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.
Mr Cook refers to Julian as having been released on police bail whereas his bail terms were actually set by the High Court. I believe this is a very different kettle of fish.
Anyone know what happened to the electronic tag?
And did whoever put up the money for his bail – quite a substantial amount – get it back once Assange was back in the dock?
No they forfeited most of it. To some of his backers it was most of their life savings. I’ve not heard any promises from Assange to reimburse them.
i haven’t heard any promises from the uk, swedish or u.s. governments to reimburse them either, since they are the malefactors here i should think that more relevant. btw do you have any supporting links for “to some of his backers it was most of their life savings”. thanks in advance.
It was Julian’s decision to seek asylum.
Last half-dozen paragraphs.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/08/julian-assange-supporters-ordered-forfeit-bail
Kempe
Thank you. I’m not surprised really. Perhaps he could ask for crowd-funding to help him repay, I’m sure that his supporters would be only too happy to help him reimburse those who lost their money (withput expecting to, doubtlessly). It would be the right thing to do.
lol, you mean it was his “decision” to run for his life, which is, as we now see, in danger. claiming this is some kind of voluntary choice is dishonest.
Kempe
That you are referencing the rag called the Guardian only proves you are making this argument in bad faith and are being disingenuous because you do not have a real argument as only the morally bankrupt could victim blame a target of political persecution for seeking political asylum when they cannot even speak and have been under house arrest for 7 years.
why don’t you ask them and get back to us. obviously he was right to flee to the embassy, given the illegal way he has been treated by the persecuting states.
Correct
I guess you will never understand people who act on principle
https://www.rt.com/uk/457345-vaughan-assange-manning-hacking/
Assange was a publisher, he published whistleblower material. It is what journalists are supposed to do, that is why they intimidate all journalists by going after Assange. That is the intented effect.
“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law,” Melzer said. “The collective persecution of Julian Assange must end here and now!”
the un report on assange’s treatment. way to zero in on the relevant issue kempe.
Kempe attempts to damage Assange’s reputation. Just as the security services have done so diligently over many years. Just sayin’
Whenever I read the name kempe or that bostick character I scroll past. Haven’t read a thing either of them have said for a year. I’ve read good debate and had interesting convos with everyone else. And haven’t even noticed the trolls. I’d recommend everyone else do it too.
I, on the contrary, always read your posts with great interest and rapt attention. You are one of the main attractions of this place 🙂
I agree but thankfully am also currently unable to respond to either Kempe or CB in this stream. A result really.
same
Agree 100 %
Too true, Shatnersrug, Glueboy just comes here to gum up the pages. His modus operandi is to pick on a minor point and blow it up out of all proportion. Whenever he is asked a serious question, he never answers it. I jump straight past all his comments.
I think it is a shame your idea of a good debate is so restricted as to exclude contrary opinions to your own. Craig has frequently made the point that his blog is open to comments with which he strongly disagrees, which makes them worth reading and replying to.
I sent the below email to my MP on Wednesday. No response yet. Commentators may like to adapt text and send to their MP.
“Dear XXXX,
I am writing to express concern about the general treatment of Julian Assange – his removal from the Ecuadorian Embassy, incarceration in Belmarsh, and difficulty his lawyers his legal team have in accessing him at Belmarsh.
But, principally I am writing because of reports that Assange is gravely ill. These reports seem credible but are not being reported in mainstream media. Assange’s Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, has been reported as saying that “Assange’s health situation on Friday was such that it was not possible to conduct a normal conversation with him.”
My concern is that Assange health might be far worse then is generally known. I feel that the harsh treatment of Assange is unnecessary and totally counterproductive. Should Assange actually pass away in Belmarsh there will be endless suspicions of Assange being tortured or murdered and this will have consequences for the UK body politic.
Could you request a Parliamentary debate asking for Assange to be moved to a less restrictive environment, where his health can be properly cared for and where he can get more frequent access to his legal team, friends, family and other visitors.”
Thanks. I’ve followed your example, and used a slightly edited version of your email.
Thanks ADKC,
You shamed me into taking a whole 2 minutes to email Alison Thewliss, an MP I am very unusually proud to have as an elected representative.
Feels like the establishment will close ranks on this one though, as I’ve seen a number of normally fair commentators basically washing their hands of Assange, as if he deserves this treatment.
I’m starting to think about the way Milosevic died of a heart attack in custody during his trial, after claiming he was given a medication that effectively increased his already existing blood pressure problem. Later, during the trials of other Bosnian Serb warcriminals like Karadžić, Milosevic was cleared of responsibility for their actions.
He may have been cleared of responsibility for their actions but was he cleared of responsibility for his?
Milosevic fans like it in both ends : he was obviously “innocent” and yet he was “murdered” because he was innocent. Very twisted thinking.
It is now apparent that the real war criminals were those who ginned up the imperial intervention in Serbia, an aggressive war by the definition of the 1946 four power Nuremberg Trial. The imperium yankeum is still backing the organ-harvesting jihadi influenced Albanian regime they set up in Kosovo to provide a comfortable home for a major military base to direct pro-jihadi military actions in the Middle East.
No Charles. Murdered because of his many years of interacting with Western intelligence agencies and their legitimate fear of which secrets he’d spill in an open trial.
Oh OK, I hadn’t realised! So Milosevic was a Western spy. Isn’t that what many of the people done to death in the purges following the 1930s Moscow show trials were accused of?
CB – it’s called Balkanisation. And destroying Yugoslavia in that manner was just the test for further work. I’m sure you will disagree but that is what happened and is still being promoted and funded by the UK and others across the middle east – see Iraq, Syria and the latest target – Iran.
And you genuinely expect people to believe you could be that credulous? Milosevic’s guilt or innocence is completely irrelevant. Exactly the same with Assange. Please don’t reply to this post. It gets embarrassing.
Twostime
Was it not Milosevic’s Serbia which destroyed unitary Yugoslavia with its semi-fascistic, nationalistic Greater-Serbia aggression?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
As for “Balkanising” Yugoslavia, that’s a strange expression to use for events taking place in the Balkans, isn’t it? The Balkans are the Balkans are the Balkans, as G. Stein probably didn’t say.
CB said
“Was it not Milosevic’s Serbia which destroyed unitary Yugoslavia with its semi-fascistic, nationalistic Greater-Serbia aggression?”
Simplistic, the wars started because the large Serbian populations in Croatia and Bosnia didn’t trust returning to the majority rule of Croats and Bosniaks who had committed genocide against Serbs during WW II and WW I. The Ustashe’s Independent State of Croatia (NDH) included both today’s Croatia and Bosnia and the Ustashe defined Bosniaks as “Muslim Croats” thus on their side against the Serbs.
Tito as a half Croat half Slovene and WW II Partisan had the moral authority to pull the republic together, he had massacred the fleeing Ustashe so Serbs would accept him. But he deliberately devised the internal borders and constitution to atrophy Serb influence (as the previous Kingdom of Yugoslavia had been far too Serb dominated). As such large Serb populations found themselves outside Serbian borders, they were the only national group to be split up by these borders. Serbia itself was also split up by Autonomous Provinces like Kosovo and Vojvodina, again the only republic subject to this. Further the constitution was devised to require agreement between the republics, the predominately Serb ones (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia) could not outvote the non-Serb ones (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia), but this didn’t matter until they faced economic pressure in which the wealthier northern ones objected to funding the poorer southern ones, and then Yugoslavia fell apart. In Kosovo Tito promoted Albanian interests over Serbs because he fancied bringing Albania into the Federation, as such he allowed Albanian immigration, while many Serbs left. The Serbs had some legitimate complaints.
Milosevic certainly deserves blame, he deliberately appealed to these Serbian resentments to win power, this had a knock on effect of worrying the non-Serb republics. Nevertheless I don’t think Milosevic intended to break up Yugoslavia. In power Milosevic ended Kosovo’s autonomous status, and got his allies elected in Montenegro and Macedonia, with his casting vote, the Serbs could now outvote the others on the economic crisis. As a result, and with notable and typical German encouragement (and BND arms shipments), Slovenia then Croatia and Bosnia declared independence, upon which the Krajina Serbs of Croatia and later Bosnian Serbs started armed resistance.
Tudjman the Croatian leader adopted old Ustashe symbols and published books denying the Ustashe genocide against Serbs and Jews. Bosniak leader Izetbegovic had worked as a recruiter for the Waffan SS during WW II and wrote books calling for Islamist rule and law, praising Pakistan as a model rather than secular Turkey, although his Islamism was of a type later embodied by the Turkish AK party rather than al Qaeda. These facts hardly reassured the Serbs they could safely live in Bosnia and Croatia.
It seems profoundly one sided to place all the blame on Milosevic. I actually supported the Western narrative at the time, then I ended up living in the Balkans and having to learn the history to understand the views of people around me, and then I realised the western MSM was feeding me simplistic bullshit, which you appear to be repeating. I haven’t even gone into how the US started the Bosnian war by sabotaging the EU’s Swiss Canton power-sharing plan.
It was sheer hypocrisy to prevent Croatian and Bosnia Serbs joining Serbia but allowing Kosovars to split from Serbia. The whole issue could have been resolved peacefully if the borders had been redrawn through negotiation, but that wasn’t the point of western policy, the point was to roll back Russian influence by rolling back the influence of their old ally Serbia. That required the demonisation of Serbs, to get Western opinion behind it, and that meant calling Milosevic a new Hitler, and if genocide couldn’t be stuck on him in court then that would expose the whole charade.
U.S. website “Shadowproof” has some good articles on the Assange affair, from an American legal perspective.
Here’s the link:
https://shadowproof.com/2019/05/23/julian-assange-prosecutors-17-espionage-act-violations/
My comment was rebuffed as a “duplicate comment”. That’s odd.
I’m just trying to post a link to a useful U.S. website with articles on Assange.
https://shadowproof.com/2019/05/23/julian-assange-prosecutors-17-espionage-act-violations/
A excellent and informative account of Assange’s unjust predicament by Mr Cook, its a big stick for those who see through the deceit by the MSM and statecraft, to beat them over the head with.
The problem is that not enough folk will read the article, or take Mr Cook’s account over that of the duplicitous Fourth Estate.
One hopes that Julian will receive proper medical attention, and that he makes a full recovery, if not the nefarious British state must be held to account.
Julian Assange has been “psychologically tortured” and should not be extradited to the US, a United Nations official has said.
Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture, said the Wikileaks founder would not receive a fair trial after visiting him in a British prison.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/julian-assange-health-torture-prison-extradition-belmarsh-un-wikileaks-a8938561.html
The message is getting through to Journalists, first they come for Julian, then they come for you.
All MSM now running
with this theme.
Thanks for the post and I agree with you 100%. Sovereign Scot am I.
Jeremy Hunt getting roasted on Twitter i notice back track on this thread: https://twitter.com/NilsMelzer/status/1134400849097220102?s=09
Yeah great – a few outraged voices on Twitter is really going to help.
The state remains free to persecute Assange without fear of any meaningful public backlash or outrage. In the highly unlikely event that any Twitter campaign seems to make headway then Twitter will simply ban the most effective voices.
There is a price to pay for freedom and justice and no-one is interested in paying that price. People claim that the government is incompetent but it remains better organized and more determined than those who bemoan its failings.
Cowardice is not a virtue – and unless and until enough people understand and accept this then people like Assange will be figuratively taken outside and shot as pour encourager les autres.
It looks a lot more like seeking hegemony than defending ‘freedom and justice’.
Please go ahead and pay the price. We’re clearly not worthy.
@Loony
Why don’t you address the cultural genocide of the First Nations in Canada? You’ve plenty to be getting on with rather than trolling a discussion of UK matters – or will you pretend that “all is fine” in Canada?
In order to make any form of sense of your remark I forced to conclude that you are unable to determine the difference between the words Looney and Loony.
Words have meanings whether you like it or not.
Andrew
Indeed. Presumably Loony is in denial or just not very well read on current affairs.
@Loony thanks for that, feel free to join the protest tomorrow in Trafalgar Square at 2PM – meet at the National portrait gallery – that is if you really give a sh!t.
I agree with Caitlin Johnstone that the international yankee-dominated “borg” has revealed its pitiless barbarism in this case. The last shreds of legitimacy are gone from this evil international world empire.
Thank you. #Unity4J more than ever.
Thanks @Peter Biesterfeld #Unity4J is what we need. Love to you and yours.
The treatment of JA is one of the worst examples of human rights abuse by the state in this country. Shameful.
I shall write to my MP but sadly probably to no avail. Jonathan Cook’s report was excellent, and very sad.
shugsrug,
I would write to my MP, or even visit him in his office. I know some of his supporters really well, and I voted for him for many years, because I checked his voting record on a regular basis. He was the most anti-war MP, on record, until he got very close to the top of The Liberal Democratic Paty, and shared Power with The Conservatives.
Then he betrayed all the principles of his supporters. With a bit of power, he voted for the exact opposite, of what everyone, including me, elected him to do.
So I researched him even further.
I thought Oh My God?
I have even considered voting Tory, in the hope of getting rid of him as my local MP.
I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it and voted Labour instead, cos I rather like Jeremy Corbyn’s Brother.
Piers Corbyn tells the Truth, and Jeremy Corbyn wants to.
Tony
Only old people who don’t have full control of their faculties and crooks believe man made climate change is nonsense.
Only gullible people who like to be told what to do believe that man made climate change isn’t nonsense.
A gullible person replies: Well that’s good enough for me, anonymous Internet commenter, much obliged, and what a relief.
Perhaps his meals are being prepared by Michelin-starred chefs from Porton Down?
There is a rumor floating around the web that Assange is being fed a psychotropic drug called “Z.” I have no desire to spread a false rumor, but I would like to know if there is any evidence of its veracity.
Rob, I think that unlikely, and still do (with the intention of further incapacitating him). Though it is almost certain he is suffering a major nervous breakdown, and should be receiving the very best possible medical treatment in the Best Hospital in London which also includes regular visits, from his family and friends. For The British State to deny him this, shows the utmost callousness, that I have never become aware of in England before.
He should not be in a Health Ward at Belmarsh High Security Prison, but maybe in
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, Springfield University Hospital, 61 Glenburnie Rd, London SW17 7DJ
Hours: Open 24 hours
Phone: 020 3513 5000
Appointments: swlstg.nhs.uk
People do recover from serious Nervous Breakdowns, though it does take time, some medical treatment, and massive love and support from family and friends.
Tony
The trouble is (and I am not trying to be flippant) how do you treat paranoia leading to a nervous condition if everybody is out to get you, and even the source of the persecution has not been removed?
How do you even begin treat a victim of psychological torture, until you have removed them from that torture?
It is cruel and vindictive beyond belief to continue to torment a person you have destroyed psychologically and physically over years as are those who (even on these forums) who seek to justify this who are beneath contempt.
I heard that it is allegedly BZ.
The one that Lavrov referred to re; The Skripals and the OPCW Report.
Surely a Conspiracy theory too far for some people on here?
One thing’s for sure is that I will never skip bail in the UK.
The sentencing is horrific.
Apparently a British Judge is going to read out the American charges.
Let’s hope that Donald returns the favour in future cases where foreigners have committed crimes in the UK
and are awaiting extradition to the UK.
Neither of those will ever happen due to the US being ‘ exceptional ‘ and the UK being ‘ grovellers’
Sell the UK to the US says to Boris/Dominic and Nigel.
There little doggy tongues are lolling out of their doggy mouths already at the prospect of siytting next to The Dealmaker.
Trump hasn’t built a wall – he hasn’t opened a new steelworks, he’s taking the piss out of WTO rules and has the cheek
( or is it ignorance?) to call the Chines currency manipulators.
This is what and who the No Dealers will be dealing with after ‘ falling out’ onto WTO Rules.
With Trump there will be no rules. He’s busy ripping them up as he and his mates are ripping up International Treaties
and of course what is referred to as ‘The Rules based Order’
Americas Rules – Americas Orders only obeyed.
This is where Assange sits now.
This is the politics of revenge – not the law.
This is the source of the claim.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/05/karen-kwiatkowski/pray-and-weep/
“a rumor floating around the web”
That’s you, that is.
I think the level of viciousness directed against Assange from virtually the entire media in the UK, is stunning, disgraceful and disturbing. When did ‘liberals’ in the media become so heartless and reactionary? The character assassination alone is dispicable and vile. The levels of disinformation about Assange are worthy of a cowed media working under a totalitarian state that’s identified someone as ‘an enemy of the people.’ In Assange’s case he’s been identified and labelled as an enemy of Washington and its outlaw militarism, a militarism that’s led to the slaughter of millions since WW2. Obviously, to shed light on this mass-slaughter and policy of wipping state after state off the map, doesn’t exactly endear one to Washington. To tell the truth is tantamount to treason! Liberals in the media, don’t like going near the mass-destruction and the mass-killlings, because that undermines the cant and dogma, that despite its faults, the United States has been a force for ‘good’ around the world. If that’s a big lie though, why do we suppport them? So, liberals in the media turned on Assange, because he dared to reveal too much to too many people. He held up a polished mirror that reflected an image that liberals couldn’t handle, so, like the Guardian, they turned on him and joined Washington’s witch-hunt.
The fact that he’s been stuck in the embassy, basically incommunicado unable to defend himself for nearly seven years while there’s been a huge effort to discredit him going on outside. Plus, liberals for the most part despise Trump, so they’ve lapped up any and all unproven assertions there was some great Assange /Russia conspiracy via WikiLeaks to get Trump elected. Throw in alleged sexual assault accusations(Me too) and the man only has support from the more discerning, who’ve actually bothered to follow the story and the seemingly manufactured accusations.
I note that the UN is now publicly commenting on Julian Assange’s condition:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/may/31/julian-assange-shows-psychological-torture-symptoms-says-un-expert
I have not yet read the account of Jonathan Cook, but will now do so. Anyone who has seen the ABC TV report on what happened to Julian Assange in Sweden can have little doubt that he was set up on the rape charges. The fact that the new charges from the USA amount to a general attack on the First Amendment of the US Constitution (and that even Obama baulked at this) is a clear indication
that the rule of law is itself under attack in both the UK and the USA.
O/T
Wasn’t it amazing that the opening item on BBC 6.pm news was Pete Willsman?
I’ve been a Labour party member for years and only heard the name a few times. He’s quite a minor figure.
What he said was absolutely correct and for this to be the opening news on the main BBC news just shows how far the BBC has become biased.
A few of us tried to get the Lobby Al Jazeera trending but I suspect this was blocked. Twitter is no better than MSM at times.
You’re absolutely right – I’m finding it hard just to keep up….
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/06/race.politics
Strange indeed. It was the same when Corbyn ally Chris Williamson was secretly filmed, that led the news too all day, all dramatic, and all he(Williamson) said was he thought Labour had been too apologetic(given their proud record).
I don’t think the BBC covered The Al-Jazeera documentary ‘The Lobby’ story at all. It showed conclusively that people from the Israeli embassy are interfering and meddling in UK politics. There’s a clip in it of someone from the Labour Friends of Israel ominously declaring that they work closely with the Israeli embassy, ‘doing a lot behind the scenes’.
Ultimately, it comes down to one thing Jeremy Corbyn said: Labour In Office Would Recognise a Palestinian State.
Goose
re your last para : so what? Some countries recognised Biafra as a state. Didn’t do Biafra much good, did it?
Charles Bostock
I assume that you mean “we” didn’t do Biafra much good, as the UK government along with Nigeria blockaded the state for two and a half years, leading to the deaths of around two millian civilians.
Fast forward to the present day, and the Nigerian military are still extorting money from the area, using illegal road blocks, but that is OK, because we still like Nigeria to turn up at the Commonwealth Games, so they get a free pass from our government.
Aidworker
“What he said was absolutely correct”
There you go – that’s only your opinion, and for the time being at least you thinking something doesn’t make it true, does it. A little humolity on your part would not come amiss.
This is the ‘gentleman’ who set him up.
Tuvia Tenenbom: The story of the suffering Palestinian is bull shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acooLhrJa9g
Willsman needs his head examining to have been stung like that. I can imagine he was led along by this persuasive con merchant.
This is the Norwegian outfit that Tenenbom was addressing. Mr Tenenbom doesn’t sound too peace loving.
MIFF – Med Israel for Fred ?? https://www.miff.no/miff-english-with-israel-for-peace/
Just another website coloured in Israeli blue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Israel_for_Peace
Hey Craig man, they are fucking amazing people … wow … hope you were suitably humbled in their company.
I am very sorry to say being suitably humbled is not my strong point!
Perhaps the reason Assange isn’t being allowed visitors is that the authorities are afraid that one of his “friends” will slip him something to put him out of his misery (he might of course not even know that that was the intention)? And then the authorities could be loudly accused of having “murdered” him. You really can’t be too careful these days, the enemles of liberal democracies are very cunning and ruthless and would stop at nothing…..
Apart from the fact that he is being allowed visitors, probably best not to post when intoxicated.
Oooh Charles – that’s extremely Conspiratorial even for you.
Perhaps Belmarsh Prison could be the next ‘ False Flag ‘ attack by the State and like the Pentagon
on 9/11 Assange was in the wrong wing at the wrong time?
If Corbyn was in power you Tories could then blame him.
More likely he’s very ill because he was neglected by his alleged hosts.
That is much more likely.
If the Skripals had been treated like that I’m sure cries of foul play would have been all over the Guardian and who knows maybe even the Spectator?
Ken
“Oooh Charles – that’s extremely Conspiratorial even for you.”
Well spotted. It was a pastiche of the sort of rubbish one frequently reads on here.
It’s really disturbing that so many liberals and progressives, have swallowed the allegations about Assange’s activities in Sweden, without question; despite not knowing anything about Sweden or the real nature or detail of the allegations. They’ve been massively misinformed from the very beginning, especially by the liberal ‘Bible’ the Guardian. It’s like the Guardian’s been targetted by the UK’s security services and they’ve now turned it into an uncritical platform for their press releases. The Guardian gives way too much space to questionable ‘sources’ and even gives space so spooks can write articles explaining themselves and their role in protecting the UK from dastardly enemies, and that’s before one even gets to the ghastly role of Luke Harding in the Assange Affair.
I don’t think one can underestmate the importance for the British state of ‘capturing’ the Guardian so completely, so definitively. The very class or people who might have protested or been critical of the role of the UK in Washington’s dangerous, bloody and wide-ranging, New Imperialism; are now cut-off from critical sources of information that reveals just how much wartime propaganda educated liberals are being spoon-fed. That there’s now virtually no voices of dissent allowe anymore within the controlled boundaries of the mainstream media, is very worrying. It’s like the public is being groome for more wars to come. I think they want to literally destroy Assange for lifting the lid on the slaugherhouse and the screams of the uncountable victims spread out over the face of the planet. For that, he must be destroyed and seen to be destroyed, totally, as a warning and example to others. It’s a form of fascism and, depressingly, one the Guardian and too many liberals can apparently live with without losing sleep at their complicity in Assange’s destruction.
The current guardian editor-in-chief certainly isn’t one to rock the establishment boat.
The journalists select the editor and I guess after all the stress and drama releasing the Snowden stuff brought them eg., people from the intel agencies supervising use of grinder tools on computer components in the guardian HQ’s basement, plus people following them and strange work crews turning up outside. Well, I guess they wanted a quiet life.
@Los
P.D. have had a LOT of practise!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6969127/Nearly-50-000-animals-killed-secret-Ministry-Defence-site-Porton-Down.html
48,400 blown-up, tested, with nerve agents tor simply poisoned in secret tests , is Chris Packham aware of Julian’s condition?
The unrelenting state has another big NGO plan to help the poor people in the middle east. Just amazing job opportunities all round
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/05/us-government-seeks-ngo-help-for-removing-iran-from-syria.html
Some people are convinced that the Deep State is trying to murder Julian Assange with drugs. His state of health is in a bad way and he could not communicate properly with his Swedish lawyer a week ago. Something has to be done. My first suggestion would be to ignore those people who dub those of us trying to get to the truth as conspiracy theorists. You will notice these are the same people who said Julian could walk out of the embassy at any time (before he was bundled out) the same people who would like to see him extradited on any charge who always kowtow to the mainstream view. IGNORE THEM!
Secondly, read this:
https://theduran.com/is-julian-assange-being-murdered/
Write to your MPs. Wholesale.
I have just written to my MP.
Dear Steve,
I am very concerned about the health and welfare of Julian Assange, a journalist who has been hounded by the United States for releasing footage of war-crimes committed in Iraq and the torture of prisoners in places like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison. It is what journalists used to be able to do – uncover stories and publish them. Unfortunately the protection of journalists is almost non-existent (especially in war-zones where they have to be embedded and regurgitate military press-releases to avoid being “accidentally” targeted).
I urge you to read this and ask yourself what kind of a government have we got that allows a good man to be tortured like this at the behest of the United States. And what are our elected representatives doing about it.
https://theduran.com/is-julian-assange-being-murdered/
Submitted by Richard Galustian… A great champion of human rights and injustice, Caitlin Johnstone, seems to be one of only a handful of people reporting on the very serious medical condition of Julian Assange. Julian Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per Samuelson has told the press that “Assange’s health situation last Friday was such that it was…
theduran.com
Our mainstream media is good in parts but on major international issues it is as though some third entity, with an agenda, dictates what is embellished as news. The weather forecast is pretty good most of the time.
My fear for Julian Assange is that he will suffer the fate of the Skripals and be “vanished” without anyone being able to get his point of view. Please get together with your fellow MPs and address this issue. Thanks.
John Goss
For a general letter that is not so provocative use ADKC’s model here.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/05/the-unrelenting-state/comment-page-2/#comment-870537
Here in Australia, I’ve sent a total of 8 emails (over a period of time) to relevant MPs. Only my first, a year or so ago, got a response – I was informed that Assange was free to leave the Embassy whenever he liked. I’ve asked family/friends to send similar emails but from their silence on the topic I suspect none of them has.
Hi John
I too have written to my (Labour) MP about JA – most recently about 6 weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply in which he said that he too had concerns about JA being extradited to the US and he would be monitoring the situation carefully. I think it’s time for another follow-up letter from me stressing my concerns about JA’s treatment and deterioration whilst in UK custody.
Unfortunately the House of Commons is still on the Whitsun recess (since 23 May) so MPs are largely ‘on their hols’ until 4 June. It is unlikely that any of them – other than may be a few conscientious ones – will look at their correspondence until then.
Cheers.
Nils Melzer 1 Jeremy Hunt 0
Jeremy Hunt
✔
@Jeremy_Hunt
This is wrong. Assange chose to hide in the embassy and was always free to leave and face justice. The UN Special Rapporteur should allow British courts to make their judgements without his interference or inflammatory accusations. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/julian-assange-showing-symptoms-of-psychological-torture-un-expert-to-say-a4155791.html …
10:19 AM – May 31, 2019
_______
Nils Melzer
@NilsMelzer
Replying to @Jeremy_Hunt
With all due respect, Sir: Mr Assange was about as „free to leave“ as a someone sitting on a rubberboat in a sharkpool. As detailed in my formal letter to you, so far, UK courts have not shown the impartiality and objectivity required by the rule of law.
1,385
12:06 PM – May 31, 2019
https://www.rt.com/uk/460738-un-torture-rapporteur-assange-hunt/
:))
Nice one Nils.
That told the twerp who was recently in charge of dismantling OUR NHS. He is now in King Charles Street behind a BIG desk. He walks rather strangely with a stiff back as if there is a coat hanger inside his jacket. Also I used to see him sitting on the front bench in the HoC chewing on air, literally. A suitable case for treatment perhaps?
I see him as a Captain Peacock double in ‘Are You Being Served’!
Well Assange didn’t ” choose to hide ” – he sought asylum.
The fact that his protectors of his asylum betrayed him by allowing another countries State forces to enter their Sovereign building and take him out -rather than the Ecuadorians throwing him out speaks volumes about the asylum laws really doesn’t it?
Note to any future asylum seekers – don’t seek it in the UK or Ecuador and definitely not the US.
Next thing to extradite from the UK are the Tory government but Vince – Nigel and Change UK don’t seem keen on doing it for some reason.
Perhaps they actually prefer a No Deal over a Corbyn led government if push comes to shove?
With all these surges in support of The Brexit Party and the LIb Dems you’d think they’d be chomping at the bit for a GE.
Not a squeak from either.
I was perturbed by Jonathan Cooks assertion that J Assange is deprived of access to a computer and all meaningful contact with the outside world. I can understand his not being able to access a computer but all Prisoners in UK jails have the right to use prison telephones to communicate with friends and family outside prison also Lawyers, provided they pay the costs themselves, this is available usually in the evening on a daily basis, is Julian being denied this service, which is available even to category ‘A’ prisoners?
Independent journalist Gordon Dimmack has published this:
Julian Assange writes a letter from Belmarsh prison
(Published by The Canary, dated 13 May 2019, to independent journalist Gordon Dimmack)
Thanks Gordon. You are a good man.
I have been isolated from all ability to prepare to defend myself: no laptop, no internet, ever, no computer, no library, so far, but even if I get access it will be just for half an hour, with everyone else, once a week. Just two visits a month and it takes weeks to get someone on the call list and a Catch-22 in getting their details to be security screened. Then all calls except lawyers, are recorded and calls are max 10 minutes and in a limited 30-min window each day in which all prisoners compete for the phone. And credit? Just a few pounds a week and no one can call in.
The other side? A superpower that has been preparing for 9 years with hundreds of people and untold millions spent on the case. I am defenseless and am counting on you and others of good character to save my life.
I am unbroken, albeit literally surrounded by murderers, but the days when I could read and speak and organize to defend myself, my ideals, and my people are over until I am free! Everyone else must take my place.
The US government, or rather, those regrettable elements in it that hate truth liberty and justice, want to cheat their way into my extradition and death, rather than letting the public hear the truth, for which I have won the highest awards in journalism and have been nominated 7 times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Truth, ultimately, is all we have.
J.P.A.
Source: https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/05/26/julian-assange-writes-a-letter-from-belmarsh-prison/
“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes,”
Carl von Ossietzky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_von_Ossietzky
Are we ready for Magna Carta II or an Updated Bill of Rights ?
The open sharing of any material that reveals activity contrary to the best interests of the citizens, or activity contrary to national law, or activity contrary to international humanitarian law shall always be respected by the government, protected by the courts, and considered lawful.
“The open sharing of any material that reveals activity contrary to the best interests of the citizens, …”
And who shall determine what are the best interests of the citizens? People like you…or Craig Murray…who?
News Flash – Your question was resolved 800 years ago in the original Magna Carta – it is called trial by jury of one’s peers: https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-and-jury-trial
“No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” http://magnacarta.cmp.uea.ac.uk/read/magna_carta_1215/Clause_39
Does anyone in this day and age honestly not realize that governments, politicians, officials and bureaucrats are routinely and increasingly abusing their authority and hiding criminal activity by secret classifications of material under the guise of national security?
The wording I proposed for what I called Magna Carta II or an Updated Bill of Rights is one individuals initial proposal. I welcome any and all to propose improved versions…
Even serial killers should get fair process. Indeed, serial killers especially should get fair process, so that their trial doesn’t collapse. Assange has been routinely screwed by the legal system from minute one. Some people refuse to see it, and I’m not sure how you respond to such wilful blindness. But it is evidently true that Assange has never been given fair process, and is now being effectively tortured in prison.
I salute his courage. His tormentors show no courage. His own government, over here in Oz, can barely even speak his name. I have suspected for a long time that Australian politicians are actually fearful on this issue. And I’m not just talking about career-fear, but fear for their own safety. Can’t prove this, but the hand-wringing is deeply, deeply odd. I’d like to think private conversations have taken place, but I doubt it.
He stands a chance, still. If his health improves, POTUS could be swayed to a pardon. I know Trump isn’t for everyone on this thread, but here he could do the right thing, and I think he will, personally. Who knows though?
Yes Asange’s revelations about war crimes and Hilary assist Trump and America First, that’s why I suspect the Deep State acted when they did, after the Mueller report, to kill Assange before he was pardoned by Trump and started talking about H Clinton.
Dave
I strongly suspect you are right. Most of us on here are well aware of what the Deep State are capable of. But what I find even more abhorrent is that the UK Government is undoubtedly complicit and actually enabling this treachery, and have been since Day 1.
Many find it hard to step back and see the big picture, so embroiled are they with their opinions and analysis of the relative virtues of others. But this is an old problem. Distracted, we squabble about a person’s virtues and the information put up by the state to justify the actions of the state – which is the topic of concern.
This dilemma was probably best framed by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller in a poem that is, I believe, displayed in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Niemöller did not mention journalists, but the implications are 100% clear.
Our common interests are often served best by defending the freedom and liberty of those whom we may not like – or agree with. In contrast, our differing opinions are not enduring nor meaningful. There are times when one person’s freedom becomes a symbol of wider values and freedoms that will outlast us all.
This is one such time.
Those values are to do with democracy, justice and free speech.
Some will wait around for a saint to support, to prevent any compromise that might offend their own virtue. Such are the priorities of fence-sitters, puritans and the chronically gullible. It is they who Martin Niemöller wrote about, as it is they who have always been the best friend of those who do evil in the name of the state.
In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/europe/assange-a-victim-of-torture-and-australia-shares-blame-says-un-expert-20190531-p51t1v.html
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/wikileaks-julian-assange-subjected-to-psychological-torture-un-expert-claims
further mentions that DFAT wrote a letter to Belmarsh to ask if this was true, second class stamp used there DFAT?
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/31/seg_1_julian_assange_please_update
the democracynow article features the transcript of their long onterview with the impartial united nations expert, Nils Melzer.
I believe we have to take a step back and look at all these proceedings, how they have been conducted, and come to our own conclusions whether these are fair. We also have to take a step back and look at this whole narrative of suspected rapist; narcissist; selfish, ungrateful person; hacker, and scratch the surface a little bit and see what’s below there. When I was first approached by his defense team to—seeking protection from my mandate in December last year, I was reluctant to do so, because, me, too, I had been affected by this prejudice that I had absorbed through all these public, you know, narratives spread in the media over the years. And only when I scratched the surface a little bit, I saw how little foundation there was to back this up and how much fabrication and manipulation there is in this case. So I encourage everybody to really look below the surface in this case
Rather than promoting various of the candidates for UK PM, Trump should mind his own business. He should stay at home and sort out the US gun lobby. 12 people have just been killed by a disaffected government employee in Virginia. A rifle and a handgun were recovered from the scene.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48481814
‘According to US tracking website Gun Violence Archive, the incident is the 150th mass shooting in the US so far in 2019.’
D’ye not think that we Brits should mind our own business when it comes to Israel/”Palestine”?
Or when we comment about various matters American?
The judge at the Thursday magistrates’ court hearing at which Julian Assange was unable to appear was Emma Arbuthnot.
On the spot report: Protest outside Westminster Magistrates Court demands freedom for gravely ill Julian Assange
31 May 2019
‘In court, Gareth Peirce told judge Emma Arbuthnot that Assange was “not very well.” But nothing is to be allowed to stand in the way of the British judicial establishment, which is hellbent on facilitating Assange’s extradition. Arbuthnot announced the next hearing would take place on June 12 or a day either side at Belmarsh Magistrates Court, or even in Belmarsh prison.’
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/05/31/maxi-m31.html
Craig wrote of Lady Arbuthnot in February 2018.
‘The “judge” who dismissed Assange’s case yesterday was “Lady Arbuthnot of Edrom”, wife to Tory peer, former Tory junior Defence Minister and government whip Lord James Arbuthnot. Not to mention Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel. Arbuthnot was naturally Eton educated, the son of Major Sir John Sinclair Wemyss Arbuthnot. Of course Lady Arbuthnot’s children were all sent to Eton too.
At the first hearing, I was stunned by reports of completely inappropriate comments by Lady Arbuthnot, including responding to representations about Assange’s health by the comment that medical care is available in Wandsworth prison.’
/..
All Pretence is Over in Persecution of Assange
14 Feb, 2018
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/02/pretence-persecution-assange/
Martinned went to town on that earlier 2018 blog post. He made over 50 comments on the first page alone. Kempe also featured. Reading them gives a feeling of déjà vu!
Judge Arbuthnot, eh? So THAT’s why Assange is suddenly too unwell to appear.