OMNI
WIKILEAKS/ASSANGE NEWSLETTER #14,
October 6, 2020
US PERSECUTION OF JOURNALIST ASSANGE
Compiled by Dick
Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
(#9
July 21, 2011; #10, Jan. 30, 2012, #11, May 25, 2018; #12, April 14, 2019; #13,
Feb. 20, 2020).
http://omnicenter.org/donate/
See separate OMNI Manning Newsletters,
OMNI Investigative Journalism Newsletters, OMNI Whistleblower Newsletters, OMNI Constitution Newsletters, and more.
Special connection to the University
of Arkansas is its Journalism Department and UAF’s motto “Veritate Duce Progredi”: To
advance with truth as our leader.
Actions: ask UAF’s Journalism Dept. to speak up for
Wikipedia and Assange. Ask the UAF to
make its actions match its central principle.
And let us join together to
abolish the vicious, tyrannous Espionage Act.
TEXTS (in chronological
order March to October, 2020)
Julian Assange must be supported
Posted Mar 12, 2020 by
https://mronline.org/2020/03/12/julian-assange-must-be-supported/
Fascism , Imperialism , Inequality , Media United States Newswire
Originally published: Red Flag News (March 11, 2020) |
Even in
authoritarian countries, information networks are helping people discover new facts
and making governments more accountable … [But] technologies with the potential
to open up access to government and promote transparency can also be hijacked
by governments to crush dissent and deny human rights … Some countries have …
violated the privacy of citizens who engage in non-violent political speech.
These actions contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which tells
us that all people have the right ‘to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’. With the spread of these
restrictive practices, a new information curtain is descending across much of
the world. And beyond this partition, viral videos and blog posts are becoming
the samizdat of our day. As in the dictatorships of the past, governments are
targeting independent thinkers who use these tools. —U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton
speaking at the
Newseum, Washington, DC, January 2010
Hillary
Clinton and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart
attack when they wake up one morning and find an entire repository of
classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public. —U.S. Army specialist Chelsea Manning in an
encrypted message to a confidant, Iraq, May 2010
On the first day of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing in
London, lawyers for the U.S. government accused the WikiLeaks founder of
putting lives at risk by publishing unredacted documents that identified U.S.
military informants in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most extraordinary, yet all
too predictable, thing about the allegation was that it didn’t generate a wave
of ridicule and derision in the court or among Western media.
The
accuser is the same United States that killed an estimated 500,000 Iraqi
children through punitive sanctions in the 1990s–a human toll that secretary of
state Madeline Albright, responding to 60 Minutes’ Lesley
Stahl in 1996, described as “worth it”. It’s the same United States that killed
countless civilians in its 2001-02 invasion and ongoing occupation of
Afghanistan–countless because, as the head of U.S. Central Command, general
Tommy Franks, told a reporter in 2002: “You know, we don’t do body counts”. It
is the same United States that then obliterated Iraq in an invasion and
occupation estimated to have resulted in the deaths of at least several hundred
thousand–all on the false pretence of the country having a “weapons of mass
destruction” stockpile that at any moment could be directed against Western
cities.
The architects of those war crimes faced not so much as a slap
on the wrist. In fact, George Bush in the U.S., Tony Blair in the UK and John
Howard in Australia continue to be rolled out as venerated statesmen. The hired
guns who cheered them on in the press have shown not an ounce of contrition and
continue to receive princely salaries to churn out hit pieces in defence of
empire. And the lawyers tut-tut that the people who helped them in the criminal
enterprise may have been at risk of exposure because WikiLeaks let the world
know what the U.S. was doing.
For the record, the prosecution admits that it cannot prove that
anyone was killed as a result of the leaks. The U.S. government indicted
Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of hacking into a government
computer. While the indictments were released by the Trump administration only
in 2018, the campaign against WikiLeaks began many years earlier…Continued: https://mronline.org/2020/03/12/julian-assange-must-be-supported/
David
Keyton. (AP). “Sweden Drops Assange Rape Case.” NADG (11-20-19). https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/nov/20/assange-rape-case-dropped-by-sweden-201/
“Assange
to Claim Trump Offer.” (AP). NADG (February 20, 2020).
Deal was to clear Russia in email leak for
pardon, lawyer says, Associated Press, at 4:09 a.m.
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/feb/20/assange-to-claim-offer-by-trump-2020022/
LONDON
-- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to claim during an extradition
hearing that the Trump administration offered him a pardon if he agreed to say
Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic National Committee emails during
the 2016 U.S. election campaign, a lawyer for Assange said Wednesday.
Assange
is being held at a British prison while fighting extradition to the United
States on spying charges. His full court hearing is due to begin next week.
At
a preliminary hearing held Wednesday in London, lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said
that now-former Republican U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange at the
Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2017.
Fitzgerald
said a statement from another Assange lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, recounted
"Mr. Rohrabacher going to see Mr. Assange and saying, on instructions from
the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr. Assange
... said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks."..continued: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/feb/20/assange-to-claim-offer-by-trump-2020022/
Dana
Rohrabacher denies offering Assange a pardon from ...
Feb 20, 2020 - "At no time did I talk
to President Trump about Julian Assange. ... way
out, if Mr Assange... said Russia had nothing to
do with the DNC leaks.".
[I googled the subject and found nothing later than Feb. 20. [This needs follow-up and checking out. –D]
“London protesters stand by Assange: Extradition hearing to start
Monday” by JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press, NADG February
23, 2020. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/feb/23/london-protesters-stand-by-assange-2020/
Demonstrators
gather
outside Australia House to protest against the extradition of Wikileaks founder
Julian Assange, in London, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. Assange is fighting
extradition to the United States on spying charges.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
(photo deleted)
LONDON
-- Hundreds of supporters of Julian Assange marched through London on Saturday
to pressure the U.K. government into refusing to extradite the WikiLeaks
founder to the United States to face spying charges.
Pink
Floyd's Roger Waters, Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and fashion designer
Vivienne Westwood joined the crowd protesting the U.S. espionage charges
against the founder of the secret-spilling website. An extradition hearing for
Assange is due to begin in a London court Monday.
WikiLeaks spokesman
Kristinn Hrafnsson told a rally outside Parliament that the prosecution of
Assange represented "a dark force against [those] who want justice,
transparency and truth."
U.S. prosecutors have
charged the 48-year-old Australian computer expert with espionage over
WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of confidential government
documents. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison…continued: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/feb/23/london-protesters-stand-by-assange-2020/
“Assange faces extradition
hearing today”
by JILL LAWLESS, Associated
Press, 3:18 a.m. NADG,
February 24, 2020.
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/feb/24/assange-faces-extradition-hearing-today/.
LONDON
-- The U.S. government and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will face off today
in a high-security London courthouse, a decade after WikiLeaks published a
trove of classified military documents.
A
judge at Woolwich Crown Court will begin hearing arguments from lawyers for
U.S. authorities, who want to try Assange on
espionage charges that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
The
extradition hearing follows years of subterfuge, diplomatic dispute and legal
drama that have led the 48-year-old Australian from fame as an international
secret-spiller through self-imposed exile inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in
London to incarceration in a maximum-security British prison.
Assange has been indicted
in the U.S. on 18 charges
over the publication of classified documents. Prosecutors say he conspired with
U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer
and release hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military
files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S.
authorities say WikiLeaks' activities put American lives in danger. Assange argues he was acting as a
journalist entitled to First Amendment protection, and says the leaked
documents exposed U.S. military wrongdoing. Among the files published by
WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in
Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.
Journalism organizations
and civil liberties groups, including Amnesty International and Reporters
Without Borders, say the charges against Assange set a chilling precedent for
freedom of the press.
"What we have is an assault on journalism,"
left-wing Greek lawmaker Yanis Varoufakis said at an Assange support march in
London on Saturday. "The only charge against Julian, hiding behind the
nonsense of espionage, is a charge of journalism."
Assange's
legal saga began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of
Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual
assault made by two women. He refused to go to Stockholm, saying he feared
extradition or illegal rendition to the United States or the U.S. prison camp
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In
2012, Assange sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond
the reach of U.K. and Swedish authorities.
For
seven years, Assange led an isolated and increasingly surreal existence in the
tiny embassy, which occupies an apartment in an upscale block near the ritzy
Harrod's department store. Confined to the building, he occasionally emerged
onto a small balcony to address supporters, and received visits from celebrity
allies including Lady Gaga and Baywatch actress
Pamela Anderson.
The
relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was
evicted in April. British police immediately arrested him for jumping bail in
2012.
Sweden
dropped the sex-crimes investigations in November because so much time had
elapsed, but Assange remains in London's Belmarsh Prison as he awaits a
decision on the U.S. extradition request.
Supporters
say the ordeal has harmed Assange's physical and mental health, leaving him
with depression, dental problems and a serious shoulder ailment.
For
his supporters around the world, Assange remains a hero. But many others are
critical of the way WikiLeaks has published classified documents without
redacting details that could endanger individuals. WikiLeaks has also been
accused of serving as a conduit for Russian misinformation, and Assange has
alienated some supporters by dallying with populist politicians including
Brexit-promoter Nigel Farage.
Assange's
legal team insists the American case against him is politically motivated. His
lawyers say they will present evidence that the Australian was offered a pardon
by the Trump administration if he agreed to say Russia wasn't involved in
leaking Democratic National Committee emails that were published by WikiLeaks
during the 2016 U.S. election campaign.
Assange's
lawyers say the offer was made in August 2017 by then-Republican U.S. Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher, who claimed to be acting on behalf of President Donald Trump.
The
White House has called the claim "a complete fabrication and a total
lie." Rohrabacher acknowledges discussing the Democratic leak with
Assange, but denies offering a pardon from the president.
An end to the saga could still be years away. After a week of opening arguments, the
extradition case is due to break until May, when the two sides will lay out
their evidence. The judge is not expected to rule until several months after
that, with the losing side likely to appeal.
If
the courts approve extradition, the British government will have the final say.
Jill
Lawless (AP). “Portrayals of Assange Clash
as Extradition Case Starts.” NADG (February 25, 2020).
https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/feb/25/assange-portrayals-clash-as-case-opens-/
Jill
Lawless (AP). “Attorney Criticizes
Assange’s Treatment.” NADG (Feb. 26, 2020). https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/feb/26/attorney-criticizes-assange-s-treatment/
The NADG’s six articles in seven days mainly
in defense of Assange seem
extraordinary, particularly for an editorially Republican newspaper. It must be that the newspaper sees Assange as
a FOI cause, a journalist persecuted for providing crucial information to the
public for a functional democracy. –Dick
Julian
Assange must be supported.
Mronline.org (3-13-20).
If
the U.S. government succeeds in extraditing Julian Assange, it will be a major
victory for U.S. imperialism–a promise that anyone getting in its way will
ultimately pay the price.
International
Lawyers Make Urgent Appeal To British Government. Popular
Resistance.org (8-18-20)
By Lawyers for Assange, Consortium News. 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. We remind the
UK government that the right... -more-
Discussion
Of Wikileaks Or 'Hacked Information' Banned Under New YouTube Rules.
Popular Resistance.org (8-18-20).
By Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. Social media giant
YouTube announced yesterday a host of new measures it says are aimed
at preventing any interference in the upcoming presidential elections. Chief
among the list it wrote on its blog, is “removing content that contains hacked
information, the disclosure of which may interfere with democratic processes,
such as elections and censuses.” An example it gives would-be deleting “videos
that contain hacked information about a political candidate.” It also promised
to “raise up authoritative voices” when it comes to
current events and politics by changing
its algorithm to show... -more-
Assange
‘In A Lot Of Pain’ Says Partner After Prison Visit
By
Alan Jones, The Irish Examiner.
Julian Assange’s partner has visited him in prison for the first time in almost
six months, and said he looked much thinner than last time she saw him. Stella
Moris took the couple’s two young children to meet their father, who is being
held in Belmarsh Prison in south-east London, awaiting an extradition hearing
on behalf of the United States government. Ms Moris and the WikiLeaks founder
had to wear face masks and visors for the 20-minute meeting and were not
allowed to touch each other. “We had to keep social distancing and Julian was
told he would have to self-isolate for two weeks if he... -more-
Wikileaks helped end secret U.S. killings, Assange
extradition hearing is told
Posted Sep 10, 2020 by
https://mronline.org/2020/09/10/wikileaks-helped-end-secret-u-s-killings-assange-extradition-hearing-is-told/
Empire , Imperialism United States Newswire
Originally published: Morning Star Online (September 1, 2020) |
REVELATIONS published by Wikileaks helped to end a secret U.S.
assassination programme and freed unlawfully detained prisoners from Guantanamo
Bay, the Julian Assange extradition hearing was told today.
Giving evidence during the second day of the Wikileaks founder’s
hearing at the Old Bailey, human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith also said
that the site’s content had helped to stop drone strikes in Pakistan and
provided evidence currently being investigated by the International Criminal
Court.
The lawyer, who has represented numerous Guantanamo Bay
prisoners, said that the leaked documents had enabled him to win legal actions
on behalf of “a number of innocent people in detention” at the U.S.-run
detention camp.
He said the leaks had opened his eyes to “torture, rendition and
murder” carried out by the U.S. government.
Mr Stafford Smith went on to argue that the scale of new
information released by Wikileaks was partly as a result of U.S. authorities’
“obsession with classifying information.”
“When I first went to see a British man in Guantanamo he gave me
30 pages on the torture that he had suffered,” the lawyer said.
“All of this material was immediately classified on the basis
that revealing torture was a threat to national security.”
At one point during Mr Stafford Smith’s testimony, Mr Assange
tried to intervene from the dock.
The judge warned Mr Assange that this was not permitted and
allowed a short adjournment for him to brief his lawyers.
Another expert witness, University of Maryland journalism
professor Mark Feldstein, told the court that soliciting leaks was part of a
journalist’s “standard operating procedure” and that he had taught related
techniques as an academic.
The hearing is being held in line with COVID-19 safety
guidelines.
Before the proceedings commenced, 40 civic society groups were
promised remote access to the court’s proceedings via a video link.
But presiding judge Venessa Baraitser revoked that permission on
Monday, citing fears that the “integrity of the court” could be compromised if
the feed was streamed elsewhere.
Reporters Without Borders campaigns director Rebecca Vincent
said: “We have never faced such extensive barriers in attempting to monitor any
other case in any other country as we have with the proceedings in the UK in
respect of Julian Assange.
“This is extremely worrying in a case of such tremendous public
interest.”
|
Breaking News -
Julian Assange Show Trial Resumes: Why the U.S. Government Wants Him
Silenced 9-7-20
|
||||||||||||||||||||
This is Not Normal': Human
Rights, Press Freedom Advocates Denied Remote Access to Assange Hearing
by Lisa Newcomb, staff
writer. Common Dreams (9-7-20)
The WikiLeaks founder, who exposed U.S. war crimes, faces up to 175 years in
prison if the U.K. agrees to extradite Assange.
Assange
Hearing: Dramatic Opening Day
By Consortium News. Popular
Resistance.org (9-9-20). The dramatic first day of the resumption of Julian
Assange’s extradition hearing has ended, with technical problems cutting
short the testimony of the first defense witness, Broadcast Journalism
Professor Mark Feldstein. Feldstein’s written testimony has been released
to the public. On the virtual “stand”–online because of the pandemic–Feldstein
was questioned by the defense. He testified that it was a daily occurrence for
the press to publish classified information; that he did not expect publishers
to be prosecuted for this because the First Amendment protects publishers,
allowing them to expose the... -more-
|
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|
3 Messages via Popular Resistance.org
(9-10-20I)
Julian
Assange Hearing: Day Three
By Defend
Wikileaks. Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of
Peace Studies at Bradford University, took the stand by video link to testify
about Julian Assange’s political views and how they factor into the Trump
administration’s prosecution of Assange for publishing. Rogers reviewed
Assange’s speeches, including an anti-war speech in 2011 in London and a speech
to the UN following the release of Iraq and Afghan war logs, as well as Mairead
Maguire’s nomination of Assange for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. LINKs.
Rogers concluded that Assange’s views don’t fall into traditional liberal or
conservative belief systems but are rather more... -more-
John Pilger:
The Stalinist Trial Of Julian Assange
By John Pilger,
Mintpress News. When I first
met Julian Assange more than ten years ago, I asked him why he had started
WikiLeaks. He replied: “Transparency and accountability are moral issues that
must be the essence of public life and journalism.” I had never heard a
publisher or an editor invoke morality in this way. Assange believes that
journalists are the agents of people, not power: that we, the people, have a
right to know about the darkest secrets of those who claim to act in our name.
If the powerful lie to us, we have the right to know. -more-
Roger Waters:
If Julian Assange Is Guilty, So Am I
By Vijay Prashad, News Clickin. Musician Roger Waters told
NewsClick that , "In 2010 Julian Assange along with Chelsea Manning played
a pivotal role in releasing classified documents on US military activity in
Iraq and Iran. I displayed the video for three years. If Julian is guilty so
am. I am ready to give my arrest and may be in the coming time they can arrest
me too. '' -more-
|
|
Assange Would
Not Have Fair US Trial, Witness Tells Old Bailey. Popular
Resistance.org (9-17-20)
By Thomas
Scripps, WSWS. Julian Assange’s
extradition hearing resumed yesterday morning after a coronavirus test for a
member of the prosecution’s legal team came back negative. Mark Summers QC, one
of Assange’s lawyers, asked District Judge Vanessa Baraitser to give a
direction mandating the use of masks for the remainder of the hearing. She
responded that government guidance on wearing masks in public places in the Old
Bailey “does not include the well of the court,” before saying, “those that
wish to wear masks in the well of the court are welcome to do so” but “there is
no obligation to do so, and I make no direction.” -more-[This epitome
doesn’t relate to the title. –Dick]
Day Nine:
Julian Assange Extradition Hearing. Popular
Resistance.org (9-17-20)
By Craig Murray. Things became not merely dramatic in the Assange courtroom today, but
spiteful and nasty. There were two real issues, the evidence and the procedure.
On the evidence, there were stark details of the dreadful regime Assange will
face in US jails if extradited. On the procedure, we saw behaviour from the
prosecution QC that went well beyond normal cross examination and was a real
attempt to denigrate and even humiliate the witness. I hope to prove that to
you by a straightforward exposition of what happened today in court, after
which I shall add further comment. -more-
Dear Friends,
I thought you may be interested in this
article on the crucially important case of press freedom case that is Assange’s
ongoing extradition hearings. Ellsberg has testified. Please forward this to
your friends that may be interested in press freedom.
Kevin Gosztola. Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange: At Extradition Trial,
Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Dismantles False Narrative. 9-16-20
https://dissenter.substack.com/p/good-ellsberg-bad-assange-at-extradition
Ellsberg also said "Julian Assange could not get a remotely
fair trial" in the United States.
"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.
On the seventh day of an extradition trial against Assange, Ellsberg dismantled
this false narrative and outlined for a British magistrate court why Assange
would not receive a fair trial in the United States.
Assange is accused of 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of
conspiracy to commit a computer crime that, as alleged in the indictment, is
written like an Espionage Act offense.
The charges criminalize the act of
merely receiving classified information, as well as the publication of state
secrets from the United States government. It targets common practices in news
gathering, which is why the case is widely opposed by press freedom
organizations throughout the world....continued here:
https://dissenter.substack.com/p/good-ellsberg-bad-assange-at-extradition
As Major Outlets Ignore Assange
Extradition Hearing, Ai Weiwei Demands Freedom for WikiLeaks Founder.
by Lisa Newcomb, staff writer. Common
Dreams (9-29-20).
"He truly represents a core value of why we are free—because we have
freedom of the press," Weiwei said.
By Srećko Horvat, Open Democracy. Popular
Resistance.org (10-6-20).
November 13, 1966 – at the height of the
resistance war in Vietnam – Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre convened a
people's tribunal to hold the US government accountable for its escalating war
crimes. “The tribunal has no clear historical precedent”, Russell said. It
represented no state power; it had no capacity to sentence the accused. “I
believe that these apparent limitations are, in fact, virtues. We are free to
conduct a solemn and historic investigation”, said Russell, “presented to the
conscience of mankind.” -more-
TABLE OF CONTENTS WIKILEAKS, ASSANGE #13, 2-20-20
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/02/omni-wikileaksassange-newsletter-13.html
Miriam Schneir, 1917 Espionage Act vs. Truth
Bipartisan Attacks: Democratic Party
Conspiracy
Psychological Torture of Assange
Oscar Grenfell. Conference at European Parliament Defends Julian
Assange.
Google Searches 2019 and 2020
OMNI Wikileaks/Assange Newsletter #12
END WIKILEAKS, ASSANGE NEWSLETTER #14
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