
Assange would never receive a fair trial in the U.S., but he’s not receiving one in Britain either.
I returned to my hotel about 11pm, did my ablutions and went to bed. Just after midnight I was awoken by an insistent and extremely loud pounding at the door of my room.
The letter said all of the crimes Assange is accused of are standard journalistic practices, and if he is extradited, it would gravely endanger press freedom. The letter was endorsed by hundreds of politicians, parliament members, and heads of state from around the world.
Confirmed speakers:
Roger Waters, rock musician, co-founder of Pink Floyd
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil
Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece, MeRA25
Rafael Correa, former president of Ecuador
M.I.A., musician and activist
Slavoj Žižek, philosopher
Pamela Anderson, actress and activist
Srećko Horvat, philosopher, co-founder of DiEM25
Alicia Castro, trade unionist and Argentine diplomat
John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor, Labour Party
Jennifer Robinson, human rights lawyer
Tariq Ali, public intellectual and member of Russell Tribunal
Angela Richter, artist and activist
The judge’s interest in Nagel indicates that the Spanish investigation is now probing the suspected role of US intelligence as the guiding hand behind UC Global’s criminal spying operation.
Before he was hired as Adelson’s director of global security, Nagel serving as the top cyber-crime investigator for the US Secret Service – a role which earned him a medal of commendation from the CIA. Together with Lahav, he was likely to have played a central role in coordinating between Sands, UC Global, and US intelligence.
(21.09.2020)
Morales traveled to the US once or twice a month allegedly to hand over the material to “the Americans.” A microphone was installed on the PVC plastic base of a fire extinguisher near the meeting room where Assange met with his lawyers. The cyberactivist had placed a device that created white noise in this room, and activated it when he thought he was being spied on. He placed another device in the women’s bathroom, where he sometimes met with his lawyers.
UC Global S. L. was hired by Ecuador’s Senain secret service to provide security services to the embassy when Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa was in power. But according to the three witnesses, Morales ordered the Australian to be spied on and created remote-operated computer servers that collected the illegally obtained information, which could be accessed from the United States.
Anonymity was granted to two former employees of UC Global after a hearing at the Old Bailey in London was told they feared that its director and owner, David Morales, or others connected to him in the US, could seek to harm them.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser said she would permit their identities to remain anonymous out of respect for a Spanish court that had done the same as part of a case in which they are involved.
The day concluded with a foretaste of excitement to come, as Judge Baraitser agreed to grant witness anonymity to the two UC Global whistleblowers who are to give evidence on UC Global’s spying on Assange in the Ecuadorean Embassy. In making application, Summers gave notice that among the topics to be discussed was the instruction from UC Global’s American clients to consider poisoning or kidnapping Assange. The hidden firearm with filed-off serial numbers discovered in the home of UC Global’s chief executive David Morales, and his relationship to the Head of Security at the Las Vegas Sands complex, were also briefly mooted.
Assange is fighting extradition on charges relating to leaks of classified documents allegedly exposing US war crimes and abuse.
The Old Bailey has heard evidence of the 49-year-old’s mental state following years in the Ecuador embassy and 16 months in custody at Belmarsh high security jail.
Today the court heard that, if he loses his extradition battle, Assange could be held at Alexandria Detention Centre in Virginia under special administrative measures (Sams).
We all recognise the responsibility placed upon us, and what is at stake, and express our gratitude to anyone who feels able to contribute. Even small amounts, which might not feel like they make a difference, will collectively be of huge benefit – and will be gratefully received.
Please do share the link on this page with anyone who may think they might want to help.
Thank you for your support,
Stella Moris
Fiancee of WikiLeaks founder reveals how their unlikely romance started inside the Ecuadorian embassy — and how they hid it for years.
I spoke with John Pilger in London on September 12, in response to the case of investigative reporter and Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange, a close friend of Pilger’s, who was back in a British court last week. Assange is currently fighting extradition to the US, where he is facing a 175 year jail sentence for alleged espionage.
The Grayzone has learned that several correspondents from a major US newspaper rebuffed appeals by Wikileaks to report on the illegal spying campaign by UC Global, privately justifying the contractor’s actions on national security grounds.
Sie würde die Schleusen zur politischen Strafverfolgung und zur Kriminalisierung des investigativen Journalismus als Spionage öffnen und eine globale Gerichtsbarkeit der USA und das Recht der Staaten auf absolute Geheimhaltung von Kriegsverbrechen, staatlicher Folter und Korruption geltend machen.
Diese Anklage ist nichts als ein Lawfare und Teil einer umfassenderen Strategie politischer Angriffe auf WikiLeaks, auf Personen im Umfeld von WikiLeaks und auf den investigativen Journalismus als Ganzes. Die in der Anklageschrift dargelegten Behauptungen sind für die direkt und indirekt Genannten sowie für alle Journalisten weltweit mit Blick auf wesentliche Funktionen der Berichterstattung äußerst gefährlich. Immerhin werden die in der Anklageschrift namentlich genannten und nicht namentlich genannten Personen politischer Verbrechen bezichtigt. Die Anklageschrift erweckt den Eindruck, dass sich effektiver und investigativer Journalismus im öffentlichen Interesse nicht von krimineller Spionage unterscheidet, die von Nationalstaaten für ihre Interessen betrieben wird.
Court is in session. Today’s defense witnesses are to be Dr. Quinton Deeley, an honorary consultant psychiatrist in the National Autism Unit, Adult ADHD Service, and Behavioural Genetics and Autism Assessment Clinic & Paul Mullen, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Monash University, Melbourne.
The only possible conclusion from yesterday’s testimony is that the performance of the representative of the United States Government was, in and of itself, full and sufficient evidence that there is no possibility that Julian Assange will receive fair consideration and treatment of his mental health issues within the United States system. The US government has just demonstrated that to us, in open court, to perfection.
(31.12.2013)
Was wenn ich euch sagen würde, dass die NSA über eine spezielle Technologie verfügt, Energie in euch hineinzubeamen und in die Computersysteme um euch herum?
Würdet ihr mir glauben, oder wären das Verschwörungstheorien eines Verrückten?
Als ich Julian Assange davon berichtet habe, sagte er:
Ich wette, dass die Leute um Hugo Chavez sich jetzt fragen, was sein Krebserkrankung ausgelöst hat.
Ich antwortete, dass ich daran noch gar nicht gedacht hab.
Aber ich habe bisher noch keine Daten darüber gefunden,
inwiefern diese Technologie sich negativ auf die Gesundheit der Menschen auswirkt.
Hat die NSA irgendwelche Tests durchgeführt um zu beweisen,
dass es sicher ist, Menschen auf eine kurze Distanz mit 1 Kilowatt starker RF-Energie zu bestrahlen.
Dies ist ein Dauer-Radarwellen-Generator. Man kann es lokalisieren, weil es 1-2 Gigahertz erzeugt.
Das ist der ganze Zyklus. Zuerst bestrahlen sie jemanden mit Radarwellen, dann stirbt man an Krebs, dann hat man gewonnen.
kommt zur Pressekonferenz in 30 Minuten.
Man kann alles fragen.
Grundsätzlich stehe ich zur Verfügung bis man mich umbringt.
The prosecution argued these were self-reported. Kopelman pointed out hallucinations are always self-reported. 13/
Nach Aussagen eines Psychiaters ist der im Gefängnis sitzende Wikileaks-Gründer Julian Assange akut suizidgefährdet. Es gebe ein „hohes Risiko“, dass der 49-Jährige sich das Leben nehmen wolle, berichtete der Psychiater Michael Kopelman am Dienstag vor dem Londoner Old Bailey-Gericht, nachdem er Assange etwa 20 Mal in seiner Untersuchungshaft besucht hatte. Der bereits seit mehr als einem Jahr im Hochsicherheitsgefängnis Belmarsh eingesperrte Assange leide seit längerer Zeit an Halluzinationen und höre etwa Stimmen, die sagten „Wir kommen, um dich zu holen“.
Dear Prime Minister,
Dear Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice,
Dear Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
Dear Home Secretary,
We write to you as legal practitioners and legal academics to express our collective concerns about the violations of Mr. Julian Assange’s fundamental human, civil and political rights and the precedent his persecution is setting.
We call on you to act in accordance with national and international law, human rights and the rule of law by bringing an end to the ongoing extradition proceedings and granting Mr. Assange his long overdue freedom – freedom from torture, arbitrary detention and deprivation of liberty, and political persecution.
The first witness of the day was Nicky Hager, the veteran New Zealand investigative journalist. Hager’s co-authored book “Hit and Run” detailed a disastrous New Zealand SAS raid in Afghanistan, “Operation Burnham”, that achieved nothing but the deaths of civilians, including a child. Hager was the object of much calumny and insult, and even of police raids on his home, but in July an official government report found that all the major facts of his book were correct, and the New Zealand military had run dangerously out of control:
16.9.2020 Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless with sensitive documents.
I shall now continue my exposition of the questioning of Eric Lewis. I shall not set out as much of this in full detail as dialogue as I did yesterday, but will do so at key points in the summary.
Reporting after the first week of Julian Assange’s reconvened extradition trial, veteran journalists John Pilger, Andrew Fowler and Serena Tinari, and former UK ambassador and writer Craig Murray join #FreeTheTruth as we turn the spotlight onto the journalism of Julian Assange.
Julian Assange was also warned by Judge Baraitser that he would be removed if he makes another outburst. U.S. crimes abroad on display.
Having reported the long, epic ordeal of Julian Assange, John Pilger gave this address outside the Central Criminal Court in London on September 7 as the WikiLeaks Editor’s extradition hearing entered its final stage.
Hearing Resumes: September 2020
September 7, 2020
Assange war 2012 aus Angst vor einer Auslieferung an die USA in die ecuadorianische Botschaft in London geflüchtet. Damals lag gegen ihn ein europäischer Haftbefehl wegen Vergewaltigungsvorwürfen in Schweden vor. Die Ermittlungen wurden eingestellt. Die britische Polizei verhaftete Assange im April 2019, da er mit der Flucht in die Botschaft gegen Kautionsauflagen verstoßen hatte. Er wurde zu einem knappen Jahr Haft verurteilt.
The Mail on Sunday revealed in April that Ms Morris, 37, is the mother of two children fathered by Assange while he was holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. She believes he will face a show trial in the US if he is extradited.
‘It is heartbreaking to think that if Julian is extradited and put in a US supermax prison, the boys will never get to know their father and he will never see them grow up,’ she said. ‘It’s not Julian in the prison. It’s the kids that are being deprived of their father. It’s me that’s being deprived.’
The WikiLeaks founder secretly fathered two children while holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy. Now he is in prison fighting extradition to the US and the hearing that will decide his fate resumes on Monday. His fiancée tells Kirsty Lang their extraordinary love story
The fact that Assange was the target of a negative public campaign by US officials at the highest levels undermines his right to be presumed innocent and puts him at risk of an unfair trial.
“The UK must abide by its obligations under international human rights law, which forbid the transfer of individuals to another country where they would face serious human rights violations,” said Nils Muižnieks.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is firmly opposed to the possible extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, where he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for charges that include publishing and providing journalists with information that served the public interest.
UPDATE: The US extradition hearing against Julian Assange will resume on 7 September at the Central Criminal Court in London. We will be delivering this petition to the UK authorities that morning. Help us reach our goal of 100,000 signatures by signing
Written by journalists
ANYONE CAN SIGN!
76,000 signed!
We need 100,000 signatures by SEPT 7th!
Journalists have been left on hold so they could not listen to the teleconference at all, and even when they gained access the proceedings have often been inaudible. At one point, even the lawyers were shut out of the teleconference system. Assange himself has complained of not being able to hear all of the proceedings. Even worse, on several occasions, the prison simply ‘forgot’ to deliver him to the video call room in time for scheduled hearings.
Journalists are under attack globally for doing their jobs. Julian Assange is facing a 175 year sentence for publishing if extradited to the United States.
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.
31. Aug. 2020
The WikiLeaks founder has been held at Belmarsh Prison in London for the past 16 months, ahead of his extradition hearing in September.
The former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and a close associate of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange says he was the “top target” of the 24/7 surveillance of Assange at Ecuador’s embassy in London by the Spanish security company UC Global, which, according to press reports and court documents, shared the surveillance with the CIA.
Craig Murray said he has been contacted by an attorney in the spying case on Assange and that he will be going to Madrid to testify. The founder of UC Global, David Morales, was arrested over the surveillance (including privileged Assange-lawyer conversations) and is on trial.
Murray told former CIA analyst Ray McGovern in an email, shared with Consortium News with Murray’s permission, that the CIA was “obsessed” with him.
Assange was too ill to attend his May 4 hearing, even by videoconference. In an open letter to The Lancet, 216 physicians and psychologists from 33 countries accused the UK and U.S. governments of exacerbating the psychological torture of Assange. Citing the Convention Against Torture, the signatories warned that UK officials could be held complicit and liable for their perpetration of, or silent acquiescence and consent to, Assange’s torture.
(June 5, 2020)
The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper, his former role in the Julian Assange case and his membership in the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission.
The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper, his former role in the Julian Assange case and his membership in the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission.
Andrew Wilkie MP and George Christensen MP, Co-Chairs of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group, are deeply disappointed with the unsatisfactory response from the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in the Government of the United Kingdom, the Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, which advised that Julian Assange will not be granted compassionate release from prison on the basis that he does not meet the criteria and he also presents as a flight risk.
WikiLeaks said Friday that Assange’s attorneys will ask a London court to delay his extradition proceedings due to restrictions imposed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Julian Assange’s fiancée (and children) talks to camera for the first time on the one year anniversary of his imprisonment.
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)
Now, in a world exclusive interview, Miss Morris reveals how:
Assange watched both children being born in London hospitals via live video link and met Gabriel when he was smuggled into the embassy;
They believe American intelligence agencies tried to steal Gabriel’s DNA from a nappy after becoming suspicious that Assange was his father;
Yesterday Mark Sommers QC, the extremely erudite and bookish second counsel for Julian Assange in his extradition hearing, trembled with anger in court. Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser had just made a ruling that the names of Julian Assange’s partner and young children could be published, which she stated was in the interests of “open justice”.
The Collateral Murder video will be remembered for decades as testimony to the barbarity of imperialist war. Its contents are more significant than ever, amid stepped-up inter-imperialist tensions and preparations for new and catastrophic military conflicts.
Workers, students and young people must do everything they can to fight for Assange’s freedom and for the safety and security of all those involved in this historic exposure of militarism and war.
Yesterday, WikiLeaks held an online meeting marking the anniversary of Collateral Murder, at which Hraffnson and others spoke. It can be viewed here.
Spain, the US and Iran have already released thousands of low-risk prisoners to stop COVID-19 from spreading further and WikiLeaks said Assange’s bail bid comes after the UK has failed to follow suit.
“We have approximately 85,000 people in our prisons and prisons are overcrowded, so when you have a lot of people in a small area, transmission of disease will obviously be easier,” Andrea Albutt told BBC Radio 4’s Today program, London’s Evening Standard newspaper reported.
Netzwerke eines ansteckenden Mutes, die durch Wellen von Whistleblowern entstanden, begannen die Verschwörung der Regierung aufzulösen. Das wiederbelebte Herz der Demokratie inspiriert uns jetzt dazu, uns auf Gerechtigkeit hin zu bewegen, unsere eigene Bedeutung zu erkennen und einander in die Augen zu schauen, wenn wir zu dem werden, was wir sein sollen – zu den Bewegern und Gestaltern unserer eigenen Geschichte. Nur durch den Mut jedes Einzelnen, die Angst zu überwinden und diesem entfesselten Terror entgegenzutreten, können wir diesen Krieg beenden und diejenigen befreien, die ihre Freiheit geopfert haben, damit wir alle frei sein können.
Writing in a 2019 letter to Judge Trenga, Ms. Manning said: “I object to this grand jury … as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who serve a crucial public good. I have had these values since I was a child, and I’ve had years of confinement to reflect on them. For much of that time, I depended for survival on my values, my decisions, and my conscience. I will not abandon them now.”
Im Londoner Schauprozess gegen den WikiLeaks-Gründer Julian Assange vertagte die Vorsitzende Richterin Vanessa Baraitser schon am Donnerstag das Auslieferungsverfahren auf Mitte Mai. Derweil gingen auf der ganzen Welt Menschen für Julian Assange auf die Straße. Neben den großen Kundgebungen und Versammlungen in London gab es in den letzten Tagen unter anderem Protestaktionen in den australischen Städten Sydney, Melbourne und Brisbane, in Sri Lanka, in Neuseeland, im kanadischen Montreal, wie auch erstmals in New York. In Deutschland und in der Schweiz gingen Unterstützer für Assange in Berlin, Köln, Düsseldorf und Frankfurt am Main, sowie in Basel, Zürich und Bern auf die Straße.
Managing Editor at Shadowproof in London Kevin Gosztola says Julian Assange has been “sitting in a glass box all week” and has been “isolated” during his extradition hearing.
The case in London has been pushed back until May 18, when it’s scheduled to resume for another three weeks.
The prosecution is working to extradite Assange to the US under a US-UK extradition treaty, a treaty whose contents the prosecution now says we should ignore because they explicitly forbid political extraditions. The prosecution says it doesn’t matter anyway because Assange is not a political actor, yet in 2010 the US government that’s trying to extradite him labeled him a political actor in those exact words. Assange’s trial is taking place in a maximum security prison for dangerous violent offenders because that’s where he’s being jailed for no stated reason and despite having no history of violence, which means he’s kept separate from the courtroom in a sound-resistant safety enclosure where he can’t hear or participate in his own trial. The magistrate judging the case says he can’t be allowed out of the enclosure since he’s considered dangerous, because he’s been arbitrarily placed in a prison for dangerous violent offenders. The magistrate keeps telling Assange to stop speaking up during his trial and to speak through his lawyers, yet he’s being actively prevented from communicating with his lawyers.
We are about to see how malleable the British Court system is to diktat from Washington. Will the British embrace the flimsiest of circumstantial “evidence” from U.S. security services that have axes to grind?
Will British officials turn their back on 800 years of progress on the human rights wrested from King John at Runnymede? Are there today no “English Nobles” to thwart the obscene “legal” proceedings aimed at extraditing WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to a US prison for publishing the truth about US and UK war crimes?
WikiLeaks revealed – in partnership with major international publications, including the two involved in the Pentagon Papers Case – videos of American troops murdering civilians and celebrating the murders (a war crime) as well as documentary proof of American complicity in torture (also a war crime).
So, mainstream American publishers – of newspapers, online sites, and even cable news producers – really ought to brush up on their Evelyn Beatrice Hall; you know her oft-quoted, but rarely practiced profession: „I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.“
Ultimately, it matters not whether one likes Assange, shares his worldview, or even approves of his tactics. The name of the civil libertarian game must instead be a press-sovereignty solidarity that transcends the person of Mr. Assange. Love him or hate him; like WikiLeaks or loathe it; the most powerful American press organizations must close ranks with Assange.
„Assange’s extradition to the United States would be a breach of the 2003 British-American treaty, which expressly prohibits surrender for ‚crimes of a political nature‘,“ Fitzgerald said at Woolwich Crown Court, in southeast London.
Am 29. Februar um 18:00 Uhr eröffnet die Courage Foundation in Zusammenarbeit mit DiEM25 die europaweite Ausstellung „We Are Millions“ in Berlin, um auf die mögliche Auslieferung Julian Assange an die USA aufmerksam zu machen. Assange erleidet derzeit menschenrechtswidrige psychologische Folter und die gesamte Anklage gegen diesen Journalisten ist eine Gefahr und Einschränkung der Pressefreiheit.
Programm:
18-20Uhr : Eröffnung und Fotoportrait-Shootings
20-21Uhr – Podiumsdiskussion
Das Anwaltsteam sagt, es habe Kontakt zu mehreren Whistleblowern aus dem Umfeld von UC Global und wolle diese als Zeugen anführen. Ihrer Aussage nach sei der Chef von UC Global, David Morales, bei Gesprächen mit nicht näher genannten US-amerikanischen Stellen dabei gewesen, bei denen die Frage diskutiert worden sei, ob man gegen Assange nicht auch „extremere Maßnahmen“ ergreifen könne.
Referring to witness two’s evidence, Mr Fitzgerald said: ‚There were conversations about whether there should be more extreme measures contemplated, such as kidnapping or poisoning Julian Assange in the embassy.‘
Reading from a witness statement, Mr Fitzgerald continued: ‚David (Morales) said the Americans were desperate and had even suggested more extreme measures could be applied against the guest to put an end to the situation.‘
Julian Assange was handcuffed 11 times, stripped naked twice and had his case files confiscated after the first day of his extradition hearing, according to his lawyers, who complained of interference in his ability to take part.
Their appeal to the judge overseeing the trial at Woolwich crown court in south-east London was also supported by legal counsel for the US government, who said it was essential the WikiLeaks founder be given a fair trial.
“Yesterday Mr Assange was handcuffed 11 times, he was stripped naked two times at Belmarsh, and was put in five separate holding cells,“ he said this morning.
Die Schriftstellervereinigung »Poets, Essayists, Novelists«, PEN, hat am vergangenen Freitag zum Auftakt der Anhörungen im Auslieferungsverfahren des »Wikileaks-Gründers« Julian Assange mit zwei Lichtprojektionen auf Wände der britischen und der US-amerikanischen Botschaft in Berlin gegen dessen Inhaftierung protestiert.
Auch zeigte er sich enttäuscht von einem Gespräch mit dem deutschen Außenministerium:
„Ich hatte eher das Gefühl, dass die Besprechung dazu dienen sollte, mein Engagement in diesem Fall ganz grundsätzlich zu hinterfragen. Angesichts der Unabhängigkeit meines Mandats wurde das höflich in Frageform gekleidet. Es war aber schon eindeutig, dass sie mit meiner Sicht der Dinge nicht einverstanden waren“ so Melzer in einem am vergangenen Samstag veröffentlichten Interview…
(…)
Wenn wir zulassen, dass Regierungen und Geheimdienste entscheiden, wer ein Journalist ist und wer nicht, dann akzeptieren wir damit auch, dass sie uns sagen, was Nachrichten sind und was nicht, was öffentlich gemacht werden darf und was nicht und letztendlich was richtig und was falsch ist.
We speak to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer about the persecution of Julian Assange. He discusses the threat Assange’s persecution poses to press freedom, why mainstream media are starting to slowly support the Wikileaks founder, the allegations Julian Assange faced in Sweden, governments not cooperating with him despite his UN mandate and more!
Trump loved it when Wikileaks exposed the criminality of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, as it cheated to deprive Bernie Sanders of the Democratic Party nomination. Wikileaks’ release of the DNC emails exposed the deep corruption at the heart of US politics, and as a candidate Trump loved the transparency.
Then Trump got elected.
Trump liebte es, als WikiLeaks die Kriminalität Hillary Clintons und der Demokratischen Partei aufdeckte, als sie in betrügerischer Absicht die Nominierung von Bernie Sanders für die Demokratische Partei hintertrieben. WikiLeaks‘ Veröffentlichung der E-Mails des Kongresses der Demokratischen Partei enthüllte die tiefe Korruption im Herzen der US-Politik, und als Kandidat liebte Trump die Transparenz.
Dann wurde Trump gewählt.
Last June, after Australian Federal Police raids on the ABC, Fowler penned a powerful comment for the Sydney Morning Herald warning that the raids were “a wake-up call to journalists who left Assange swinging” and calling on them to speak out in defence of the WikiLeaks founder. Fowler also initiated an open letter from ABC Alumni—an organisation of former ABC staff—demanding that the Australian government oppose the US extradition of Assange and repatriate him to Australia.
STANDARD: Sie touren gerade durch Europa, treffen Politiker. Was erwarten Sie sich?
Shipton: Ich werde für Julian eintreten und klarmachen, dass es – ich weiß, das ist eine abgedroschene Phrase – einen historischen Wandel in Europa gibt, der Julian und die freie Meinungsäußerung und freien Austausch in der Europäischen Gemeinschaft unterstützt. Gestern in Paris waren 25 Kameracrews, davor in London 23. Es gibt eine wachsende Unterstützung.
Am Montag beginnen die Anhörungen über die Auslieferung des Wikileaks-Gründers an die USA. Stefania Maurizi kritisiert nicht nur die Justiz: Auch die Presse habe Julian Assange fallengelassen
Hundreds of protesters were seen descending on London Saturday to pressure the U.K. government to decline to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to face spying charges in the United States.
Assange’s extradition hearing will begin on February 24 in Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s London courtroom. More than 70 lawyers and legal academics, as well as at least 12 former heads of state, have signed a letter that will be sent to the U.K. Home Secretary, stating, “The fact that the charges are brought under the Espionage Act further reveals that this is a matter of a pure political offence [citation omitted].
Assanges Auslieferungsanhörung wird am 24. Februar im Londoner Gerichtssaal der Richterin Vanessa Baraitser beginnen. Mehr als 70 Rechtsanwälte und Rechtswissenschaftler sowie mindestens 12 ehemalige Staatsoberhäupter haben ein Schreiben unterzeichnet, das an den britischen Innenminister geschickt wird und in dem es heißt: „Die Tatsache, dass die Anklage nach dem Spionagegesetz erhoben wird, zeigt außerdem, dass es sich um ein rein politisches Vergehen handelt. Es besteht ein breiter internationaler Konsens darüber, dass solche Straftaten nicht der Auslieferung unterliegen sollten“.
Ahead of Julian Assange’s upcoming extradition hearing on February 24, a letter by a group of doctors representing 117 physicians and psychologists from 18 nations calls for an end to the psychological torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange. Published in the pre-eminent medical journal The Lancet, the letter expresses concern over Julian Assange’s fitness for his legal proceedings while suffering the effects of ongoing psychological torture.
A copy of the letter has been sent to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne. This follows the doctors’ earlier letter of December 16 2019, calling on Minister Payne to bring Julian Assange home to Australia for urgent medical care. A copy has also been sent to the UK Government, which the doctors accuse of violating Julian Assange’s human right to health. In a covering note to Marise Payne the doctors urged the Minister to “act decisively now” to remove Mr Assange from Belmarsh prison, before it is too late.
The US government’s extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange is a critical moment for press freedom, but also for the anti-war movement
The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal speaks about the witch hunt against WikiLeaks publisher and political prisoner Julian Assange, and how billionaire-funded „human rights“ and „press freedom“ non-profit organizations have refused to support him.
This talk was hosted by the Courage Foundation in New York City on February 15, 2020.
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.
Australia has produced extraordinary journalists across three generations: Wilfred Burchett (deceased in 1983), John Pilger (80 years old but still active) and Julian Assange (48 years old, currently in London’s Belmarsh prison).
Each of these journalists made unique contributions to our understanding of the world. Although Australia is part of the Western world, each of these journalists exposed and criticized Western foreign policy.
Im Fall von Assange ist klar, wer das Sagen hat, und dass sogar europäischen Regierungen den Forderungen der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika ausgeliefert waren. Und doch folgen die westlichen Nationen in ihrer eigenen Torheit dem Beispiel der USA – unsere Demokratien zerbröckeln direkt vor unseren Augen.
In Assange’s case it’s clear who is calling the shots, and that even European governments have been at the mercy of the US’ demands. And yet western nations follow the US’s lead at their own folly – our democracies are crumbling before our very eyes.
The German appeal, which is supported by Reporters Without Borders Germany, as well as members of Amnesty International, Transparency International, the German Journalists’ Union (dju), the Whistleblower Network and the writers’ association PEN-Germany, calls on the British Government to “release Julian Assange from prison immediately so that he can recover under specialist medical supervision and exercise his basic rights without hindrance”.
The opening email, at the bottom, dated 10 August 2016 at 10.32 a.m., precisely, just one month after the murder of Seth Rich, is from the media handling department of the Washington Field Office. It references WikiLeaks’ offer of a reward for information on the murder of Seth Rich, and that Assange seemed to imply Rich was the source of the DNC leaks.
„Ich rufe alle EU-Staaten und vor allem die österreichische Bundesregierung auf, im Rahmen des Beschlusses des EU-Parlaments Assange politisches Asyl zu gewähren – auch in Österreich“, sagte Fred Turnheim, Präsident des Österreichischen Journalistenklubs (ÖJC), der die Mahnwache mitveranstaltete. Der Fall Assange offenbare ein Justiz- und Medienversagen ersten Ranges.
The extradition hearings for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been split in two, with the second taking place in May, according to a ruling made by a judge on Thursday, January 23rd.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald has been charged by the Bolsonaro government in Brazil with the same prosecutorial angle used by the US to target WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Assange’s next hearing is scheduled for 23 January 2020, where he will appear via video link from Belmarsh prison. The extradition proceedings will commence in February.
Supporters of Julian Assange spent another Friday evening informing the people with important information we are not getting from the establishment media.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been denied access to evidence and even basic items like paper and pens by British prison officials, putting his US extradition case on the brink of judicial review, his lawyer has warned.
Solicitor Gareth Pierce was shocked to learn that District Judge Vanessa Baraitser only intended to allow the defence team one hour to review evidence with the Australian in the holding cells at the Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday.
„I don’t know if he has recognized that he acted against rules and norms of a political system, but at the time these cables demonstrated how the world system functions in its authoritarian nature,“ Lopez Obrador said in response to a question about Assange at a regular government news briefing.
The President of Mexico has expressed his solidarity with Julian Assange, saying he hopes the Australian WikiLeaks founder will soon be pardoned and freed.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said liberating Assange would be a „just cause“.
Für die sensibleren Gespräche ist Julian mit Anwalt dann zum Badezimmer gegangen und hat die Dusche laufen lassen. Daraufhin ließ die CIA eine Wanze hinter dem einen Schrank dort anbringen. Es war wohl einigermaßen erheiternd, die fluchenden Amis in den Anfragen an die Spanier zu lesen, weil sie nicht weiterkamen.
Das Ende war dann weniger lustig. Über die Wanze im Feuerlöscher haben die Amis ein Gespräch zwischen Julian und der Geheimdienstchefin von Ecuador belauscht, die Julian einen ecuadorischen Pass beschafft hatten, ihn zum Diplomaten ernannt hatten, und eine offizielle Abberufung in eine Botschaft in einem anderen Land eingetütet hatten. Am nächsten Morgen lag dann überraschend ein internationaler Haftbefehl der USA vor. Überwachen hat also ernsthafte Folgen.
Es gab leider technische Probleme beim Streaming und der Aufzeichnung am Anfang. Ich hoffe mal, das ist trotzdem was geworden. Andy hat extra später angefangen.
Als würde man als Lehrer mit erhobenen Händen vor einer Klasse stehen, und an den Fingern vorzählen, dass zwei plus zwei gleich vier ist, während alle Welt beharrlich weiter behauptet, zwei und zwei sei drei oder auch fünf.“ Das antwortete mir Nils Melzer, Sonderbeauftragter der Vereinten Nationen für Folter, auf die Frage, wie es sein könne, dass im Herzen Europas ein Journalist in Isolationshaft sitzt, weil er die Wahrheit über Kriegsverbrechen enthüllt hat, und nichts passiere – kein Aufschrei der Presse, keine offenen Briefe prominenter Intellektueller oder Appelle von Politikern. Und ob er, Melzer, nicht langsam verzweifle daran.
Meetings and conversations were recorded and filmed, and all the information was sent to US intelligence. Sometimes the espionage operations were truly off the wall:
(26.09.2019)
The UC Global S. L. team was also ordered by its boss to install stickers that prevented the windows of the rooms that the WikiLeaks founder used from vibrating, allegedly to make it easier for the CIA to record conversations with their laser microphones. They also took a used diaper that from a baby that was on occasions taken to visit the activist in order to determine if the child was his by a close collaborator.
The former military man also planted microphones in a number of decorative elements inside the embassy, which were photographed for their reproduction in Spain. He also wanted to install them in the room used by “the guest,” as Assange was referred to in his reports, but some of his workers, concerned over the illegality of these jobs, warned him that they could be discovered. “The WikiLeaks founder was obsessed with being spied on,” a former employee of the company said.
Im Fall um seine mutmaßliche Ausspähung durch ein spanisches Sicherheitsunternehmen hat Wikileaks-Gründer Julian Assange gestern vor einem spanischen Richter ausgesagt. Assange, der in einem britischen Hochsicherheitsgefängnis inhaftiert ist, sei dem Richter in Madrid per Videokonferenz zugeschaltet worden, teilten Assanges Rechtsanwälte mit.
Assange, who is currently serving time at a high-security prison in Britain, was to answer questions from a judge at Spain’s National Court in Madrid, testifying by videoconference from Westminster Magistrates Court in London, his legal team said.
Owner and director of UC Global S.L. David Morales declined to say whether his company spied on Assange. “All the information is confidential and it belongs to the government of Ecuador,” Morales told El Pais in July. “We simply did a job.” …
Speaking outside the court in Westminster, former Ecuadorean consul in London Fidel Navraez accused Undercover Global of betraying Ecuador and Assange.
“That company was contracted by Ecuador in order to protect the embassy, protect Julian Assange, protect the embassy staff … but it is a corrupt company – we know that now,” he said.
Des manifestants se sont regroupés ce dimanche après-midi sur le Pont des Arts à Paris pour Julian Assange. Ils dénoncent les conditions de détention du fondateur de WikiLeaks à la prison de Belmarsh au Royaume-Uni et réclament sa libération. Il est toujours susceptible d’être extradé vers les Etats-Unis qui l’accusent d’espionnage.
The group has written an open letter to Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne calling for the 48-year-old to be returned to Australia.
„Should Mr Assange die in a British prison, people will want to know what you, minister, did to prevent his death,“ the letter says.
A group of over 100 doctors on Monday urged the Australian government to end its „refusal to act“ in the case of Julian Assange and insist the British government release the WikiLeaks founder from prison so he can be safely sent to an Australian hospital before „it is too late.“
A cross-party coalition of 11 federal MPs — which includes two Nationals MPs, two Labor MPs and members of the crossbench — recently formed to lobby the Morrison government to intervene on behalf of Assange.
In an addendum to their letter to Senator Payne, Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese, the doctors from Europe, the US and Australia said that „contrary to popular misconception“, the injuries caused by psychological torture were extremely serious.
More than 100 medical doctors have issued an urgent appeal to the Australian government to protect the life of its citizen, imprisoned WikiLeaks journalist and publisher Julian Assange.
In an open letter to the Australian minister for foreign affairs (dated Dec. 16), the doctors urge Marise Payne to negotiate Julian Assange’s safe passage from Belmarsh Prison to an appropriate hospital setting in Australia, “before it is too late.”
Das vielleicht abscheulichste Beispiel für die Heuchelei der Kongressgegner Trumps ist, wie viele von denen, die sich über die Sicherheit des Ukrainegate-„Whistleblowers“ sorgen, über die Mitschuld der Trump-Administration an der unmenschlichen Behandlung des WikiLeaks-Gründers Julian Assange schweigen oder diese unterstützen. Sie schweigen auch, wenn die US-Regierung Chelsea Manning wieder ins Gefängnis wirft, weil sie sich weigert, der Verfolgung von Herrn Assange durch die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika zu helfen.
Journalist.innen weltweit haben sich endlich dazu aufgerafft gegen die politische Verfolgung des Mitbegründers von Wikileaks organisiert Stellung zu beziehen.
Julian Assange, langähriger Kopf von WikiLeaks und damaliger Mitbegründer in Berlin, ist derzeit der bekannteste politische Gefangene der Welt.
Julian Assange, founder and publisher of WikiLeaks, is currently detained in Belmarsh high-security prison in the United Kingdom and faces extradition to the United States and criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act. He risks up to 175 years imprisonment for his part in making public the leak of US military documents from Afghanistan and Iraq, and a trove of US State Department cables. The ‘War Diaries’ provided evidence that the US Government misled the public about activities in Afghanistan and Iraq and committed war crimes. WikiLeaks partnered with a wide range of media organizations worldwide that republished the War Diaries and embassy cables. The legal action underway against Mr Assange sets an extremely dangerous precedent for journalists, media organizations and the freedom of the press.
We, journalists and journalistic organizations around the globe, express our grave concern for Mr Assange’s wellbeing, for his continued detention and for the draconian espionage charges.
Sonderberichterstatter für das Thema Folter, Nils Melzer, wirft Führung in Quito zahlreiche Rechtsverstöße vor. Pflicht zum Schutz des Journalisten verletzt
“I think I’m going out of my mind,” Julian Assange told John Pilger at Belmarsh Prison. “No you’re not,” Pilger responded. “Look how you frighten them, how powerful you are.”
In einer Zeugenaussage gibt ein ehemaliger Sicherheitsmitarbeiter über seinen früheren Chef an: „David Morales antwortete, als ich ihn eindringlich fragte, wer seine ‚amerikanischen Freunde‘ seien, es sei ‚der Geheimdienst der Vereinigten Staaten‘. Im September 2017 bittet Morales einen engen Kreis von Mitarbeitern per Mail, „bitte nur sehr zurückhaltend über meinen Aufenthaltsort (besonders über meine Reisen in die USA) zu sprechen“.
The established media with their allegiance to the state has been failing to inform the public about the threat to civil liberties emanating from this country. The U.S. government has been waging a war against the First Amendment. Assange has become a political prisoner of this war. In the era of “hope and change,” he and his organization became a target of Obama’s crackdown on whistleblowers, which now has escalated into Trump administration’s assaults on the press freedom.
Die australische Ärztin Lissa Johnson, die den Brief an die britische Regierung mitunterzeichnet hat, verweist laut Guardian ausdrücklich auf die Notwendigkeit einer unabhängigen medizinischen Meinung im Hinblick auf das anstehende Auslieferungsverfahren: »So wie es aussieht, betreffen ernste Fragen nicht nur die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen der Haftbedingungen von Herrn Assange, sondern auch seine medizinische Eignung, vor Gericht zu stehen und seine Verteidigung vorzubereiten
London — More than 60 doctors have written to British authorities asserting that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urgently needs medical treatment at a university hospital. The doctors said in a letter published Monday that Assange suffers from psychological problems including depression as well as dental issues and a serious shoulder ailment.
More than 65 eminent medical doctors from the UK and around the world have issued an open letter calling for urgent action to protect the life of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange.
The doctors warn there may be serious consequences if Assange is not moved from Belmarsh Prison to a university teaching hospital where he can be assessed and treated by an expert medical team.
Newspapers and other media in the United States, Britain and Australia have recently declared a passion for freedom of speech, especially their right to publish freely. They are worried by the “Assange effect”.
Eine Auslieferung an die USA ist aber auch nach der aktuellen Entscheidung der schwedischen Justiz noch möglich, weil die US-Justiz einen Auslieferungsantrag gestellt hat, der von den Briten zugelassen wurde. Die Verhandlung darüber beginnt am 25. Februar.
Maurizi reported yesterday, “Even the most inviolable meetings were violated: video and audio footage seen by Repubblica show a half-naked Julian Assange during a medical check up, the Ecuadorian ambassador Carlos Abad Ortiz and his staff during one of their diplomatic meetings, two of Assange’s lawyers, Gareth Peirce and Aitor Martinez, entering the women’s bathroom for a private conversation with their client.”
Lady Emma Arbuthnot, the Westminster chief magistrate enmeshed in a conflict of interest, will no longer be presiding over the extradition proceedings of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, said WikiLeaks lawyer Jen Robinson, at an event in Sydney on Friday night .
(14.11.2019)
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, a former defence minister, is a paid chair of the advisory board of military corporation Thales Group, and was until earlier this year an adviser to arms company Babcock International. Both companies have major contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).
The revelations highlight concerns about conflicts of interest. Lady Arbuthnot began presiding over Assange’s legal case in 2017 and ruled this June that a full hearing would begin next February to consider the request for extradition from the UK made by the Trump administration.
Das Leben von Wikileaks-Gründer Julian Assange ist nach Ansicht eines UN-Sonderberichterstatters in Gefahr. Der inhaftierte Gründer der Enthüllungsplattform habe schon im Mai typische Anzeichen von »psychologischer Folter« gezeigt, aber die britischen Behörden kümmerten sich nicht darum, schrieb der Sonderberichterstatter zum Thema Folter, Nils Melzer, am Freitag in Genf. Seit seiner Inhaftierung habe sich seine Gesundheit stetig verschlechtert, sein Leben sei jetzt in Gefahr.
Die abscheuliche Behandlung des WikiLeaks-Gründers Julian Assange geht weiter, und viele Beobachter zitieren seinen Fall als symptomatisch für die Entwicklung von „Polizeistaat“-Tendenzen sowohl in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika als auch in Europa, wo die Rechtsstaatlichkeit der politischen Zweckmäßigkeit untergeordnet wird.
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, has expressed alarm at the continued deterioration of Julian Assange’s health since his arrest and detention earlier this year, saying his life was now at risk.
We talk to Fidel Narvaez, the ousted Ecuadorian diplomat who handled Julian Assange’s case about why Lenín Moreno caved to international pressure, broke his promises, and gave Assange up to British authorities.
Der Guardian, die New York Times und eine Vielzahl anderer Leitmedien haben bei jeder neuen Entwicklung als verlängerter Arm der US-Regierung fungiert, um den WikiLeaks-Gründer zu vernichten.
Unaufhörlich förderten sie die betrügerische Untersuchung Schwedens wegen angeblichen sexuellen Fehlverhaltens gegen Assange. Diese Untersuchung bildete letztlich die Grundlage für seine Verhaftung durch die britische Polizei im Jahr 2010 und zwang ihn, im Juni 2012 in der ecuadorianischen Botschaft Asyl zu suchen.
Die gut situierten Journalisten behaupteten derweil, dass Assange sich „der Gerechtigkeit entziehen“ wolle. Sie vertuschten die Tatsache, dass Assange in Schweden nie wegen einer Straftat angeklagt wurde und dass eine der beteiligten Frauen erklärte, sie sei von der Polizei „unter Druck gesetzt“ worden, damit sie Anzeige erstatte. Die Journalisten in den Medienkonzernen verhöhnten Assange dafür, dass er darauf beharrte, dass die Anschuldigungen aus Schweden auf Rufmord abzielten und einen alternativen Weg für seine Auslieferung an die USA frei machen sollten, weil WikiLeaks amerikanische Kriegsverbrechen enthüllt hatte.
Alle Warnungen Assanges haben sich bestätigt.
Craig Murray, a former British diplomat and current human rights activist, wrote that he was “shocked by just how much weight my friend has lost, by the speed his hair has receded and by the appearance of premature and vastly accelerated ageing. He has a pronounced limp I have never seen before. Since his arrest he has lost over 15 kg in weight.”
Einer der ersten, der während einer kurzen Pause mit Neuigkeiten aus dem Gericht kam, war der ehemalige Londoner Bürgermeister Ken Livingstone. Auf die Frage nach Assanges Schicksal antwortete er: „Er hat den Leuten ermöglicht, die Wahrheit zu erfahren. Wir wurden unser ganzes Leben lang angelogen, seit dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Amerika hat uns immer wieder betrogen, zum Beispiel beim Vietnamkrieg, der 3,8 Millionen vietnamesische Todesopfer gefordert hat. Sie verteidigen nur die Interessen der amerikanischen Wirtschaft. Sie sollten ihn freilassen.“
Es sei nach wie vor unklar, welcher formelle Weg beschritten wurde, um im April dieses Jahres den britischen Behörden Zugang zur diplomatischen Vertretung des südamerikanischen Landes zu ermöglichen und Julian Assange festnehmen zu lassen, hieß es in einer Erklärung vom Dienstag.
21.10.2019
What’s going on is the hallmark of totalitarian rule – controlling the message, eliminating what conflicts with it, notably on major geopolitical issues.
Losing the right of free expression endangers all others. When truth-telling and dissent are considered threats to national security, free and open societies no longer exist – the slippery slope America and other Western societies are heading on.
His shocking mental and physical condition after being held for months in UK’s notorious Belmarsh prison only confirms the UN torture official’s assessment that he is being tortured by the US and UK governments. Why? For publishing the truth. The lesson to others is clear: challenge the global US military empire and you will be destroyed.
Pilger told demonstrators: “The whole thing is a grotesque absurdity. There is an extradition law between this country and the United States. It states specifically that someone cannot be extradited if the offences are political… It is not a bit of agitprop, it is not an opinion, they are political. All but one charge is based on the 1917 Espionage Act, which was used to jail conscientious objectors during the First World War in the United States.”
Pilger concluded: “The source of this is a rogue state—a state that ignores its own laws and international laws and the laws of this country.”
Since Assange has been held in Belmarsh there have been reports that he experienced psychological torture. Just last week, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer and two medical professionals told reporters, “We came to the conclusion that he had been exposed to psychological torture for a prolonged period of time. That’s a medical assessment.”
Morales ordered his workers to install microphones in the embassy’s fire extinguishers and also in the women’s bathroom, where Assange’s lawyers, including the Spaniard Aitor Martínez and his closest collaborators, would meet for fear of being spied on. The cyberactivist’s meetings with his lawyers, Melynda Taylor, Jennifer Robinson and Baltasar Garzón, were also monitored.
The UC Global S. L. team was also ordered by its boss to install stickers that prevented the windows of the rooms that the WikiLeaks founder used from vibrating, allegedly to make it easier for the CIA to record conversations with their laser microphones. They also took a used diaper that from a baby that was on occasions taken to visit the activist in order to determine if the child was his by a close collaborator.
We are now just one week away from the end of Julian Assange’s uniquely lengthy imprisonment for bail violation. He will receive parole from the rest of that sentence, but will continue to be imprisoned on remand awaiting his hearing on extradition to the USA – a process which could last several years.
At that point, all the excuses for Assange’s imprisonment which so-called leftists and liberals in the UK have hidden behind will evaporate. There are no charges and no active investigation in Sweden, where the “evidence” disintegrated at the first whiff of critical scrutiny. He is no longer imprisoned for “jumping bail”. The sole reason for his incarceration will be the publishing of the Afghan and Iraq war logs leaked by Chelsea Manning, with their evidence of wrongdoing and multiple war crimes.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, says that UK authorities are holding Julian Assange in worse conditions than accused terrorists and ‘making it impossible’ for him to fight US extradition.
Another administrative hearing will take place on 11 October and a case management hearing on 21 October, the court heard. The final extradition hearing is expected in February.
Melzer, der Assange anfangs skeptisch gegenüberstand, hatte seine Meinung nach einer gründlichen Beschäftigung mit den Fakten rasch geändert. Im Mai hatte er nach einem Besuch von Assange im Gefängnis erklärt, er „habe noch nie zuvor erlebt, dass sich eine Gruppe demokratischer Staaten zusammenschließt, um ein einzelnes Individuum so lange Zeit und unter so geringer Berücksichtigung der Menschenwürde und der Rechtsstaatlichkeit bewusst zu isolieren, zu verteufeln und zu missbrauchen“.
2.9.2019
At 6:00 p.m. in London today, a critical event has been called by bassist, singer and songwriter Roger Waters and journalist John Pilger to demand freedom for WikiLeaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange. Waters will hold a concert in front of the office of British Home Secretary Priti Patel at 2 Marsham Street, and Pilger will deliver remarks.
Both Waters and Pilger are men of great principle who have fought—Waters as an artist and Pilger as a courageous journalist—to keep alive the struggle to free Assange. This fight, however, must be carried forward through the mobilization of workers and youth internationally to stop the extradition of Assange to the US, ensure his safe return to Australia and secure his freedom.
13.8.2019
Medientrust wie die New York Times und die Washington Post, aber auch jede große Zeitung in Australien und Deutschland, hatten drei Jahre lang die Lüge verbreitet, dass Assange ein „russischer Agent“ sei. Jetzt unterdrücken sie jegliche Nachricht über das vernichtende Urteil. Diese Reaktion unterstreicht nur ihre Funktion als Sprachrohr der Geheimdienste und der Regierungen, die Assange verfolgen.
(07.08.2019)
Having worked as a diplomat at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for six out of the seven years that Julian Assange lived there as a political refugee, unlike others, I am privy to what actually happened there. I am alarmed by CNN’s June 15th 2019 story, alleging Assange turned the Ecuadorian embassy in London into a command post for election meddling.
The story contains several substantive shortcomings and too many factual errors. I warned CNN about them when I was approached during their „investigation,“ but none of my points were included in the article.
Als Assange im April von der britischen Polizei aus der ecuadorianischen Botschaft gezerrt und illegal in das Hochsicherheitsgefängnis Belmarsh verschleppt wurde, hatten ihn führende Zeitungen – darunter die Bild-Zeitung, die taz und die Süddeutsche Zeitung – denunziert oder seine Festnahme sogar enthusiastisch begrüßt. Nun, da ihre falschen Anschuldigungen gegen Assange von höchstrichterlicher Stelle widerlegt wurden, bringt es kaum eine deutschsprachige Zeitung fertig, über dieses wichtige politische Ereignis auch nur zu berichten.
Der einzige Artikel, der neben der Berichterstattung der WSWS bei einer Google-Suche auftaucht, erschien am 31. Juli, also einen Tag nach Zurückweisung der Klage, unter der Überschrift „US-Urteil: WikiLeaks durfte Mails aus Demokraten-Hack veröffentlichen“ auf Spiegel Online. Der Artikel ist ein Hohn auf eine objektive Berichterstattung. Er steht beispielhaft für die Selbstgleichschaltung der bürgerlichen Medien und ihre Rolle als Propagandawerkzeug der Geheimdienste und der Bundesregierung.
Richter John Koeltl vom US Bezirksgericht New York-Süd wies die Verleumdung, der WikiLeaks-Gründer habe mit Russland „konspiriert“, ausdrücklich zurück. Diese Entscheidung stellt Assanges Ruf als Journalisten und Herausgeber wieder her und widerlegt die Behauptung, die Veröffentlichung von durchgesickerten E-Mails der DNC durch WikiLeaks im Jahr 2016 sei ein illegaler Akt gewesen.
Trotz der Bedeutung dieses Urteils und seiner klaren Aussagekraft hat die gesamte Medienwelt in den USA und weltweit die Entscheidung fast vollkommen ausgeblendet.
Das allgemeine Schweigen über die Gerichtsentscheidung reicht von der New York Times (die gerade mal sechs Absätze auf Seite 25 darüber brachte), der Washington Post und den Abendnachrichtensendungen im Fernsehen bis hin zu den „alternativen“ Websites wie „Intercept“ und den Veröffentlichungen der Pseudolinken.
Quelle für diese Informationen sind jedoch einzig und allein die US-Dienste und deren Begründung ist alles andere als überzeugend. Angeblich habe der Hacker “Guccifer 2.0”, bei einem Versuch über die Sozialen Netzwerke zu kommunizieren, “vergessen”, seinen VPN-Filter, der den geographischen Standort des Nutzers verschleiern soll, zu aktivieren. Und siehe da: Die unverschleierte IP-Adresse konnte wie durch ein Wunder einer ganz bestimmten Adresse zugeordnet werden – der Grizodubovoy-Straße in Moskau, dem Sitz des Militärgeheimdienstes GRU. An einen derart grotesken Zufall kann man glauben oder auch nicht.
Die WSWS wird eine Kritik der zweiteiligen Sendung „Four Corners“ veröffentlichen, sobald nächsten Montagabend der zweite Beitrag gezeigt wurde. Doch Hollanders Äußerungen sind bereits jetzt ein schwerer Schlag gegen die Trump-Regierung, die eine Auslieferung Assanges wegen Verstößen gegen den Espionage Act herbeiführen will. Wegen der bisher eingereichten Anklagepunkte droht Assange schon jetzt eine Haftstrafe von 175 Jahren.
Diese Absprache zwischen London und Quito habe weiter Bestand, sagte der britische Außenstaatssekretär Alan Duncan heute bei einem Besuch in Ecuador.