We are seriously worried about the condition of Julian Assange. He was too unwell to appear in court yesterday, and his Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, found him in a state where he was unable to conduct a conversation and give instructions. There are very definite physical symptoms, particularly rapid weight loss, and we are not satisfied that genuine and sufficient diagnostic efforts are being made to determine the underlying cause.
Julian had been held for the last year in poor, highly confining and increasingly oppressive conditions in the Ecuadorean Embassy and his health was already deteriorating alarmingly before his expulsion and arrest. A number of conditions, including dental abcesses, can have very serious consequences if long term untreated, and the continual refusal by the British government and latterly the Ecuadoreans to permit him access to adequate healthcare while a political asylee was a callous denial of basic human rights.
I confess to feeling an amount of personal relief after his arrest that at least he would now get proper medical treatment. However there now seems to be no intention to provide that and indeed since he has been in Belmarsh his health problems have accelerated. I witnessed enough of the British state’s complicity in torture to know that this may be more than just the consequence of unintended neglect. That the most lucid man I know is now not capable of having a rational conversation is extremely alarming.
There is no rational reason that Assange needs to be kept in a high security facility for terrorists and violent offenders. We are seeing the motive behind his unprecedented lengthy imprisonment for jumping police bail when he entered political asylum. As a convicted prisoner, Assange can be kept in a worse regime than if he were merely on remand for his extradition proceedings. In particular, his access to his lawyers is extremely restricted and for a man facing major legal proceedings in the UK, USA and Sweden it is impossible, even were he healthy, for his lawyers to have sufficient time with him adequately to prepare his cases while he is under the restrictions placed on a convict. Of course we know from the fact that, within three hours of being dragged from the Ecuadorean Embassy, he was already convicted and sentenced to a lengthy prison term, that the state has no intention that his lawyers should be able to prepare.
I have asked before and I ask again. If this were a dissident publisher in Russia, what would the UK political and media class be saying about his being dragged out by armed police, and convicted and sentenced to jail by a judge without a jury, just three hours later, after a farce of a “trial” in which the judge insulted him and called him a “narcissist” before he had said anything in his defence? The Western media would be up in arms if that happened in Russia. Here, they cheer it on.
Below is a photo of Julian in the Embassy in happier times, during the Correa Presidency, with a truly amazing and strong group of people, every one of whose stories we can follow and learn from:
Left to Right: Thomas Drake, Coleen Rowley, Julian Assange, Elizabeth Murray, Ray McGovern, Nadira, Ann Wright
I should add that I am currently trying to see Julian personally with two other close friends, but obviously access is extremely difficult.
Julian’s personal possessions have been seized by the Ecuadoreans to be given to the US government. These include not only computers but his legal and medical papers. This is yet another example of completely illegal state action against him. Furthermore, any transfer must involve the stolen material physically transiting London, and the British government is taking no steps to prevent that, which is yet another of multiple signs of the degree of international governmental coordination behind the flimsy pretence of independent judicial action.
Julian is imprisoned for at least another five months, even with parole (which they will probably find an excuse not to grant). After that he will be held further on remand. There is therefore no need for rush. The refusal of the Swedish court to delay a hearing on a potential extradition warrant at all, to allow Julian to recover to the extent he can instruct his lawyer, and the very brief postponement of the US extradition hearing in London, with the intimation it may be held inside Belmarsh prison if Julian is too unwell to move, are both examples of an entirely unaccustomed and unnecessary haste with which the case is being rushed forward. The mills of God grind slowly; those of the Devil seem to spin dangerously fast.
Finally, for those who still believe that actions against Julian, particularly but not only in Sweden, are in any way motivated by a concern for justice, particularly justice for violated women, I do urge you to read this excellent account by Jonathan Cook. As a summary of the truly breathtaking series of legal abuses by states against Assange, that the corporate and state media has been deliberately distorting and hiding for a decade, it cannot be bettered.
Cook’s account is indeed excellent – thanks for the link.
A must view for any who haven’t yet seen this, and, importantly while online censorship gathers apace, below, a download option:
ABC 4 Corners – Sex, Lies and Julian Assange is downloadable via this link: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/fourcorners/video/20120723_assange_288p.mp4
Delighted to hear that POTUS has publicly picked the next PM. What’s the point of power if you’re not going to express and exert it? They bought the business and consequently get to choose a franchise holder is only m/r-ight. Not since ‘arold has a leader said no to uncle sam and only and outsider like Trump would be vulgar enough to tell it. Ironic that Boris is strong on taking back power and independence, ha ha ha.
POTUS supports Sisi who has had nearly 2,500 Eqyptian citizens execcuted since 2013 for ‘political offences. His choice of the method of execution is by hanging.
The Hangman of the Middle East: US-backed Regime in Egypt Hands Down Nearly 2,500 Death Sentences
https://www.globalresearch.ca/hangman-middle-east-us-backed-regime-egypt-hands-down-nearly-2500-death-sentences/5679152
May 3st 2019
Additionally – ‘The abysmal conditions in Egypt’s prisons are claiming more victims than the hangman’s noose. Since the coming to power of Sisi, at least 60,000 people have been imprisoned on political charges, jailed under hellish conditions of severe overcrowding, lack of sanitation and denial of medical care.’
The BBC, the UK state’s broadcaster, have nothing to say on this. They do report on war crimes being committed in the Sinai by the Egyptian army and ‘militants’.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-48431912
The UK is arming Egypt. It is one of our ‘core markets’.
https://www.caat.org.uk/resources/countries/egypt
The UK is a very sick society.
RK
Since Trump is Putin’s poodle according to some, this must therefore be a blatant interference in UK politics by Russia.
Is there a petition or another way of helping?
It may be worth starting a petition on 38 degrees. Unfortunately I am unable to do this at present. Is there someone registered with 38 degrees who can start one?
Thank you for this spot on telling of the abuses of multiple countries and people against Assange. There is a special place in hell for them all.
The US war machine hq pursuit of Julian reveals weakness and I haven’t seen any visible evidence that the US public are crying out for his head. His persecution emanates from the highest level of the state and such pursuits end badly for the state which becomes a victim of its own propaganda sic Dreyfus. Little to win – everything to lose. Their bloody trail of regime changes has left countless people dead and injured yet have achieved no social benefits for anyone, home or away. Shooting the messenger isn’t the answer.
As an Australian, I hold every Australian politician (99% have remained silent at best), responsible should Julian Assange die at Belmarsh or be extradited to the US. I am appalled and ashamed at the lack of any attempt to support and protect an Australian citizen.
The trouble is Trisha, that every Australian government, including that of Hawk, has simply followed the diktats of the U.S.A. Australia is no more able to act independently from the US than the UK. To say the UK and Australia are US poodles is to insult poodles!
Indeed. Poodles are among the most intelligent of dogs. They are also good natured. The Australian government is neither. I agree with everything Trisha wrote, and the Assange case is a warning to every Australian citizen that we are without any defence when persecuted abroad.
You should have seen the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt, greeting Donald Trump at Stansted. Almost hugged each other. Hunt keeps talking about the special, amazing, etc relationship between the US and the UK. Trump of course has given him a tick for the Tory leadership.
Oh now Sweden cannot delay a hearing of Julian Assange, where as when Julian was in the consulate of Ecuador, Sweden refused during years to hear Julian. Reason is clear off course, then it was a way to keep the case in Sweden open and block Julian in the consulate without perspective than one or an other day to be arrested for the sake of the USA, now that he is arrested it must go fast in order to avoid Julian to exercice his rights of defense. What a disgusting parody of exercice of law by our Western countries. What a hypocrisy and a use of violence against a person by our governments.
Dear mods, why can I reply to certain people on this page but not the same people on other pages of comments?… Good to understand, many thanks, Twostime
Dear mods, why can I reply to certain people on this page but not the same people on other pages of comments?… Good to understand, many thanks, Twostime
Twostime
You’ll find that the ‘Reply’ button facility automatically stops after maybe three consecutive comments stemming directly from a single specific comment. Each subsequent sequential comment is indented, so after the third comment this indentation becomes impractical. Hence the ‘Reply’ facility isn’t attached to that third comment. There isn’t a way round this but what posters tend to do is go back up the chain of comments to the first available ‘Reply’ button and use that to post their comment but at the top of the post indicate with, say, @Borncynical (11.00) whom the comment is directed at or responding to. I think I saw that you’d done just that somewhere else, replying to yourself in that situation, and that is exactly right.
So it’s nothing to do with exclusion as such, it’s purely standard practice on the website and applies to all posts on all subjects.
I hope this helps! 🙂
Twostime
Further to my reply at 10.57, I now see that it was another poster who ‘replied’ to their own previous post in order to make a comment. But, that aside, my explanation still stands. I am sure someone will correct me if I haven’t got it right.
Cheers
Julian exposed wrong doing by people in high places vía WikiLeaks – a platform that educates others about corruption that is indicative of egotistical power. He is an intelligent man and MUST NOT be silenced
Why hasn’t his lawyers tried to get public exposure via the media. A video on YouTube is as powerful as the Tory owned geutter press.
This is what a threatened governing body does to people when power is challenged. Assange is a hero. He revealed a level of corruption that too few really understood. Now the strings of the puppeteers are visible to all. Now it is up to us to see that those strings are cut and the decision to share this world and its resources is back in the hands of the People.
The Guardian crowd (especially Marina Hyde and Nick Cohen) continue to jeer at Julian Assange.
Thread on TLN http://members5.boardhost.com/xxxxx/thread/1559546107.html
Julian Assange: Swedish judge rejects detention of Wikileaks founder
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48503730
A Swedish judge has rejected a request to detain Julian Assange in absentia.
Good news.
Seen on Twitter just now:
John Pilger
Verified account
@johnpilger
15 minutes ago
More
The good news is that the Swedish charade over Julian #Assange is falling apart. A court has decided, in effect, against a European Arrest Warrant; the suppression of evidence has failed; the zealots have suffered a huge setback. The battle against a vengeful US begins next week.
I’m not sure it is good news. Despite the ridiculous prosecution claims, I have much more faith in Swedish courts (as opposed to prosecutors) than the UK’s. I do not think Sweden would ever actually extradite Assange to the US on “espionage act” indictments. I stress that my faith is with Swedish courts and not Swedish Prosecution Authority, which is politicised and falls under the Ministry of Justice.
I have often wondered if the whole Swedish charade was intended to keep Assange in the UK (which obviously will happily hand him over and has an atrocious extradition treaty with the US negotiated by Blair) until Grand Jury indictments against Assange could be obtained..
I am quite sure that the UK would also have happily extradited Puigdemont to Spain, while Belgian and German courts have refused to. The UK has also been quite happy to extradite it’s own “subjects”, while many EU countries (including Sweden) prohibit extradition of their own citizens to non-EU countries.
JULIAN ASSANGE MUST BE RELEASED FROM BELMARSH PRISON NOW.
__________
In legal victory for Assange, Swedish court rules against extradition
4 June 2019
The Uppsala District Court yesterday ruled against a bid by Swedish state prosecutors for the country to formally detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in absentia, which would have set in motion a request for his extradition from Britain.
Assange’s lawyers have described the judgement as a legal “victory.” It is a blow to the attempts by Swedish prosecutors to secure Assange’s extradition, through the issuing of a European Arrest Warrant, despite the fact that he has never been charged with a crime in the country.
/..
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/06/04/swed-j04.html
The State Broadcaster’s security correspondent, Frank ‘I was There’ Gardner, gives us a little peek into Porton Down. Novichok is in the message of course.
Video
Inside Britain’s top secret research laboratory
Welcome to Britain’s top secret laboratory where defences against chemical weapons, ballistics, explosives and cyber-security are researched.
The BBC was given access inside Porton Down to see what the highly secretive facility was like and, for the first time ever, entered a cleansed version of a level four laboratory. This level is where the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory team analyse some of the world’s deadliest viruses – Ebola and Marburg.
Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, went to meet one of the scientists working there.
Filmed and produced by Samantha Everett and Imogen Anderson
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-48504670/inside-britain-s-top-secret-research-laboratory
Video 2.55
Craig Murray having read your accounts of what happened to you in the past I HOPE that you can get to see Julien soon. It is chilling that these things are allowed to happen in a “democracy” is there no end to the length people will stoop to. I feel helpless in this situation which is of course what they want. Thank you for speaking out about Alex Salmond and I wish you the best of everything in the future. from Anne Robb
Ps. That will be me on another blacklist.
Many regular readers of Craig’s excellent blog will be aware that I am, at best, a very sporadic contributor, and, will be similarly unaware that I can write a reasonably good piece myself. (I moderate on another forum and contribute). However, when it comes to stellar quality writing Jon (Rappaport) has few peers (save for Craig and Jonathan Cook, Caitlin Johnstone,.. – okay, that list can go on longer in truth).
With that in mind, I’m going to share something he – Jon Rappaport – has written here from his website, and with the inclusion of the opening statement, in itself a reminder of at least just one of the challenges we’re all up against.
—————————————————————————————
The Immortal State
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The huge central government of every major nation in the world would like to be immortal. It would like to exist for all time. It would like to justify its status and importance by continuing on into an indefinite future. It would like to become so powerful and persistent that no citizen even bothers to imagine an alternative.
The current size of government in any big city in the world dwarfs the original 18th-century federal government in the United States. And this isn’t even considering the various partnerships modern governments enter into with giant corporations and banks.
Modern governments help spawn synthetic archetypes, the most prominent of which is “good citizen.” A person tries to support and obey all the rules and edicts, while somehow working to improve government. The archetype exists because the most important element has been lost: PARTICIPATION.
The Constitutional design of American government allowed for citizen participation. Certainly, city governments could withstand direct citizen participation.
Now we have delusional participation. People believe they are making a contribution. But somehow, the reach and intrusion of government grows like a fungus. The overall solution to every problems seems to be: GET LARGER. Give birth to new bureaus and ministries and departments and rules and sub-rules. At this rate, it won’t be very long before 60-70% of the population works for, and draws a paycheck from, some office of the government.
This is how modern government becomes The State. It doesn’t matter much who temporarily has control of key positions in government—sheer size and weight keep expanding. People’s very lives are looked at as functions of regulations.
NOW you have, in what seems to be the blink of an eye (but is actually a long slow protracted blink), a sea of dissatisfied people. You have vegans and vegetarians and onanists and bicyclists and runners and health freedom activists and petty criminals and lawyers and poverty-stricken philosophers and disaffected religionists and artists and cyber-space addicts and a hundred other categories of people who, in their minds and hearts and souls, are thinking about REBELLION.
They are cut off from the ruling force and wave of The State, and they are looking for an out.
They are aware that the prevailing structure is far too complex and anti-human.
This gathering phenomenon of rebels does not go unnoticed. Those with political power settle on a response: more of the same. More inhibiting rules, larger government. CONTROL. The natives are restless. They must be pacified. They must be entangled. And as a sop, they must be given more free gifts, in order to settle them down. Of course, those free gifts are paid for with tax money.
Does all this sound like a winning formula for an immortal State?
“Sir, believe me, I understand your objection. But the rule is the rule. You think standing on your head in the rain while whatever you have drops out of your pockets and is collected by our officer is senseless and unjust. Yes, I understand. And you believe that while standing on your head, being examined by one of our doctors, who is in touch with seven other physician specialists involved in your case, is an overwrought procedure. And you further believe that the dozens of ways in which we can identify you, by numbers, is intrusive and demeaning. Yes. But again, the rule is the rule. If everyone rejected rules they thought were unnecessary, the whole system would eventually collapse, and we would have sheer chaos. Is that what you want? I remind you: this phone call is being recorded, for training purposes…”
THE INDIVIDUAL VS. THE STATE is more than a well-worn phrase.
Just as organized religion believes it has an exclusive and proprietary pipeline to God—and therefore humans must enlist in its structure, The State actually believes it is granting citizens whatever rights exist—as if rights, such as freedom, only come into being as a result of The State.
Remember the opening sentence of Orwell’s 1984? “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” The 13th strike signified the power of The State to rearrange reality in any arbitrary configuration. Its relentless push to impose control on its citizens, under the guise of “doing good,” had reached a point of psychosis.
Highly regulated and organized psychosis, presented to the public as an illustration of rational mental health.