Tonight both Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange are in jail, both over offences related to the publication of materials specifying US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and both charged with nothing else at all. No matter what bullshit political and MSM liars try to feed you, that is the simple truth. Manning and Assange are true heroes of our time, and are suffering for it.
If a Russian opposition politician were dragged out by armed police, and within three hours had been convicted on a political charge by a patently biased judge with no jury, with a lengthy jail sentence to follow, can you imagine the Western media reaction to that kind of kangaroo court? Yet that is exactly what just happened in London.
District Judge Michael Snow is a disgrace to the bench who deserves to be infamous well beyond his death. He displayed the most plain and open prejudice against Assange in the 15 minutes it took for him to hear the case and declare Assange guilty, in a fashion which makes the dictators’ courts I had witnessed, in Babangida’s Nigeria or Karimov’s Uzbekistan, look fair and reasonable, in comparison to the gross charade of justice conducted by Michael Snow.
One key fact gave away Snow’s enormous prejudice. Julian Assange said nothing during the whole brief proceedings, other than to say “Not guilty” twice, and to ask a one sentence question about why the charges were changed midway through this sham “trial”. Yet Judge Michael Snow condemned Assange as “narcissistic”. There was nothing that happened in Snow’s brief court hearing that could conceivably have given rise to that opinion. It was plainly something he brought with him into the courtroom, and had read or heard in the mainstream media or picked up in his club. It was in short the very definition of prejudice, and “Judge” Michael Snow and his summary judgement is a total disgrace.
We wrapped up the final Wikileaks and legal team meeting at 21.45 tonight and thereafter Kristian Hrafnsson and I had dinner together. The whole team, including Julian, is energised rather than downhearted. At last there is no more hiding for the pretend liberals behind ludicrous Swedish allegations or bail jumping allegations, and the true motive – revenge for the Chelsea Manning revelations – is now completely in the open.
To support the persecution of Assange in these circumstances is to support absolute state censorship of the internet. It is to support the claim that any journalist who receives and publishes official material which indicates US government wrongdoing, can be punished for its publication. Furthermore this US claim involves an astonishing boost to universal jurisdiction. Assange was nowhere near the USA when he published the documents, but nonetheless US courts are willing to claim jurisdiction. This is a threat to press and internet freedom everywhere.
These are scary times. But those may also be the most inspiring of times.
UPDATE
We are reassembling Wikileaks/Julian legal and media team from 10am Friday in Doughty Street Chambers. I and others will be available for further media interviews from then. I can be reached on 07979 691085.
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BBC 4 now. Julian Assange documentary film…..new one on me…_
Thanks, Digger. Managed to catch all but the first 15 minutes or so. Very interesting profile of events and JA himself. I know there is a tendency to see things that we want to see but, as someone who had not really given much thought to his character, I I thought he came across as a deeply intellectual, confident, dogmatic and, I would say, arrogant individual with a dry – to the point perhaps of being naïve – sense of humour. Even arrogance is not necessarily a negative trait if it is justified, and I suspect that in his case it is. I got the impression that he is someone whom it would take a long time to truly get to know and understand, but not unlikeable. But, as he himself justifiably intimated, what people think of him is of little consequence, it is what he achieves with WikiLeaks that matters.
Overall, an interesting insight into life for him in the Ecuadorian Embassy, his relationships with colleagues and his mother and the various issues he was contending with before and during that time. It was revealing as well to learn that at one point early on the UK authorities were seriously proposing to break international convention and “storm” the Ecuadorian Embassy to get JA out.
My final observation was that he was darn lucky to survive that cloak and dagger motorbike ride to the Ecuadorian Embassy!
It was reported that Luke Harding was present and gloating during Julian’s arrest.
I find it shocking that he might have had inside information about the timing of the “operation.”
Yes, colour me just fucking shawckt!
(sarc)
Luke Harding was taken to pieces by a very clam guy ( Aaron Matte) and really needs to filed on Wikileaks a s F for Fraud.
He’s crap at being a shill and a spy.
A new job awaits him taking over from Matt Alwright who’s mission is to chase ‘ villains and con men ‘ around the UK to make sure they don’t rip off unsuspecting members of the public with their scams.
Then the ;’ villains ‘just end up flicking him and the BBC the V’s and move to another town and carry on as normal.
” Sorted ” say’s Matt.
That’s what the public get to know and they comfort themselves that it’s all ended there and then.
It’s nonsense of course but no one will tell them that.
Harding is just an over paid idiot.
Sadly vis the Guardian he is not alone.
I wish you and I got paid thousands for talking rubbish – we’d be multi millionaires by now – surely?
still some real journalists left, filing FOI’s over university NDAs or here getting MEPs to question ‘forensically’ a policy (excellent reporting by Catalin Cimpanu for Zero Day net)
turns out that the emperor had no clothes, the AV had no flaws, (other than presumably) ‘we’ couldn’t control it
https://www.zdnet.com/article/eu-no-evidence-of-kaspersky-spying-despite-confirmed-malicious-classification/
more sensible explanations emerge as to why the USians are attacking Assange, I don’t give much credence to the UBL used wikileaks (too many opportunities for fake USB-stick spookery, no evidential chain, just claims)
but this section
removing the fog of war, our asymmetric wars, wars against investigative journalists and our sleeping citizens, yes, I can see why JA has to go!?
Monday’s FBI document here https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/16/fbi-affidavit-in-julian-assange-case-alleges-wikil/
A key statement in the FBI’s affadavit:
90. Two days later, at approximately 11:30 p.m. on March 10, 2010, Assange followed up on the issue. Assange messaged Manning and asked, “any more hints about this lm hash?” Assange stated, “no luck so far.”
91. Investigators have not recovered a response by Manning to Assange’s question, and there is no other evidence as to what Assange did, if anything, with respect to the password.
The next chats that investigators were able to recover were dated March 16,2010. Thus, there is approximately a six-day gap in the chats after Assange asked for further hints on the hash.
92. Nevertheless, the recovered chats described above reflect an agreement between Manning and Assange to crack the hash.
Now the fact the FBI states that “there is no other evidence” of actual password cracking may not be devastating to a US case because the prosecutor will claim there was a “conspiracy” (“agreement”) to commit a crime.
As a point of law, I wonder if the same would hold under English law. It certainly wouldn’t under European civil law. Without corroborating evidence (for example testimony that Assange actually tried to hack the password), I would think that this is simply hearsay.
The question is (in view of the obvious bias shown by judge Michael Snow) will Assange get a fair hearing in the UK at all? However, I do still have some faith in independent judiciaries, even if it may take years of appeals to see justice done.
The BBC is still running the story about Julian having smeared the embassy walls, quoting Moreno on video speaking to their stooge Sopel who is based in Washington and who is asking all the right questions. It doesn’t say where the video was made.
They posted it in the early hours, ie 9 hrs ago.
‘Video
‘Assange smeared faeces in Ecuador embassy,’ says president
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has told the BBC why his government decided to revoke Julian Assange’s asylum.
The Wikileaks co-founder was arrested in London on 11 April after seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy.
Mr Moreno accused Mr Assange of rubbing excrement on the embassy walls. Mr Assange’s lawyer has accused Ecuador of “outrageous allegations”.
8h ago’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-latin-america-47956607/assange-smeared-faeces-in-ecuador-embassy-says-president
They have it at the top of their list of ‘most watched’. Oh yes?
Most watched
1 ‘Assange smeared faeces in our embassy’
2 ‘There were broken people’
3 ‘A380 ‘superjumbo’ lands at Glasgow
4 Marine crawls to finish Boston Marathon
5 The robot that tidies up bedrooms
They know all about smearing.
Sorry for posting it again:
‘Hygiene Strike’ anybody?
Mr Murray has become a beacon of empiricism and courage over the years.
While I DO think that Assange has a martyr/messiah complex, this doesn’t rule out the very high likelihood that he is a messiah being martyred.
The specifics of this post are spot on, but only a fraction of the overall destruction of Law, Consitution and free speech that they so clearly signify.
https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2019/04/15/explosive-slog-special-how-may-was-installed-how-she-hid-defence-ties-to-the-eu-how-the-media-lied-about-the-october-brextension/
I understand it is now alright to go off topic, on this thread as it is no longer the primary thread, I hope I have that right.
French extreme right wing populist leader Marine Le Pen has pledged to overhaul the European Union from the inside with the help of fellow Eurosceptics Matteo Salvini and Nigel Farage.
This seems like a rather good idea.
Collapse it from within.
Here’s the prize-giving on video: https://www.facebook.com/guengl/videos/2573711026036861/
It opens with a whistle-blower from Nestle.
ha ha hacked ?
Anonymous hackers closed about 30 government websites of Ecuador with DDoS attacks. They say it is the answer for Julian Assanges arrest.
Source in russian with the list of sites hacked here
https://cont.ws/@Skuratoff/1293435
Normally, I do not support breaking rules, hacking, and other negative actions, but this time I’m glad that someone did something.
How I admire Roger Waters. There’s a proper man for you. He is spot on here.
‘Ashamed to be an Englishman’: Roger Waters slams UK as accomplice of US Empire in Assange saga
Assange is a thorn in the side of the US elites which explains the effort they made to capture him, ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters told RT, adding that it’s appalling the UK has become an accomplice “of the American Empire.”
https://www.rt.com/news/456798-roger-waters-assange-arrest/
Is it custom for judges in the UK to get that personal?
I’ve seen some house debates, so I’m not even sure if I would be surprised if it is.
If it wasn’t for RT, we would not know about this. I cannot see this reported anywhere else.
Pro-Assange protest in Ecuador
“Out traitor, out! We voted for you so you govern, not for you to sell us to the United States. Despicable traitor!” one protester was heard saying in the video.”
https://www.rt.com/news/456794-ecuador-clashes-protest-assange/
Cheers for those RT Links Sharp Ears
A friend showed a couple of Very short clips of the Roger one
I had a good idea that you would have the longer full video up here
Although I did wind up on Youtube Cos your link Froze at about 18 mins in
Roger is so well informed. And pretty funny at times.. Well done him.
AND WOW.. the size of the protests in Ecuador, As you say, Thanks to RT for being there.
RT, unlike the UK’s MSM scribblers, keep going.
‘Sovereign decision of Ecuadorians’?! Amid street clashes, Moreno denies Assange arrest was revenge
Published time: 18 Apr, 2019 01:24
https://www.rt.com/news/456859-moreno-assange-correa-revenge/
When will Moreno get the push? He had 39.3% of the vote in 2017. Unfortunately he could be there until 2025 if re-elected.
‘As per the current Constitution, the President can serve two four-year terms. Prior to that, the president could only serve one four-year term. The current President of Ecuador is Lenín Moreno, since 24 May 2017. He was elected in 2017.’ Wikipedia
What is known about Alan Garcia, late president of Peru, who shot himself in the head today when he was about to be arrested on charges of corruption? Payola from a construction company.
Chavez had called him a robber.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-46430050
The reactionary judge’s accusation of ‘narcissism’ is part of a campaign of character assassination – that Assange is a fruitcake, mentally unstable and untrustworthy. That goes for the now exposed ‘rape’ charge. There was also the disgraceful film ‘The Fifth Estate’ (2013) where Assange was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, co-written by David Leigh and Luke Harding of the Guardian.
This is what worries me. If you read the FBI affidavit (https://www.scribd.com/document/406384145/Assange-Affidavit), the evidence for Assange being involved in a “conspiracy” to hack a password is so flimsy, it would be thrown out of any normal European court. It’s based on a few lines of a chat transcript “recovered” from Chelsea Manning’s laptop. It is not even proven (as far as I know) that Julian Assange was the other party. I’m not a lawyer, but I find it hard to believe a UK or European court would agree to the extradite on such flimsy evidence. (The Eurpean Arrest Warrant has much lower standards, but the USA is a non-EU country.)
This is why judge Snow’s horrendous bias is very worrying. The US, UK and Australian establishments are out to punish and make an example of Julian Assange. Apparently this also includes judges so all bets are off. I am even afraid they are quite capable of bundling Julian to a US airbase and handing him over.
I suspect here is a race against time here taking into account Mrs May’s walking holiday.
If she decides to take the Nuclear Option – that is She calls an election then there is a very real chance that a labour government led by Corbyn would treat the whole affair totally differently than May’s governemnet – if you can call it that these days.
These are unreal times in the UK and anything is up for consideration.
I’m not saying it will happen but stranger things have and will happen.
As an example Nancy Pelosi met Corbyn and his team and the photo in the media was revealing to say the least.
Pelosi then met her political soul mates the TIG group now rebranded as the Don’t Change Anything and No Election Please Group for tea and biscuits.
The pictures were very cosy and the TIGs looked very pleased just to be asked for their views ( they have no policies – just views ) by Nancy so it all worked out fine.
Here’s the thing though – if the TIGs want to stand in marginal seats they will have to resign from the seats they already sit in.
They know they will be deselected by Labour but not until they have got other jobs lined up.
There is no guarantee they are going to win in marginals as more Tories will vote for them than Labour voters.
” What do we want? – Nothing Changing! – When do we want it? – Never! is their cry.
Mrs. Theresa May may be on a long walk to oblivion.
If I were her, I’d keep on walking
but yes, she may decide, to only realistic way for her to cling on to power by her fingernails, is a General Election, she will go down in a blaze of infamy, tearing her own party into bits but our shining star Jeremy Corbyn may rise from the ashes.
If J.C. can rest control from the Ice-Queen, he can save Julian Assange.
‘Assange’s UK Legal Battle Will Take 2 Years – His Chances of Winning Are Good – by John Helmer (Dances With Bears) 16 April 2019’:
https://stuartbramhall.wordpress.com/2019/04/17/assanges-uk-legal-battle-will-take-2-years-his-chances-of-winning-are-good-by-john-helmer-dances-with-bears-16-april-2019/
Roll on a JC government.
They are still going for him in the US.
A very biased CNN report here. You can get sick of their droning voices.
DOJ confirms active Julian Assange investigation
Updated 2228 GMT April 17, 2019
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/17/politics/assange-justice-department/index.html
Mr Assange has a choice : get extradited from the UK and get five years in the US….or get extradited from Sweden on a different chrage and get a lot more in the US. Next !
CB
Julian Assange has no choice in the matter. He will be extradited by the PTB, orchestrated by the US, to ensure he receives the harshest penalty possible when he is found guilty, as he surely would be. The US has no doubt already prepared the summing up judgement. If the Swedes have any sense or pride they should refuse point blank to get involved as to do otherwise would suggest that they were poodles to the UK, never mind to the US. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be for them?
@ Borncynical April 18, 2019 at 20:44
I wonder if Trump would accept a scapegoat? If so, I nominate CB.
Ah, so Villanelle was CB as has been strongly hinted at before. Thanks for the proof Charlie boy, next.
Julian has a friend in Ricardo Patino.
Assange arrest shows Moreno is ‘CIA asset,’ turning Ecuador into ‘vassal’ – former FM
21 Apr, 2019
‘The decision of Ecuador’s government to terminate Julian Assange’s asylum is “savagery” and has heavily damaged the dignity of the county, which caved in to the US as if it was its “vassal,” former FM Ricardo Patino told RT.
The former official, who is a vocal supporter of the WikiLeaks co-founder, believes the arrest of Assange has greatly damaged the image of Ecuador, its constitution, as well as the international law as a whole.
Ecuador turns to Interpol to arrest former foreign minister & Assange supporter Patino
“This is an insult to the dignity of our country, it is lawlessness – to allow the British police to enter our embassy and pull out the person we gave asylum to. And according to our constitution and international agreements it is forbidden to extradite him, this is called the principle of non-refoulement,” Patino told RT Spanish in an exclusive interview.’
https://www.rt.com/news/457170-patino-ecuador-moreno-vassal-cia/
‘refoulement – the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution.’
David Edwards and David Cromwell have released the second part of their work on Julian Assange’s arrest.
Assange Arrest – Part 2: ‘A Definite Creep, A Probable Rapist’
18 April 2019
http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2019/901-assange-arrest-part-2-definite-creep-probable-rapist.html
They quote Suzanne Moore extensively. Many other of the disgusting scribblers/tools (that is what they are) are quoted.
There are no questions about Julian Assange’s arrest and imprisonment in next Tuesday’s session. Wonder if there is any humanitarian on the green benches who will speak up for him and get some answers.
Had to check that Gauke is still the ‘Justice Secretary’ as Theresa May swops the moral pygmies around so frequently. Rory Stewart is his sidekick along with Lucy Frazer and Edward Argar. Lord Keen of Elie is on the red bench.
Oral Questions to the Justice Secretary
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmagenda/OP190423V2.pdf
Much of the Ministry of Justice’s work and major expenditure is outsourced to SSCL Ltd.
‘SSCL is a unique joint venture between the Cabinet Office and Sopra Steria.
We bring together the best of public and private sector ways of working to drive change and transform shared services. Through our collaborative approach we have successfully helped to transform HR, Payroll, Recruitment, Finance, Procurement and Contact Centre services, delivering significant improvements and cost savings for our Government, Police and Public Sector clients.’
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/787861/moj-hq-jan-2019-spend.CSV/preview (no figures stated)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/shared-services-connected-ltd
It was ever thus
Good Sleuthing Sharp Ears
I remember you asking if Anyone would be Filming Craig’s talk on Isle of Bute on Saturday.. I didn’t expect anyone to be doing so, But, Thankfully there was.. I took one video but it was rubbish.. hard to hear Craig.
Anyhoo, this is the first part, in which Craig talks about Jullian, and Wikileaks.. There’s a second part, which is over an hour long.. all in all Craig spoke for about two hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scfeBLLcYi8
Cheers Brian. Part 2 is available on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLhEb0ajc8w
As you say 1hr.12mins. Includes a Q&A too.
Moreno’s crackdown intensifies.
‘Ecuador turns to Interpol to arrest former foreign minister & Assange supporter Patino
19 Apr, 2019 06:03
The former foreign minister of Ecuador will be placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list, after fleeing the country for fear of prosecution, as the government of Lenin Moreno continues to crack down on Julian Assange’s supporters.’
https://www.rt.com/news/456972-ecuador-foreign-minister-patino-assange/
What an evil regime.
It gives one a pretty good idea about what lies in store for Julian Assange when his high profile supporters are being hounded like this.
More slime from the BBC.
‘Hero, hacker, narcissist… the Wikileaks founder is an ambiguous figure. What should we think about Julian Assange? (OR What we will tell you to think about Julian Assange. Signed BBC)
The male voice belongs to Matthew Price, at the BBC since 1994. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Price
Katie Silver has done the rounds including at the Heil and CNN. Enough said. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katie-silver-59494523
Beyond Today
When Wikileaks released classified documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010, it and its founder Julian Assange became world famous. Many people see him as a hero, calling out the powerful and confronting them with their crimes. But the US government has accused him of stealing state secrets and hacking into its computers, and over the years rape allegations – which he denies – and Wikileaks’ actions around the 2016 US election have painted Assange as an increasingly complex figure. BBC producer Katie Silver joins us to trace the story of Julian Assange, and to try and work out what we should think about him.
Producer: Harriet Noble
Mixed by Nicolas Raufast
Editor: John Shields
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p076nbf4
I just about stuck the gossipy stuff through to the end.
Dump the Guardian cont’d
The Guardian’s war on Assange
https://theguardian.fivefilters.org/assange/
Chapter and verse.
h/t The Lifeboat News
Great Stuff From Caitlin –
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/04/20/debunking-all-the-assange-smears/
Brian. Why aren’t you at the European Stone Stacking Championships? You could win.
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/whats-on/entertainment/entry-opens-for-2019-european-stone-stacking-championship-in-east-lothian-1-4871962
Happy Easter to you and all on here.
I Didn’t Know a thing about it Sharp Ears. Thanks for the Link.
Talking of Stones, or in this case Slate ( Easdale Only ) we have been on Easdale every year for around 11 years but still haven’t managed to the World Stone Skimming Championship event..
We shall be back to our fave Cottage in Ellenabeich Village again in June 14th… then the ALL Under One Banner March in Oban is the next day 15th.
A wee Glimpse of Stone Skimming Championships –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPjALhxZLEw
Have a Peaceful Easter.. And stay well.
I never watch HIGNIFY but saw this mentioned on TLN. I can’t stick the overpaid giggling Hislop. Yesterday Ms McGovern (a rising BBC stooge) was hosting the programme. She introduced much mockery of Julian Assange All the lies and all the smears were included.
From 9.07 in until 14.09 so a fairly large segment of the half hour programme was given to it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0004b0l/have-i-got-news-for-you-series-57-episode-3
These BBC types think they are so clever. In fact they are worthy of the school playground.
I agree here. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/14/is-it-time-to-put-have-i-got-news-for-you-out-of-its-misery
This is obscene in a country with food banks in every town and rough sleepers in every High Street.
Hislop’s BBC pay. (Trinity Mirror) Ian Hislop/Have I Got News For You/Salary: £400,000/Cash per episode: £20,000
Has anyone seen the appallingly offensive drivel written by Hadley Freeman in The Guardian regarding Julian Assange?
This is an all-time low for that US right-wing rag which was once a great British publication.
Boycott The Guardian and drivel “journalists” who spew their ignorance and hatred to influence the morons and the wilfully uninformed.
Craig Murray and others who speak the truth are so important now – we must defend Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning for exposing the crimes of those who are controlling governments in US and UK, who are responsible for destroying our world.
Good on Mr Narvaez who speaks out in support of Julian Assange and on Sky News for publishing the piece. Nothing like it seen on the BBC of course.
I have also found their reporting from Palestine fairer than the BBC too.
Exclusive
Julian Assange put through ‘hell’ at embassy, says former diplomat
Fidel Narvaez says Assange was “100% respectful” but claims he suffered from a government plot to force him out.
By Lisa Holland, senior correspondent
Saturday 20 April 2019 09:43, UK
https://news.sky.com/story/respectful-assange-put-through-hell-at-embassy-says-former-diplomat-11698113
Fairly accurate reporting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1efOs0BsE0g
Caitlin Johnstone had a piece published on Medium.com – ‘Debunking all the Assange Smears’.
Now it has been taken down but it has been archived.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190420013523/https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/debunking-all-the-assange-smears-a549fd677cac
The owners of Medium.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_(website)
Her tweet on the censorship.
https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1119827980841152512
Manning and Assange are inspirational. I have written to Assange in prison and hope he is able to receive mail.