Showing posts with label Julian Assange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julian Assange. Show all posts
Fra Hughes The travesty of Justice which we have witnessed in the persecution of Julian Assange has proven beyond all shadow of a doubt that there is no press freedom in the Western world.

18-December-2021

The real losers in the Julian Assange case are Julian Assange, his family, freedom of the Press, truth, and justice.


Britain's decision to grant America's appeal, to have Julian Assange extradited to face 175 years in a deep dark windowless dungeon, in isolation, in the most inhospitable hole in the ground the American penal system can find, where most likely he will be waterboarded to gain information on anyone else who might hold power to account over past and present US-NATO war crimes, is nothing more than the latest stain on Britain's Judiciary, who claim to be the arbiters of all that is good, wholesome and democratic.

Britain, which claims to be the home of democracy, is nothing more than the facilitator of oppression and injustice which can be verified by a simple cursory look at its slave-trading history, its colonial past, its current political sanction policies, and its shameful prosecution of a man who the world rightly sees as a hero of press freedoms, a voice of the voiceless, a stalwart of democracy and a defender of the truth.

Oh, if only we had more like him!

Nous Sommes Julian Assange

Those who expose war crimes like Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange are censured and demonized, called unpatriotic and accused of putting allied troops lives in peril, yet those who murder or send others to bomb, maim, torture, shoot, and kill on their behalf, like Tony Blair and George W. Bush, are above the law, exempt from criminal prosecution, living the lifestyles of millionaires, while those they have murdered shot and bombed lived on a few dollars a day.

Innocent people end up in prison while the guilty walk free.

Democracy and decency are turned on their heads when the system needs sacrifice and scapegoat.

The world doesn’t look at the war crimes committed by US and NATO troops in Afghanistan Iraq, Libya, Syria, to name but a few; it watches the pound of flesh demanded from the truth seekers as atonement for disclosure.

The travesty of Justice which we have witnessed in the persecution of Julian Assange, the 50-year-old journalist and co-founder of WikiLeaks, has proven beyond all shadow of a doubt that there is no press freedom in the Western world. It could be argued, there is no press freedom in many regions of the world but the cruel unjust demonization and vilification of an honest, sincere, just, moral crusader for the truth, proves for all those who do not already know, holding power to account can be a very dangerous pastime. Such a quest for the truth can lead to a very dark place, as leaving the safety of the community of writers of consensus, standing alone, losing one’s freedom, one’s sanity, one’s dignity and one’s future is a very heavy price to pay for a man of principle.

It is only in the last decade that I personally have begun to seek out alternative Media, to avail of the myriad of publishers in print, on the airwaves, and on the internet, to find a counterbalance to the narrative that I have read in the daily western papers, watched on the daily western television news programs, and listened to on the daily radio talk shows, that sometimes pass for light entertainment but are also used by state media to control the narrative of public debate around crucial world political developments.

Since I have been old enough to read, I believe I have been manipulated by the mainstream Media into joining in the consensus created, sometimes by the government, other times by the deep state and on many occasions by influencers who also want to control the public narrative to support their political agenda.

The breakup of the former Yugoslavia is a perfect example of how the west manipulated public opinion into accepting the bombing of Serbia, while Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were another state-fuelled lie.

Julian Assange chose to fight for truth and justice. He walked in the shadows of the Twilight Zone, between the darkness and the light. His job, as he saw it was to bring the truth of war, with all its crimes against humanity, to the international court of public opinion. He exposed the lies of the government perpetrated in our name when he exposed some of the US military war crimes in Afghanistan.

While mainstream media acted as cheerleaders in the wars on Afghanistan, on Iraq, on Libya, on Syria, they disguised the real human cost of war as humanitarian interventions to save lives.

While the truth is very far from the sanitized reality of Western media propaganda coverage of these events, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning exposed the truth of how war dehumanizes the victims, destroys the combatants, and the ultimate price is paid in human lives, human dignity, human morality, and human kindness.

Julian Assange who has been railroaded by the British government, British judiciary, the British police and the British Parliament, is the victim of a travesty of Justice. An abuse of authoritarian power by those who govern us.

Julian Assange should be seen as a true hero of the 21st century, a modern visionary, a prophet for truth and freedom and the best example of journalism to be found anywhere in the world.

The trial and prosecution of Julian Assange have a dual purpose. On one level, it is revenge by the US government and administration against Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning in order to destroy their credibility and continue to keep secret the war crimes committed in our names by many western governments, chiefly Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, and US. The second part of this constructed attack upon Julian Assange is designed to frighten anyone who would dare stand up against the racist fascist authoritarian regimes now governing western nations. The punishment of Julian is nothing more than a warning to others to stay quiet, to stay obedient, and to stay in line.

The truth of war is death and destruction

They say truth is the first casualty of war, and it is because if we the people, really knew what they did in our names, for the benefit of big business, the military-industrial war complex, and the corporations who increasingly sponsor our political elites, we would demand they stop.

Two million people could not prevent Blair from taking Britain into an illegal concocted war against Iraq.

One man nearly succeeded where so many others have failed.

Julian Assange is a hero.

Julian Assange is a fighter for truth.

Julian Assange may never be seen again.

Words are inadequate to describe the horrors he will undoubtedly face and they cannot articulate the depth of depravity that sees this man extradited to America.

Julian Assange is all of us.

God give him the strength to face the ordeal that awaits him.

Democracy is dead in Britain, it is dead in the US, and it is dead in the EU.

We are led by liars, hypocrites and warmongers. Pursuant of personal power, personal wealth and personal aggrandizement.

Democracy has died many times over, in the various colonisations and occupations in the history of the world.

It died with every genocide, every man-made famine, siege, collateral damage and it died in Afghanistan the day they murdered unarmed people on the streets.

It died on the day they exposed the Afghan war logs, and it died on December 10, 2021, on International Human Rights Day.

Democracy is dead. The guilty are free and the innocent are facing death in jail.

𒍨The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al Mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.

Fra Hughes is a columnist with Al Mayadeen.

Julian Assange And The Day Democracy Died

Alex McCrory ✒ The decision to hand over Julian Assange to the Americans is a virtual death sentence. What was this man's crime? 

He exposed state secrets on important matters of war and peace. How dare he! Now he will pay for it by spending the rest of his life behind bars.
 
Assange is a sacrificial lamb. His brutal treatment over the last decade has had a chilling effect upon investigative journalism. Few journalists now are willing to put their heads above the parapet to be shot at. The result is that we are feed a diet of lies by self-interested governments. What passes for news information today is nothing more than propaganda.
 
The fate of Mr Assange is a crime against humanity to the extent it seeks to keep us ignorant of the facts. It reminds me of the old saying: Truth is the first causality of war.

Alec McCrory 
is a former blanketman.

Assange Extradition - A Virtual Death Sentence

MPN NewsJohn Pilger has watched Julian Assange’s extradition trial from the public gallery at London’s Old Bailey. He spoke with Timothy Erik Ström of Arena magazine, Australia.

Q: Having watched Julian Assange’s trial firsthand, can you describe the prevailing atmosphere in the court?

The prevailing atmosphere has been shocking. I say that without hesitation; I have sat in many courts and seldom known such a corruption of due process; this is due revenge. 

Putting aside the ritual associated with ‘British justice’, at times it has been evocative of a Stalinist show trial. One difference is that in the show trials, the defendant stood in the court proper. 

In the Assange trial, the defendant was caged behind thick glass, and had to crawl on his knees to a slit in the glass, overseen by his guard, to make contact with his lawyers. 

His message, whispered barely audibly through face masks, Was then passed by post-it the length of the court to where his barristers were arguing the case against his extradition to an American hellhole. 

Continue reading @ MPN News.

Eyewitness To The Agony Of Julian Assange

Fra Hughes discusses the British imprisonment of Julian Assange.


Is Julian Assange now a ‘political prisoner’ being held in Belmarsh maximum security prison on behalf the American administration who want to sentence him to a possible 175 years in jail for simply exposing the truth ?

The collateral damage video which went viral upon its publication shows American airman engaging and gunning down unarmed innocent Iraqis civilians.

Surely a country which self declares itself as the bastion of freedom, home of the brave and the land of the free press should celebrate the integrity and truth seeking that Julian personifies?

But alas this appears to be the last thing the American government wants, is truth. In reality it seeks revenge. A course of action being assisted and accommodated with the help of the British government and it’s Judiciary.

Julian Assange

The judiciary that brought us the Guildford Four ,the Birmingham 6 and the Craigavon 2.

Julian took sanctuary in the Ecuadorian embassy because he felt the British were trying to extradite him to Sweden for him to be further extradited to America.

No extradition has been sought by Sweden and no charges brought.

Julian has now completed his full sentence on a charge of breaking his bail conditions and is now being held on behalf of the American administration pending extradition.

The very thing Julian feared and warned us against has now come to pass.

The new Ecuadorian president expelled Julian from the embassy in return for a large loan from American banks and the IMF. Britain has held him in a maximum high security prison with some of the country's most violent criminals and America is trying to succeed in having Julian, an Australian citizen, transferred to the States were many assume he will simply disappear into the penal system never to see the light of day again.

Perhaps Gitmo which Obama forswore to close might be his destination?

Chelsea Manning is still languishing in prison for her refusal to falsely accuse Julian Assange of any crime and is being punished by the American judiciary who want to use any false testimony they can get to build their case against Julian.

220px-Chelsea_Manning_on_18_May_2017
Chelsea Manning

Two whistle blowers, two truth seekers, two advocates for humanity, both now facing the cruellest of corrupt regimes for speaking truth to power.

What are our local media doing to highlight these continued injustices?

You guessed it absolutely nothing. Mealy mouthed spineless hacks in print ,on the radio and in our front rooms, too frightened to lift a pen, their voice or their eyes of the pre ordained script.

Self censorship from those who claim to stand up for the oppressed, I’d laugh if it wasn’t so sadly farcical.

Shame on them - they know who they are and so do we. And shame on everyone of us who does not stand for truth and justice for Julian and Chelsea!



⏭ Fra Hughes blogs @ The North Belfast Journal: A View From Napoleon's Nose. 

Is Julian Assange Britain's Latest ‘Political Prisoner’?


Suzanne Breen forcefully backs Julian Assange whose transgression has been to lift the lid on US war crimes

The image of Julian Assange being dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London by police was truly shocking. And if you’re not outraged by it, you should be.

I’ve read a lot of negative things about the WikiLeaks founder over the past three days. Apparently, he’s unhygienic. He doesn’t shower regularly or brush his teeth. He sometimes uses his fingers when he’s eating rather than cutlery.

It strikes me as a concerted campaign of character assassination, a desire to paint him as an animal, rather than a human being.

Historically, we are no stranger to black propaganda in this part of the world. But even if every word against Assange is true, it doesn’t matter a jot to me. Because whether he licks his plates. or leaves soiled underpants in the bathroom, or doesn’t clean up after his cat is irrelevant.

He was not arrested, and is not facing extradition, over any of this. The pursuit of Julian Assange is about the information he published exposing US war crimes.

In 2010, WikiLeaks published video footage from an Apache helicopter showing the killing in Baghdad of a dozen civilians, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver.

At the time of the shooting three years earlier, the US military had claimed it was a combat operation against a hostile force.

The material leaked to Assange by American soldier Chelsea Manning nailed that lie and showed some aircrew members laughing at the dead. The ‘Collateral Murder’ video was WikiLeaks most famous scoop but it certainly wasn’t the only one.

A mass of other documents were released revealing how hundreds of civilians had died in unreported killings by NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Files from Iraq showed that 66,000 civilians had been killed there and that prisoners had been tortured. Other leaks exposed unethical practices in Guantanamo Bay.

Was any of this material fabricated or untrue? Did WikiLeaks get anything wrong?

A rarity among publishing outfits, it has never had to retract a story and it boasts a 100% record of accuracy due to diligent checking. It has never lost a lawsuit.

Nobody, but nobody, is disputing the truth of what Assange and Chelsea Manning revealed. And, for me, that is all that matters.

Assange is painted as a madman for skateboarding and playing football in the corridors of the Ecuadorian embassy. Imagine doing that when confined to a tiny indoors space for so long?

Reports ridicule his unkempt beard and pallid complexion. His dishevelled state is compared to the dapper figure he cut before entering the embassy. As if that is surprising when you’ve been living for seven years without freedom.

Would those who mock him sacrifice a single day for their principles? Because whether or not we like him, Julian Assange has walked the walk.

He has published stories of far greater importance and impact than most of us in the media can ever dream of. And he is paying the price.

The National Union of Journalists is supporting him. But Pulitzer Prize winning writer Glenn Greenwald has noted that many in the media establishment - so outraged at Donald Trump’s mean tweets about reporters - are silent on this grave threat against journalism.

And that’s the crux of it. Whether or not Julian Assange is a narcissist, or looks like a tramp, is neither here nor there.

We should instinctively side with those who have shone a light on injustice, and not with those who seek to punish them.



This article originally appeared in Sunday Life on 14 April 2019

Julian Assange – Which Side Are You On?

Mick Hall doesn't think much of British beaks.


Dreadful Judiciary