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the BBC are making a big thing of Mr.Salmond being in court on sex charges against ten women, this is to disrupt the SNP in the run up to the General Election. Disgraceful.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-50486713
I have always heard it said that English law is very ‘robust’, and a model for the world. If that is the case, the world is in a whole lot of trouble. My experience is that it is class-based, racist, sexist, and everything else besides.
In Britain, there seems to one law for people, which is very problematic in itself, riddled by all sorts of discrimination and ineptitude, which lawyers can either be 1) too dumb to see, because of an idiotic pride that blinds them, or 2) depressed about, because they realise ‘the system’ is bent and malicious.
Then, of course, there is the law for royals, the government, and others with wealth and power, which is no law at all, or only the appearance of one.
(I say, English law almost makes the American judicial system look somewhat decent.)
Then, there seems to be a third kind of law reserved for Julian and other human rights activists, which sanctions torture and the deprivation of all the basic rights for which these people stand.
Marmite wrote:
> I have always heard it said that English law is very ‘robust’, and a model for the world. If that is the case, the world is in a whole lot of trouble.
“I am sure that the whole House will welcome the news this morning that the Metropolitan Police have arrested Julian Assange . . . This goes to show that in the United Kingdom no one is above the law.”
— Theresa May, April 11, 2019
That is, no one who reveals government crimes is above the misapplication of the law, e.g. their unlawful classification. Those who committed the crimes are above the law:
“ASSANGE IS THE ONLY ONE TO ABIDE BY THE LAW . . .
“The only person who’s abided by the law the entire time this epic tragedy has now lasted has been Julian Assange (and his lawyers, and others who work with him, and former Ecuador president Correa). All the other players, the people who’ve been chasing, torturing and now murdering him have all broken the law consistently, one after the other, and in coordinated fashion. But they have the media on their side, and that’s how the story got turned upside down. Propaganda wins.
“In 2010, Swedish police invented a rape allegation out of thin air and against the expressed wishes of the alleged victim. . . .
“This was followed (after 7 years!) by the new Ecuador government that violated any and all international law by rescinding Julian’s asylum, but only after hiring a Spanish “security” company that recorded all of his -and all of his visitors’ – talks and phones etc., including client-lawyer and doctor-patient conversations that we all know are confidential . . .
“And now he’s in a super high security prison for no apparent reason at all . . . And then Monday in court, a British court, it was a bunch of Americans who openly decided what should happen . . .
“What Assange practiced when he published “US war files” is called journalism. Which thank god is perfectly legal. Much of what those files reveal is not. What he did when he allegedly “skipped bail” in the UK is called requesting asylum. Also perfectly legal, a basic human right. He never broke a law. . . .
“If you live in Britain and you think Brexit is a more important issue than Assange, you’re delusional. Nothing is more important to anyone in a society than a government torturing a man to death in broad daylight, a man who moreover has not broken a single law. We don’t even torture mass murderers, terrorists or child rapists to death anymore, at least not at home. But Julian Assange IS treated that way. And whether the UK will be a part of Europe or not, that is the country it has become. A lawless medieval banana republic.”
Assange Is The Only One To Abide By The Law — Raúl Ilargi Meijer
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/assange-only-one-abide-law
jmg, thank you – excellent post. You are right, it is a major, major issue.
It’s the line in the sand. If he’s extradited, his case will be the first of many. If he isn’t, then he will be first and last. That simple really.
Doghouse wrote:
“it is a major, major issue. It’s the line in the sand. If he’s extradited, his case will be the first of many. If he isn’t, then he will be first and last. That simple really.”
Yes, we can read Julian’s superseding indictment of May 23 with 18 charges, basically for receiving and publishing whistleblower’s public interest disclosures. That is, the legal precedent they are trying to establish.
Then we realize that what is really at stake is the effective end of free press internationally by threat of extradition, as explained here by celebrated journalist Chris Hedges from the States:
> The publication of classified documents is not a crime in the United States, but if Assange is extradited and convicted it will become one.
> Assange is not an American citizen. WikiLeaks, which he founded and publishes, is not a U.S.-based publication. The message the U.S. government is sending is clear: No matter who or where you are, if you expose the inner workings of empire you will be hunted down, kidnapped and brought to the United States to be tried as a spy.
> The extradition and trial of Assange will mean the end of public investigations by the press into the crimes of the ruling elites. It will cement into place a frightening corporate tyranny.
> Publications such as The New York Times and The Guardian, which devoted pages to the WikiLeaks revelations and later amplified and legitimized Washington’s carefully orchestrated character assassination of Assange, are no less panicked.
> This is the gravest assault on press freedom in my lifetime.
— Chris Hedges, award-winning journalist
https://i.imgflip.com/3fn1bf.jpg
The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange — Chris Hedges — Jun 17, 2019
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-coming-show-trial-of-julian-assange/
—
A summary of the indictment:
> Julian Assange faces 18 charges:
> 1 Conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act: 10 years
> 2 Violating the Espionage Act by Manning’s obtaining Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (GITMO) Files: 10 years
> 3 Violating the Espionage Act by Manning’s obtaining Cablegate: 10 years
> 4 Violating the Espionage Act by Manning’s obtaining Iraq War Logs: 10 years
> 5 Attempting to receive and obtain classified information: 10 years
> 6 Unlawfully obtaining and receiving GITMO Files: 10 years
> 7 Unlawfully obtaining and receiving Cablegate: 10 years
> 8 Unlawfully obtaining and receiving Iraq War Logs: 10 years
> 9 Causing unlawful disclosure by Manning of GITMO Files: 10 years
> 10 Causing unlawful disclosure by Manning of Cablegate: 10 years
> 11 Causing unlawful disclosure by Manning of Iraq War Logs: 10 years
> 12 Causing Manning to communicate, deliver and transmit GITMO Files: 10 years
> 13 Causing Manning to communicate, deliver and transmit Cablegate: 10 years
> 14 Causing Manning to communicate, deliver and transmit Iraq War Logs: 10 years
> 15 ‘Pure publication’ of Afghan War Diaries: 10 years
> 16 ‘Pure publication’ of Iraq War Logs: 10 years
> 17 ‘Pure publication’ of Cablegate: 10 years
> 18 Conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFFA): 5 years
Journalists must pay attention to Julian Assange | New Internationalist | 31 October 2019
https://newint.org/features/2019/10/31/journalists-must-pay-attention-julian-assange
“I have always heard it said that English law is very ‘robust’, and a model for the world. If that is the case, the world is in a whole lot of trouble”.
Marmite, I was always taught – and I still believe – that the principles of British law are very good ones. Unfortunately, no system of laws and institutions can possibly work properly if it is operated by people who take a cynical, selfish, opportunistic view of life.
Such people specialise in finding critical loopholes in laws, regulations and procedures. Over time, more and more laws, regulations and procedures have been heaped up; and, as Tacitus pointed out, “As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws”.
With apologies for perhaps over-quoting (I do so to avoid taking credit for other men’s work, and because no one could could put things more clearly), let me leave the last word to Burke:
“Manners are of more importance than laws. The law can touch us here and there, now and then. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation like that of the air we breathe in… According to their quality, they aid morals, they supply them, or they totally destroy them”.
– Edmund Burke (Letters On a Regicide Peace (1796))
I was very impressed from a tactical point of view by the Labour manifesto. It has changed the scope of the election campaign massively and forced people to think about things like living standards, the economy, welfare, nhs, etc. The less this election is about Brexit, the more chance Labour have of winning (or at least winning enough seats to stop Boris winning a majority).
On that basis today, I predicted a surge in support for Labour. Assuming a few days of lag, I think you’ll see evidence of that in the polls by the middle of next week. It’s been a surprisingly good couple of days for Corbyn and Labour.
The Scumbag Guardian has done more than a volte face, but as they have perfected the two faced art to perfection I expect Prince Andrew to invite them to a soirée soon.
All of a sudden we have an editorial piece from TheGuardian that backtracks on the lies they have told about Julian to date.
The Guardian can’t resist this snotty little comment though “This is not a question of how wise Mr Assange is, still less how likable. It is not about his character, nor his judgment. It is a matter of press freedom, and the public’s right to know. It is unclear whether it would be safe to extradite Mr Assange to the US. It is certain that it would not be right”
For those who are interested in justice, this second link shows the long and sorry saga of The Guardian lies against Julian…_
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/11/22/advancing-propaganda-for-evil-agendas-is-the-same-as-perpetrating-them-yourself/
Visiting Britain’s Political Prisoner — John Pilger — Consortium News — November 29, 2019
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/29/john-pilger-visiting-britains-political-prisoner/