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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Dear Mr Murray don’t torment yourself! Simple, short resume of the last day will do! No need for notes quotes and perfection. IMHO you will not have a rest and recuperation until you close this chapter. It will be on your mind and tormenting you For myself, day 17 and 18 were (from human point of view) the worst..
Chief procrastinator
Just found you Sir. Tyvvvm for being you, here, there in this the worst of times. A simple Lady wanting true fairness and justice. Will try to help in my small capable way and with heavy heart and prayers that our world will be better because of your endearing and difficult efforts, at tremendous personal sacrifice I say hello. Sincerely Cynthia
In the name of Humanity, thank you Craig for what you are doing.
It must be very difficult to face the many appearances of Evil. The sheer coldness and cunning of it does affect one. I myself can only hope for Julian that your work, and that of others including all his supporters, strengthens him spiritually and that our prayers call forth the Good forces of the spiritual world towards him. If so much good work in the world cannot stop this from happening, I think we are in trouble indeed. But individually we will continue the Good work.
Even if Julian is extradited, all the good work won’t be undone but work-on on a larger scale. Many people are so deeply touched!
To say with Christopher Fry:
“Thank God our time is now when wrong
Comes up to face us everywhere,
Never to leave us till we take
The longest stride of soul men ever took.”
I hope you get better soon and we’ll see you when you are ready.
Gerri
We Were Wondering
Why evil not defeated
Because – BBC
50 square feet – ever so slightly bigger than a king size bed. Think about that for a second. Life, for evermore, in an area that tiny with no human contact whatsoever. Evil is indeed the word. It is unfathomable. I would prefer to be burned alive.
Milord James Arbuthnot, husband of Emma, one time chair of the Defence Committee, was a director of NEURO-BIO LTD
UK Flag Building F5, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3DB until last year.
He is also “chairman of the advisory board of the UK division of multinational defence and security systems manufacturer Thales. He is a Senior Associate Fellow of the defence and security think tank Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Arbuthnot
From the HoL Register of Interests
ARBUTHNOT OF EDROM, LORD
Category 1: Directorships
Category 2: Remunerated employment, office, profession etc.
Category 3: Person with significant control of a company (PSC)
Category 4: Shareholdings (a)
Category 4: Shareholdings (b)
Category 8: Gifts, benefits and hospitality
Category 10: Non-financial interests (a)
Category 10: Non-financial interests (e)
A visit to Belmarsh recorded here, not to see Julian but McCann.
https://taxileaks.blogspot.com/2019/05/oh-look-its-that-emma-arbuthnot-again.html
Thanks for all the work you have been doing. Check our website. You Will find out why The Trial is running in that way. I hope The Justice Will shine in The minds of The world. This is a political case. But that evidence Say Julian Assange is innocent. This Will bring karma for those against Julian Assange for sure. Rubén Zeceña De Saint-Exupery and Argelia Herrera de Zeceña De Saint-Exupery.
Craig,
I can’t thank you enough for what you have done in shining a light on that ‘evil’ and making us aware of the appalling way in which Julian Assange is being treated. You have done a selfless service in the name of truth and friendship. What you have gone through is immense and I cannot emphasise this enough but it is a service to humanity especially in these dark times to shine lights in dark places and somehow bring that ugly thrashing monster out into the sunlight. The more of us who know this, the more it will lose its strength, hopefully, and the better chance for us to address these cankers and sores that infect the heart of our so-called civilised society. Thank you.
Craig,
I am, with countless others, eternally grateful for your courageous and steadfastly efforts in exposing the utterly vicious hypocrisy on display by members of the so-called civilised Western world. It breaks my heart to read how low authorities will stoop in their prisoner abuse. Julian Assange must not be extradited to these inhumane monsters.
Take all the time you like before writing your final report.
Wishing you well, Mr Murray.
It is all to easy to mock other’s feelings, easier than it is to own them publicly. But the latter is the best remedy against the former.
Thank you for your good work, and don’t give up yet.
Dear Craig, your informed, articulate and candid reporting for Julian and Press freedom is essential, albeit, in your own time, give yourself a break, great work, will donate soon as am able, pay day
Craig,
Let me just add my thanks and appreciation for the amazing work that you have done. Take all the time you need to catch up. The very last thing we need is for you to break down.
All best wishes,
It can be that the more effort a person makes, the greater a break they need when they need one.
The fight goes on. Julian Assange helped expose US war crimes in Iraq. Those crimes led to the rise of Daesh, to many many deaths not only in Iraq but in Syria and elsewhere, and to many millions of people having to flee their homes. The evil continues too. Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war NOW. Azerbaijan has been heavily armed with “state of the art” weapons by Israel, a power that is no doubt not only enjoying the money it got for these weapons but also closely studying their murderous use so as to make them ever more lucrative and ever more murderous.
Israel is also the power that wound up Georgia and set it to attack South Ossetia in 2008 and to fight a war against Russia which it lost. Two leading “Georgian” government ministers were Israelis.
Several times I have read white western commentators opine that Israel is backing Shia Islam against Sunni Islam. Maybe they want to be “orientalist” experts or something. But that notion is just total crap. Yes, Iran is Shia and Saudi Arabia is Sunni, but so what? Azerbaijan is Shia too. So was Israel’s friend the Shah. War isn’t essentially about religion. It is about profit.
As for Russia, that power has been selling weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Turkey, meanwhile, under the scumbag Erdogan, has been selling to Azerbaijan. Word is that Turkey has been giving military support to Azeri forces.
Armenians have been under horrendous attack. The Armenian government called a general mobilsation. Russia has helped negotiate a ceasefire which officially began yesterday but I doubt it will hold.
Russia has to sell to both. It doesn’t have a favourite, as claimed by western press. All three countries were part of USSR. Russia has to secure it’s borders against western aggression. It has been attacked many, many times by the west, unsuccessfully. Just research the history, starting just after the October Revolution. 16 Imperialistic armies surrounded the young USSR. Trotsky humiliated them all. They were from the usual suspects (as today) UK, US, Japan, White Russians…etc. The last thing Russia wants is war in Nagorno-karabah. It was started by Turkey. I hope the Azari people see that!!
I don’t believe that Israel didn’t play a role, given the known example of Georgia.
Agreed that Turkey is playing a role, though.
How do you envisage this war impacting on relations between Russia and Turkey?
Unfortunately I seem to have been right to doubt that the ceasefire would hold.
There are already a large number of refugees in this war. Most are Armenian. Those who don’t already know should look up the “history” between Turkey and Armenia. I’m told it’s illegal in Turkey to recognise that the genocide of the Armenians took place! So basically there is a law not against holocaust denial, but against the assertion that a very real holocaust actually took place.
@Ross – Going back in time: Khrushchev said if he were British he’d be a Tory; in WW2 Stalin asked the British to send something like 200,000 soldiers to the Caucasus (it’s relevant that Baku is an old stomping ground for British oil interests); and going back further to 1921 the Russian government tried to discourage strikes in Britain because they interfered with international trade. Then further back there was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Today I suspect Britain and the US may be covertly supporting Azerbaijan in this horrible war of aggression against Armenians. Admitting that their NATO ally Turkey wants to mount a second holocaust against the Armenians may not be something they want to do.
Various clever-clogs journalists are observing that this is a modern war featuring drones and highly accurate guided missiles (congratulations to them for being able to see as far as the ends of their noses, at least when they get Foreign Office permission), but it could soon turn biological. The key question is what is the Azeri and Turkish war aim, and it doesn’t seem to involve letting the population of Nagorno-Karabakh stay put and live their lives in peace.
Nagorno-Karabakh has a population of around 150,000, 95% of whom are Armenian. Reportedly HALF of those people have already been displaced. This is a crime against humanity, and it is supported by Turkey, a military ally in NATO of the US and Britain
The BBC reports (in a very short note) that churches are being burnt and also that people are sheltering in churches. I have a horrible feeling that the attackers may be acting as the Ustashi fascists did in Yugoslavia – giving their adversaries the choice between religious conversion and being packed into churches and murdered. Certainly the Azerbaijani government’s aim is to de-Armenianise the whole of Artsakh. I have to repeat that 95% of inhabitants are Armenian.
Armenia by the way is the oldest Christian country in the world. It was Christian before the Roman empire.
Evil prevails when good people do nothing.
You can do this, better late than never.
You are stronger than you know.
Thank you x
Sorry – mistype. What I meant to criticise was the notion that Israel is backing Sunni Islam against Shia Islam. Sure they prefer Saudi to Iran, but the trite and superficial generalisation falls apart as soon you look at Azerbaijan which is a Shia country.
Craig, we all have reason to be grateful to you for your steadfast reporting, even at the cost of severe mental suffering. Thanks. I hope the eventual outcome [probably post-election] will lay to rest all our nightmares.
Has no MP offered to ask a question in the House about Julian’s treatment?
Thanks for all that you have done and continue to do. Please look after yourself and take solace in the fact that you’re was preeminent in describing what went on in that Kangaroo Court in London, England, city of my birth.
Thank you so much for your hard work!! And don’t worry, any sensible person understands your situation. Publish when ready. It’s better to have quality, than speed!! Many of us, around the World, are with you, and with Julian!!
Craig…you have been totally Heroic AGAIN in this coverage… & the whole world is watching your brilliant reports.. & in your debt! HUGE Cheers & thanks from Australia. Press on, Best wishes always Billy Field.
Courage is Contagious
Thank you Billy Field for enlisting me and explaining the mechanism of this madness and Craig Murray, on behalf of humanity, thank you for for your front line courage in facing up to this putrid, perverted, pompous, pretense of power. This evil is not representative of humanity. It is an aberration of the power we have vested in a minute number of indecentely wealthy individuals who wish to continue to increase their wealth and power through war, fossil fuel, slavery, drugs, etc. Julian believes, as do we, that the world is a wonderful and bountiful place and that by exposing evildoers and the truth, the world can enter a new era of peace on earth without the exploitation of the planet and people. Craig Murray, you will be recorded in history as a central, courageous leader in this battle which we will inevitably win.
Your contribution is critical and much admired and appreciated by all good people on earth and especially me!
My love & sincerest respect,
Tony Wakeham
Redfern Sydney Australia
Craig Murray,
Your daily writes have been absolutely superb! No need to write it up a closing piece, as we all know Julian is absolutely buggered over there. Hopefully, a campaign can be started on this side of the blue water to inform people Julian committed no crime doing what he did. There is still hope.
Craig, thank you for being our Teacher (in the fine old tradition of the word) and thank you for descending into Hell on behalf of suffering Humanity. The Path of the Scapegoat is arduous beyond measure.
There is one Value in the presence of such Evil – since we are unable to prove the existence of God, we can at least observe something so undeniably INHUMAN that we find in our hearts the reality of the Human Soul, as that which stands in fearless Opposition. These monsters remind us of our own Humanity and we are collectively moved towards tears of outrage and called to Action. Nobody who is functionally Human can read your accounts from Uzbekistan to the Old Bailey without feeling this – it UNITES us, and this is what Evil most fears.
Their program always moves from Divide & Conquer to Dehumanisation and Subjugation, and we are all complicit to the extent that we do not resist. Evil is indeed banal, and fearful of the light which is Humanity. It will not rest until that light is extinguished and so this positively requires a theodicy grounded in direct action.
The price of our Human existence is this eternal war against our own worst impulses both internally and externally manifest, and at this moment in history we are at the tipping point. If we are to continue to exist then we must let go of our compelling but ultimately unimportant differences and stand together. Be it through XR or other approaches, nobody can now afford to avert their eyes in the face of this Evil.
Never mind a parallel between the present time and the eve of the extinction of the dinosaurs, which was cased by an asteroid and not by whatever Steinerites and Scientologists might say. A large-scale crime against humanity is being committed against Armenians RIGHT NOW.
Hi Craig. I am becoming increasingly concerned about both you and the delay in your report of the final day of Julian’s trial. Your trial reports have been very insightful, comprehensive and highly readable – they stand out in comparison to reports by some very capable others. Your accomplishments here must have been very mentally draining but they are highly appreciated. Perhaps this final report can be done differently – say in collaboration with someone else who could type up your notes and come up with a first draft that you can proceed with. If contemplation of this task is making you physically ill, it might help to talk about it with an appropriate person. My comment here does not need to go public.
Some declassified notes.
“A 1977 memorandum from CIA General Counsel Anthony Lapham stated that when it comes to prosecuting leaks of classified information to the press, “It is extremely doubtful that the provisions [of the Espionage Act] were intended to have application in such situations, and as a matter of historical fact, leaving aside the unsuccessful Ellsberg prosecution and possibly one or two other cases, they never have been so applied.”
Moreover, added Lapham, “Under current Justice Department procedures, unauthorized disclosures of national security information, in other than espionage situations, are almost never even investigated, let alone prosecuted.”
“It seems to us that the universe of classified information is quite simply too large, and encompasses such a great variety of material of so many different degrees of importance to the national security, as to make impractical the idea of extending criminal sanctions to the unauthorized disclosure of all such information,” he wrote (document 34, pp. 156, 159).”
https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2016/06/intel-carter-frus/
https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.history.state.gov/frus/frus1977-80v28/pdf/frus1977-80v28.pdf
And for what it is worth: https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/09/13/the-minh-quang-pham-precedent-to-the-julian-assange-extradition/
You’re a keen eye. Lost without your reports.
Michael Keenan
https://cryptome.org/2020/09/crim-proc-rules-2015-part-19.pdf
https://cryptome.org/2020/09/Assange-Prosecution-Bundle-for-Defence-Witnesses-SP.pdf
I find your last commentary says more than an end report would and or is at least as important, as it credits you as a human being who deserves to be seen as a such, which in my eyes does not apply to those who are deciding to prolong Julan Assanges suffering at absurdum, even robbing him of the possibility to put an end to it himself. This show trial marks the end of an era and the beginning of another and may be symbolic for what is to come. Thank you for your courage and endurance as a witness.
With all my respects, kind regards
Craig,
I can well understand your revulsion and reluctance to immerse yourself in the Inquisition again. I am thousands of miles away, but I am repulsed by the cruelty and inhumanity of it all. I read it and cringe. For you it must be like a PTSD moment. But you have brought all the horror of it to the world, as has Consortium News and a few others. We, who are paying attention know your sacrifice and appreciate it with deep respect. John Dann
Dear Craig,
I’m sure, none of us can really imagine what it does to the soul of a feeling human being to be so close to this cruelty and bearing the burdon to report on it to the world in an (as much as possible) objective way. I guess, everybody will understand that you need a break to protect yourself – and I can only encourage you to do so, because we all, but especially Julian, need your work. Don’t forget: You are literally writing history with your reports. And if there should ever be a phase in the history of mankind or people who will remember with sympathy those who fought the war criminals, slaughterers and torturers – your work and your person will be among those held in the highest esteem. (Ok, I know, that sounds maybe a little bit too pathetic … but as a German seeing how the German government is lying and supporting criminals to destroy our relationships to Russia, built over decades and now destroyed in weeks – I have less and less hope for mankind to get rid of these war criminals before they may destroy our planet. So, when if not now should one be pathetic?)
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/10/15/julian-assanges-trial-of-the-century-10-reasons-why-it-threatens-freedom-of-speech/
A summary article via a person who was mostly present alongside Craig and Kevin G.
Take as long as you need Craig. But by God I’d like to see you let loose… to get tore into these folks. Do it anyway and fuck them.
Especially the magistrate and the crazy rules, the pre written judgements on and on… 30 minutes for the defense to question their own witnesses but the prosecution can go on for hours and hours badgering and berating them with no time limit. Hard to believe what they can get away with.
This is 2020 UK yet the whole thing is a living parody of a bad 1984 imitation… Everything is so blatant while no one cares. It makes you feel like you are going mad.
This is clearly the goal. So let’s not make it easy for them. File that report fella..
Thank you for all of your work Craig. Take care of yourself.
Sir – you’ve had the courage to stare into the abyss and the integrity to write about it.
“if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you”.
People can take only so much direct contact with evil – please don’t be consumed by it. Take a break, the monsters will still be here when you return.
Hello Craig, Many, many thanks for your effort in providing honest reporting of the Julian Assange case, particularly the legal inventivness of the Crown and its ‘non-Judiciary Services’, which now has trashed its own name in front of your readers and the British people. Many more manipulations by our deceivers of law service and delivery exists but none more so than this case of Julian Assange.
I was not wondering where your last report was, yet your explanation provides a mirror multiplier of the disgrace this sham court is. My own experiences of British Justice is having had to learn lawyers are provided a license to present truth with in an unwholesome delivery style. That is, of course, why when ‘in court’, one has to state under oath, “…the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” We all know that the lawyers license enables them to tell a version of truth many degrees from the apparent facts and they do not hold a Bible in their grubby hands and make such a public oath as it is assumed this is so since their having joined The Bar…
Craig,
I hope you come back stronger than ever.
Tommy Sheridan writes:
On The 10th Anniversary Of Iraq War Logs: Bush & Blair Should be in Prison Not Assange
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55766.htm
October 24, 2020