Numerous people have contacted me in various ways to ask where is my promised report on the final day of the Assange hearing, to complete the account?
It is difficult to explain this to you. When I was in London it was extremely intense. This was my daily routine. I would attend court at 10am, take 25 to 30 pages of handwritten notes, and leave around 5. In court I was always with Julian’s dad John, and usually for lunch too. After court I would thank supporters outside the courtroom, occasionally do some media and often meet with the Wikileaks crew to discuss developments and tactics. I would then get back to my hotel room, have a bite to eat and go to bed around 6.30pm to 7pm. I would awake between 11pm and midnight, shower and shave, read my notes and do any research needed. About 3am I would start to write. I would finish writing around 8.30am and proofread. Then I would get dressed. About 9.30am I would make any last changes and press publish. Then I would walk to the Old Bailey and start again.
Apart from being exhausting, I was totally immersed in a bubble, and buoyed by the support of others close to Julian, who were also inside that bubble.
But in that courtroom, you were in the presence of evil. With a civilised veneer, a pretence at process, and even displays of bonhommie, the entire destruction of a human being was in process. Julian was being destroyed as a person before my eyes. For the crime of publishing the truth. He had to sit there listening to days of calm discussion as to the incredible torture that would await him in a US supermax prison, deprived of all meaningful human contact for years on end, in solitary in a cell just fifty square feet.
Fifty square feet. Mark that out yourself now. Three paces by two. Of all the terrible things I heard, Warden Baird explaining that the single hour a day allowed out of the cell is alone in another, absolutely identical cell called the “recreation cell” was perhaps the most chilling. That and the foul government “expert” Dr Blackwood describing how Julian might be sufficiently medicated and physically deprived of the means of suicide to keep him alive for years of this.
I encountered evil in Uzbekistan when the mother brought me the photos of her son tortured to death by immersion in boiling liquid. The US government was also implicated in that, through the CIA cooperation with the Uzbek Security Services; it happened just outside the US military base at Karshi-Khanabad. Here was that same evil paraded in the centre of London, under the panoply of Crown justice.
Having left the bubble, my courage keeps failing me to return to the evil and write up the last day. I know that sounds either pathetic or precious. I know the mainstream journalists who revel in portraying me as mentally unstable will delight to mock. But this last few days I can’t even bring myself to look at my notes. I feel physically ill when I try. Of course I will complete the series, but I may need a little time.
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You put yourself under a lot more pressure than you should.
its is not possible to understate the value of your work.
but compared to the value of yourself…
your readers can wait.
You are hero as it is, we readers cannot thank you enough for your brilliant work! Take care, all the best from Germany, Susanne
It’s perfectly understandable that you’d need some space form the incredible abomination that just took place in the Old Bailey courthouse in the United Kingdom. I was not in court or had video access to the proceedings yet there were many times when I felt literally sick to my stomach just reading the accounts by you and others. Please take the time you need to recover.
The spectacle of a truth-teller being strung up to dry by two alleged “democratic” countries is both diabolical and highly offensive. The US ruling class is especially cruel and vindictive. It is responsible for unspeakable atrocities in the so-called Third World. On the domestic front, there are dozens of political prisoners buried deep in the US gulags who despite ample evidence of a frame up conspiracy by a cabal of cops, prosecutors and the FBI are sitting in maximum security prisons after more than 45 years and counting. Julian must never be rendered to this cabal of war criminals, jackbooted thugs, imperialist thieves and mass murderers. This must be an ironclad promise to the courageous and heroic publisher and Journalist, Julian Assange. This is not charity; this is our sacred responsibility and duty to a truth-teller whose work has enormously benefited all of us and indeed humanity in general; it is the least we can do. If Assange is rendered to the US, the criminal US ruling class will assuredly inflict severe torture and punishment on him to exact revenge for exposing their foul criminality. They can never be trusted: they have broken every treaty they signed with the natives of this country. They have an insatiable appetite to subdue countries and steal the natural resources. This desire is akin to a vampire’s lust for blood and of course they have the blood of Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians, Palestinians, Libyans, and many Latin American and Caribbean countries from Brazil to Chile and Venezuela, Guatemala, Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Grenada and many more. And of course US genocidal blockade against Cuba and 100s of attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro is very well documented. Free Assange! No extradition to the USA!
As an American I am sympathetic to criticisms articulated above. As is the case within any group or body politic views and behaviors are never homogeneous. In fact in political views beliefs and preferences the distribution is broad and gaussian. To be sure there is a sizable vocal element in the American landscape correctly characterized as jackbooted thugs. Unfortunately a good many of these people are in high positions of government something the opposition or resistance desperately hopes to ameliorate if not reverse shortly. But the larger problem of assumed “exceptionalism” and “hegemon” is sadly implanted in the cultural DNA of America. The American disease of hubris and delusion regrettably is on conspicuous display. It is that larger broad based national infirmity that animates a great deal of the moral abominations perpetrated in the London court, probably in the name of “justice be done”. But in terms of scale and degree ,America currently has larger fishes to fry if its house is to be ever cleaned properly. It has been made abundantly clear for all sentient moral beings to observe the Donald Trump regime without a scintilla of doubt has declared itself the worst most heinous the most abusive administration in all of US history. Indeed if there is a God in Heaven, and if moral judgement is alive and well on this planet ( something seriously now called into question as Craig Murray observes) Trump will, one day in the short term future, be reported to the International Courts to be tried for High Crimes against Humanity
it’s not just trump, and trump isn’t responsible for nearly as much loss of life as george w. bush. nor will democrats, who have gone along with the u.s. refusal to be subject to the international criminal court, reverse that policy and hand over trump for things they themselves are as guilty of as trump.
Your naivete is adorable that you think this is only due to one man – Trump – when in reality he is the representative of a system – or do you not remember that since WW2 the USA is responsible under both Democrat and Republican leaders for the death of an estimated 12 Million (http://www.worldfuturefund.org/Reports/Imperialism/usmurder.html) and the replacement of another 37 million or so? (https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2020/Displacement_Vine%20et%20al_Costs%20of%20War%202020%2009%2008.pdf)
The USA is run by an oligarchy, of which the president is just a puppet to be willfully or not manipulated to act on the will of this elite.
(https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf)
President Assad has an interesting view point on the USA presidency. I am not sure if President Assad is credible or not but regardless I suspect this particular view is cogent. I have pinched the quotes from an article on Moon of Alabama site entitled “Why U.S. Elections Do Not Change Its Foreign Policies.”
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/10/why-us-elections-do-not-change-its-foreign-policies.html#more
U.S. foreign policy does not change from presidency to presidency. In a recent interview President Bashar al-Assad of Syria explained why that is the case:
Question 9: You definitely follow the presidential campaign in the United States. And do you hope that the new US President, regardless of the name of the winner, will review sanctions policies towards Syria?
President Assad: We don’t usually expect presidents in the American elections, we only expect CEOs; because you have a board, this board is made of the lobbies and the big corporates like banks and armaments and oil, etc. So, what you have is a CEO, and this CEO doesn’t have the right or the authority to review; he has to implement. And that’s what happened to Trump when he became president after the elections –
Journalist: He used to be CEO for many years before.
President Assad: Exactly! And he is a CEO anyway. He wanted to follow or pursue his own policy, and he was about to pay the price – you remember the impeachment issue. He had to swallow every word he said before the elections. So, that’s why I said you don’t expect a president, you only expect a CEO. If you want to talk about changing the policy, you have one board – the same board will not change its policy. The CEO will change but the board is still the same, so don’t expect anything.
Question 10: Who are this board? Who are these people?
President Assad: As I said, this board is made up of the lobbies, so they implement whatever they want, and they control the Congress and the others, and the media, etc. So, there’s an alliance between those different self-vested interest corporations in the US.
Although Trump is a pig of a man I don’t think he is the root of the problem. Nor do I think that the problem exists solely in the USA. It is everywhere.
ET,
Good find! President Assad is most certainly credible on this point. He has got it bang on. Look past the pig.
Thank you Adwoa for expressing everything so well. Yes we can empathize with Craig in his inability at present to return to his notes of a week ago even though we value his humane perspective and incisive analysis. We totally empathize and send healing thoughts and prayers to bathe not only himself but Julian and his family. I want that Love, the love of all of us who really care about Julian, about Craig and about their friends and family would flow over them all like honey to restore what has been brutalized.
I just got more or less caught up on how this story has run and just finished reading the essay “Where is my final Assange report”.
It was profoundly affecting; sobering. The essay reminded me of the impact felt after watching Oliver Stone’s & Parker’s Midnight Express. The film provided a hint of a reality depicting visually what it might be like to be locked up and brutalized in a foreign prison. One must react similarly to the sort of account provided by witnesses at the Assange hearing considering extradition to the USA. One can pose the question “what would be like to “exist” in isolation in a high security federal prison like ADX Florence CO? Any thoughtful person could pose such a question but it’s unlikely it could ever be answered. Because it is almost by definition unimaginable. Murray used such language as ‘revulsion” nausea””flush and faint” – substitute words for disgust & abhorrence . I assume those to be appropriate and justified reactions to the proceedings of this court. Based on Murray’s past work and observations of statecraft and diplomacy obtained inside a war zone, his current perceptions must not be called into question. Then the question turns to larger issues of “why” “for what purpose?” “to what end? ” To prepare an answer for these other questions one can refer back to the Daniel Ellsberg saga – from accusation all the way through to trial and conviction. Beyond that case the USA has no modern experience . I see Noam Chomsky has weighed in on this matter and I m sure in no uncertain terms. (I haven’t yet looked through transcripts prior essays or reflections mainly because like most Americans I m wrestling with the reality of our own Adolph Hitler and NAZI Party). Nonetheless I m sure a great number of big ticket issues are front and center in The Trials & Tribulations of Julian Assange story. Not the least of which are “what is journalism” “what is journalism privilege ” “what is loyalty” “what is truth” “what is a crime” “what is nationalism” “what is power” “what is exploitation and abuse of power ” “what is fair” “what is just” “what is wrong “and “what is right “
The only justification I have seen for liberal silence about this assault on Assange and free speech is that it is clever politics. The implication being that once Labour or the Democrats trick their way into power their true principles will shine. The ones everyone knows they really hold.
Dear Craig
I couldn’t cope with your schedule and am not surprised if you are mentally and physically exhausted, especially given the harrowing testimony each day and the feeling of helplessness given the seeming inevitability of the process. You could not have done any more and your reports have massively helped awareness of what has been/is going on.
I hope you are soon back to a better sleep pattern and that returning to your family quickly restores your mental equilibrium.
All the best!
Dear Craig,
I shudder at what you must have gone through.
Take care and I wish you a speedy recovery.
Thank you.
No apologies needed, Craig. Doesn’t sound in the least bit “pathetic or precious”.
You’re a blinkin’ superstar & we all know it.
Always good to read your thoughts and analysis but not at the expense of your wellness.
It’s tough enough navigating the banality of this evil campaign, especially when it is targeting someone you hold dear, let alone doing your utmost to keep the Truth alive outside of those musty, hollowed corridors of injustice.
You have already done Julian & the wider public an enormous service with your committment to witnessing proceedings (& the insane timetable you describe in attending, note taking and publishing day by day – plus a little bit of sleep!).
This is a long hard fight and none of us can afford our champions to burn out, so rest up hombre, you deserve it & we will still be here when you’ve recharged your batteries.
Weird to say, but it is in some ways more difficult for loved ones outside of the cage to keep their strength up than those we fight for. I’m sure Julian will be as worried for you as you are for him so don’t feel bad for,,,,, feeling bad, you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t 🙂
Many of us also appreciate that you have been very much in the cross hairs yourself, with this case and your online censorship, but also with the despicable events up North which promise to further sap your faith in justice & human decency.
There’re tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people employed in the intelligence apparatus who are all busy trying to be busy, and given free rein to target any effective resistance to this abysmal State of Indecency we find ourselves subject to. So, whilst it may seem overwhelming, you are ‘effective’ & you are much better than all of them put together, you are fighting the good fight,,,,,& we know it.
Feel free to switch everything off for a day or three, have a cry, a cup of tea, a walk in the wilds, a pint of Guinness & a pie.
We love you 🙂
I could have responded to a few of these but Josh is close to what i feel. I was a counsellor until last year. I have seen this many times. it is as though we have a battery and it has run down. The good news is that it will recharge but you need to take care of yourself.
My thanks for all you do and have done.
Perfectly understandable, and I certainly don’t need any excuses. Of course you should take time out – take weeks or months or however long you need – until not only can you ‘face’ it, but are eager to do so.
Do, and think of, other things. Distract yourself. Your subconscious in the meantime has space and time to crunch away at filing all the intense information into hopefully neat order – on smaller issues how often have you decided to ‘sleep on it’ before giving a response to something? The morning sometimes brings clarity. With so much information, you need longer, and much more sleep – if you deprived yourself at the time your brain wasn’t able to subconciously process everything then, and now it needs the time. What you will produce after will be far more informed, contextual, informative writing.
So, it’s BEST you take your time over it. Don’t try to force it, don’t look at your notes again until you feel an urge to do so – it will come, because it will be when your subconcious has finished doing its processing. Put your notes in some kind of order and file them away.
You reported everything as it was happening, people can draw their own conclusions from that, but you obviously do want to give your own informed conclusion – give yourself time, give your subconcious time, to make it a thoughtful conclusion. Do other things – your brain is still working on it, so leave it in peace to do so.
For creative thinking – take a leaf out of Einstein’s book, he famously slept 12 hours every night.
As a distraction, Gordon Dangerfield’s clear and concise analysis of the evidence that has been published in the harassment procedure committee (re handling of complaints against Alex Salmond) from a legal perspective – so he gives some understanding of what things actually mean in that context – are good:
https://gordondangerfield.com/2020/10/09/salmond-inquiry-lies-lies-lies/
He asks some incisive questions, and makes us realise the importance of the Scottish government conceding the review case, and how the civil servants’ excuses of how everything they did was above board just don’t stack up. Nothing stacks up. The title of his latest blog post summarises it well ‘lies lies lies’.
Craig – you are a courageous and amazing person. Courage!
obviously you have not gone through the same physical and mental torment Mr Assange has/is suffering HOWEVER, I see similarities in what you described and I unfortunately cannot demonstrate the support good people like you have and deserve. Please know that many of us ordinary people with a brain and a sense of justice between our ears, greatly appreciate and support (in the background) what you and other brave people are doing, in order that humanity and truth can overcome the evil and their goons that are about and who trouble the people and the planet in general. Onwards and upwards, always.
Craig, you have done an enormous service to all of us that have been following you, and to the country as a whole (if it could but see it). One of the many, many things that has shocked me about this dreadful farce is how few people even know it is taking place. My heart would love to believe that if they knew, they would care. And it sounds to me that you now owe yourself a little care. Thank you so very much.
I am not in a postition to contribute at the moment, I have had no work since the Covid-19 outbreak. But you are top of the list when my income returns.
Craig wrote: – “Julian was being destroyed as a person before my eyes. For the crime of publishing the truth.”
Extinction Rebellion Demand number One – Tell the Truth!
Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook was outside the Old Bailey on the first day of proceedings; I spoke with her. She said it was good that XR actions that Monday were lower key because “the world’s eyes need to be on this today”. Not that the corporate media gave much coverage to either, but then, dependent upon advertising revenue, how could they?
Truth is indivisible; every deception must be supported by further deception, on and on until our entire outlook is hopelessly distorted. Remember that the wars and crimes that Julian published were predominantly wars for hydrocarbons, and Wikileaks’ first big revelation was the Trafigura scandal:
https://html.duckduckgo.com/html/?q=trafigura%20scandal
Please, consider attending your local Extinction Rebellion group for Non Violent Direct Action training. We must act before it is too late. We act in peace, always, because it is impossible to do Good with the tools of Evil. We cannot fight the system because, collectively, we are that system; we each play many roles, however minor, from working for a company to paying for our internet access. We cannot fight it, but by love, cooperation and rebuilding community we can transform it.
XR Principle 8 – We avoid blaming and shaming. We live in a toxic system, but no one individual is to blame.
Observe the toxic system’s attempts to blame and shame Julian rather than face its own deception, exploitation and violence. Let’s do the opposite of that.
Truth, Justice, Peace.
And Craig, for you:
XR Principle 3: We need a regenerative culture. Creating a culture which is healthy, resilient and adaptable.
This principle is cited when an activist looks tired or run down; it is time to withdraw, rest, heal, and regenerate. Fighting to the death is the toxic system’s way which it depicts as “heroic”, but then it treats people, along with all things, living or inanimate, as “expendable”. Our way in XR is different.
Rest up, Craig; may your strength regenerate. It is needed.
Clark I was uplifted by your posts. Thanks.
Thanks Deepgreenpuddock. I don’t know who wrote the Three Demands and the Ten Principles, but they did a very good job.
Principle One – We have a shared vision of change – creating a world which is fit for generations to come.
I figured that was it. These days, me too. It can be very disheartening. The frogs are already simmering. What we used to think of as our country and its values is gone?
I put 100 Euros in Craigs account.
I encourage all to do what you can if you haven’t already because he is up next.
Thank you for everything you have done for Julian and all the hard work you do. You are a credit to the world and without people like you we’d all be in trouble. Wishing you a wonderful weekend and justice for Julian!!!! Hope you are managing to catch up on rest now! Take care!
@twin_serenity
Your opponents (if one should call them that) will only be too aware that you might be feeling especially low in spirits after the monumental efforts you have been putting in to get the story out. Something they have contrived to make as difficult as possible. Don’t let the b*****ds get you down. A time to allow friends to do friendship.
Thankfully you are there to inform the world of what our “leaders” are willing to do to an individual that exposes truths they want to obscure from us.
Craig Murray
Just reading your reports about the abuse of state power used commit evil against people such as Julian Assange, is scary. It must be terrible to be so close to it. Poor you. Poor Julian. The poor souls around the world suffering such inhumanity.
If this can be any comfort to you: The perpetrators of evil are scared of every word of truth that you write. They fear every chink of light that shines on their evil deeds so exposing them to the world.
Take your time. Recharge your batteries with love, hope and courage. When you are ready, come back and expose the evil deeds of the evil-doers.
People are reading your blogs. The truth is getting out. Thank you, Craig.
The routine you put yourself through, and what you experienced in the hearing must have been very demanding. You did an amazing job to capture so much of what went on, and to be there for so much of it.
You should be proud of what you have contributed to highlight this injustice.
As for any further posts from you on it, let them come when they, and you, are ready.
Mr Murray, I would suggest that you don’t write a report of the final day. We got enough of the flavour of the evil being perpetrated against Mr Assange by the state in your earlier reports. There are plenty of other people’s reports of the final day albeit none conveying the awfulness of it all as eloquently as you.
A perceived obligation to write up the report, necessitating revisiting your notes, will act only as a draining black cloud over your existence. File them away as a record but free your mind of any notion of obligation to us and let your psyche recover. I’m sure I speak for many.
I absolutely agree with this comment. I, too, have seen this manifestation of evil, in the Scottish courts, and I know the need eventually arises to set it aside. I believe the effort already applied continues to do its work in the lives of those who know they are guilty. Someone else, perhaps unknown to us, will be the one to take up the cause.
“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
Sun Tzu
I think you have provided a final report, which conveys many times more powerfully the miasma of injustice and false justice that has run through the proceedings.
My reading of others’ accounts was that the final day was as much a travesty as the rest with much haggling between the lawyers as to what defence evidence might be accepted and the rushed reading out of bits of witness statements, the contents of which were actually shocking and explosive, before just being stuffed into an envelope and sealed before being reopened by Judge Baraitser.
That last day summed up the whole stinking process when you consider that there was such short shrift given to the evidence of Martinez, a Spanish lawyer involved in the Morales case; Patrick Cockburn, whose stepping up to the platform puts the rest of the the British press to shame, not least the Guardian; Gareth Peirce, who was basically exposing umpteen human rights abuses; and, Stephania Maurizi, who had worked closely with Julian on the Wikileaks disclosures and whose statement did more than account for his and Wikileaks integrity, and who from some strange objection of the prosecution had stated in an earlier tweet that she had been forbidden by the prosecution to observe the proceedings.
I think you have already given us more than enough to understand the evil that has been done, and given that we can find the sordid details elsewhere, I would leave it at that, but thank you so much for everything you have suffered on our behalf.
Craig, do not beat yourself up about this. Anyone getting on your case about this obviously has no comprehension of how it feels to voluntarily visit hell, when it has so badly affected one. They have no precedent for this. And you experience it twice: once, as a human being having to be that close to the cloying, all enveloping stench of evil that actually thrives on torture; and again on Julian’s behalf which, I think, is worse. If you feel the need to reply to any of these people, just ask them to put themselves in your shoes for five minutes.
Lastly, I am on a restricted budget, but I still donate £2 on a monthly basis, to you. I am very grateful to you for the sterling work you are doing, not only on Julian’s behalf, but also for the freedoms of everyone, which is what this whole war on Truth comes down to. God Bless, take care.???
thanks for your great courage and abilities.
Take care Craig. Your emotional health is more important than your Assange blog. Your accounts have already helped Julian, at times possibly at the expense of your own safety and wellbeing. I confess I have not been following your accounts of the Assange Extradition Hearing. Quite simply, I knew this would be harrowing and I look after my own mental health as much as I am able.
The following is another Julian friendly account which persons might like to peruse. I believe there are others on the internet for those with the time and energy to look for them. Meantime I am sure your fans will be content to wait until you feel able to write up your notes on the final day(s) of the Assange hearing:-
https://theintercept.com/2020/10/06/julian-assange-trial-extradition/
THE UNPRECEDENTED AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN TO ELIMINATE JULIAN ASSANGE
Assange would never receive a fair trial in the U.S., but he’s not receiving one in Britain either.
Charles Glass
October 6 2020, 1:41 p.m.
Craig, take your time, it will be worth waiting for. If you weren’t personally affected by this evil you would be on the level of the vile people you’ve been listening to in court, and your report, and entire blog, would not be worth reading.
In the meantime spend time with the good people in your life, catch up on sleep, and get out in the fresh air, and remind yourself of all the decency, kindness, courage and honesty you have encountered in your life, even in the worst of places. Most human beings are basically decent. It’s just that the scum often rises to the top.
Dear Craig,
Of course you were not visible during the 2 weeks of infamous comedy. I used to read you as soon as I need. But I saw you were “rare” or banned. Keep fighting till it sets Freedom FREE !!!
Thanks for all you have done. Publicity is justice.
And remember that others can help. It is risky for us all to lean too heavily on one person.
I can only imagine.
Just thinking of this stuff makes me physically ill too, and I don’t know what kind of frighteningly abusive homes must produce our politicians, journalists, judges, police forces, etc..
As others have said though, this is a tremendous service to the nation and to humanity. I can’t imagine a better patriot.
I also see Ai Weiwei on the street there, using his international fame to draw attention to this pure evil, but not catching any interest from the sickos of the mainstream press, not this time.
It makes me wonder if the UK will do another of those u-turns it has become so famous for, and use this as an opportunity to broadcast itself as a democracy after all, by letting Assange free. Is that so inconceivable to hope for? Or does the UK no longer care one pence for its international image?
Marmite. Image ? What image ? That of Spitting Image, which is back. The cretins who are paid huge sums by our tax, who say they do what they do to ” in defence of the realm ” and are ” patriots ” have reduced this country’s image and dismantled its civil service, its parliament and industry, to an auction for their mates.
Has the International Community been disapproving in the slightest degree? Not to my knowledge.
You are probably right. Power will never like a whistleblower.
Sad isn’t it, though, that ‘international community’ no longer means ‘people from all over and of all kinds’ but rather just an ‘international clique of losers holding onto what power remains while hastening extinction to boot’.
I was thinking how odd it is that the 1960s/70s welfare states of Europe generated so much anti-facist militant opposition. While today we are faced with a kind of global fascism far far worse, one that the students could never have imagined in their worst nightmares, and yet there is nothing that could rightly be called opposition. It doesn’t really add up, unless you take the view that we have all been so thoroughly brainwashed, or care more about our ability to purchase an iPhone than our freedom.
– “Has the International Community been disapproving in the slightest degree?”
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have all spoken out for Julian Assange:
– “In the course of the past nine years, Mr. Assange has been exposed to persistent, progressively severe abuse ranging from systematic judicial persecution and arbitrary confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy, to his oppressive isolation, harassment and surveillance inside the embassy, and from deliberate collective ridicule, insults and humiliation, to open instigation of violence and even repeated calls for his assassination”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039581
Dear Craig
I fully understand how you feel. Do not trouble yourself with the delay. I can imagine what the final day may have been like. Rest, relax and recover from your ordeal and then publish, if you want to.
May I take this opportunnity to thank you for this fine work of yours that should have been also published by the Journalists who covered the “trial”. Great shame that the newspapers and/or TV/radio did not cover this at all.
……………………..don’t let it worry you too much, Craig.
With the level of hatred of our Governments rising at the quickest pace in history i wouldn’t put it past the good people to release Julian from his political captors as the rioting ensues.
Anecdotal, but speaking to someone who’s understandably (given the lack of coverage) ignorant about what’s been going on in the Assange case, I pointed out some of the irregularities in this case, so vividly highlighted by Craig and Matt Kennard, and genuinely curious they asked, “why isn’t this front page news?”.
Even if the MSM don’t particularly care for Assange’s type of ‘raw’ journalism, they should be concerned about how our processes and esp. our judicial processes seem to been so easily bent out of shape to persecute one man at the behest of a foreign power.
I doubt if anyone could fault you. You have already displayed a level of intellectual and emotional fortitude that vey few people could muster.As well as the toll the extradition case has taken, you are also engaged in what must be a huge drain on resources-your contempt proceedings.In addition to that you are a key element of the Alex Salmond affair and getting to the bottom of that pit of mendacity .I would like to say say ‘bear up’ or-‘courage mon brave ‘ but it seems inadequate since it isn’t me on the tightrope, butI want to assure you of our support and solidarity.