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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Belmarsh rally in support of Julian Assange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miVBKLKYSbo&feature=youtu.be
https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeGallowayOfficial/videos/2163991637017223?sfns=mo
Is he at Wandsworth? It seems that the early suggestion of Belmarsh by his friend was perhaps just an attempted publicity stunt: “Britain’s Guantánamo”.
More practically, does anyone know his prisoner number? I believe this is needed both by emailaprisoner.com and to (successfully) send him a letter by Royal Mail.
Is there any clarity yet where he will be detained over the next six weeks?
If you look at videos I previously mentioned you’ll see the governor of Belmarsh accepting that JA is there…
Just tweeted Sean Hannity with the latest on Julian Assange .
@seanhannity The Brits have stabbed Julian Assange in the back .Please see this decision from the UK Information Commissioner who is a Tory Gatekeeper.See para 83 for my personal connection with Assange. https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2017/2013939/fs50610253.pdf
Point 51 is interesting: ” … The cost to the public purse in policing Mr Assange’s presence at the Embassy has also been considerable. …”
Sounds a bit strange. How do you “police” someone permanently resident in an embassy building? Were they on permanent watch in case he left the building? “Considerable” cost? What the bloody hell were they doing?
I’m sure the Home Secretary said in the Commons on the day JA was seized that it had cost £13/14 million.
What was that about? Javid thinking of a number and quadrupling it? He’s good at numbers having been employed as MD at Deutsche Bank until the crash. It is said he was paid £3m paid by them. Earlier he was with Chase Manhattan bank.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sajid_Javid
On TWFY anual paid for visits to the American Enterprise Institute in Georgia, USA in multiple £thousands are recorded. Plus upgrades from Emirates Airlines for himself and wife valued at £4,000 – £9,000.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=24854
Annual visits to the AEI. A neocon outfit. Perle/Wolfowitz/Cheney/Kristol etc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enterprise_Institute
Way to go folks, give them hell.
The sickening Engerlish media and the scummy unionist politico’s.
Acting like state vigilante’s.
Yankee puppets.
??
JA’s beard was likely due to the withdrawal of facilities prior to his removal at behest of UK to feed the dirty inmate coverage to reduce public sympathy for JA and divert attention from what WikiLeaks has leaked! I did notice the pictures of the toilet and kitchen hardly matched the description.
They had to act after Ecuador withdrew protection after WikiLeaks exposed Moreno’s secret bank account, which JA must have suspected would happen, hence the early reports of his impending eviction.
This means JA forced the issue, but why? Could it be because its part of a clever plot by Trump, same as the Mueller investigation, to reveal the crimes of his opponents bearing in mind no extradition has yet happened, to allow JA the freedom to tell the truth about Hilary Clinton and sink the Democrat National Committee?
Hence the MSM vitriol against JA, same as directed towards Trump! I.e. the Deep State never initiated the eviction they fear it!
That is Falconer who closed down the inquest for Dr David Kelly on Blair’s instructions and set up the Hutton Inquiry (whitewash) in its place. Therefore, Dr Kelly’s unnatural death was never subjected to a proper inquest.
Falconer and Blair were flatmates early on.
‘Falconer became a flatmate of Tony Blair when they were both young barristers in London in the late 1970s in Wandsworth, having first met as pupils at rival Scottish schools in the 1960s. While Blair went into politics, Falconer concentrated on his legal career.
Charlie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton – Wikipedia’
PS Falconer is a Labour peer. His register of interests
Category 2: Remunerated employment, office, profession etc.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Category 5: Land and property
2 flats in London
Cottage in Nottinghamshire
Category 10: Non-financial interests (c)
Chair, Sage Gateshead (concert hall)
Category 10: Non-financial interests (e)
Trustee, Planting Promise
Member of Advisory Group of Demos (think tank)
Chair, Liberty Kitchen (social enterprise)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a multinational firm of solicitors, work in the sovereign wealth area under their managing partner, Jeffrey Trinklein, a US lawyer.
https://www.gibsondunn.com/office/london/
1,300 lawyers in 20 offices worldwide, inc South America I noticed.
https://www.gibsondunn.com/practices/
Handy that.
Cheers Twostime. Got the last video too.. Been a while since you have been around these parts.
Brian Fujisan,
yes I’ve been off plumbing the depths of global depravity. What a mess of evil. I also scanned your Flicker feed for photos. Strength to you and yours, friend. @Gordon Dimmack has plucked up courage to fight and as you have linked covered Chris Williamson in full despite the Ruptly stream going down. Interesting, Gordon noted that Ruptly were just moving camera to do a full interview with CW. I expect it’s out there but haven’t seen it yet. I attended Belmarsh on Saturday to stand up with our Ecuadorian friends. All the best 🙂
Gordon Dimmack with Chris Williamson.. Belmarsh Prison –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4dDUTLpa0Y
More Wisdom from Caitlin –
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-us-government-wont-care-about-your-definition-of-journalism-after-the-assange-precedent-is-set-66ae974d23fe?
Not so much wisdom as a truth.
Excellently put.
I particularly like this one ” These people have obviously had their personal opinions taken far too seriously for far too long. ”
The Guardian has used these alleged journalists as ‘ Opinion Formers ‘ as a transmission info belt to other opinion formers in other
MSM outlets and they have the cheek to say that the blogsphere operates in a bubble.
The truth is that this is all about envy and shame.
Assange has come along and upset their cosy world of defining what is in the public interest and what isn’t.
Their job of definition of what is in the public interest has been usurped by an outsider who won’t play their game. The game that has kept them in employ and the lifestyle they have become accustomed to for years.
I will guarantee that many of the seething ‘ journalists ‘ have been handed stories by whistleblowers over the years and instead of chasing the Scoop they have sat on it or hidden it in order to keep their positions.
They should stick to Cat Stuck Up Tree stories from here on in as that is all they are fit for and I couldn’t give a stuff over what happened at their dinner parties or shortages of alfalfa sprouts at Waitrose.
Boring journalism but just like 24 Hour News never has ‘ Dead Air ‘ so it is in the other media.
Pure filler for the schmucks.
They are lazy for a reason and the reason is: They are lazy.
No doubt probably have great difficulty telling their kids a Bedtime Story never mind a thought provoking or revelatory article.
Unfortunately even though I like Corbyn the Labour Party is full of these entitled people too.
Which is why even if the Labour Party wins the next GE these same lazy people will attempt to undermine everything the Labour Party and Corbyn tries to do.
In both cases their future salaries and emoluments depend upon doing that.
Ditto for attacking Julian Assange.
Envy and laziness on both counts.
They are frauds.
No wonder a lot of them are heavy drinkers and try never to look in the mirror just in case they realise what they have become.
One Assange and one Corbyn are worth more than a hundred thousand of them.
They know that in their hearts.
That’s what makes them drink and take drugs – it masks the pain.
“As far as is known, there are just three men who have conclusive evidence that the Russians did NOT hack the DNC in 2016: Binney, Assange and Murray”:
https://larouchepac.com/20190412/three-men-london-coverup-mode
Ma Clinton speaking in NY in front of her adulterous husband is cock a hoop** about Assange’s arrest and confinement.
Delegitimising Journalism: The Effort to Relabel Julian Assange
April 15, 2019
‘To Thomas Cooper, he would write in November 1802 reflecting that the press was “the only tocsin of a nation. [When it] is completely silenced… all means of a general effort [are] taken away.” The press provided the greatest of counterweights against oppressive tendencies, being the “only security” available.
Not so, now. The fourth estate has been subjected to a withering. The State has become canny about the nature of the hack profession, providing incentives, attempting to obtain favourable coverage, and, above all, avoiding dramatic reforms where necessary. An outfit like WikiLeaks is a rebuke to such efforts, to the hypocrisy of decent appearances, as it is to those in a profession long in tooth and, often, short in substance.’
https://www.globalresearch.ca/effort-relabel-julian-assange/5674460
**
Hillary Clinton shows signature style as she chuckles over Assange’s arrest
12 Apr, 2019
https://www.rt.com/news/456301-hillary-clinton-jokes-assange-arrest/
She’s a psychopath.
You can’t prove a negative, but common sense would tell you that the Russian’s did not “hack the election”.
What most of our dear American cousins fail to understand is that most of the people of the world have more important things to worry about than which brand of bloodthirsty corporate warmonger is squatting in the White House at any given moment.
The world does not revolve around their stinky asses – much to their chagrin.
Trump v Clinton: neocon patsy v female psychopath : what a choice!
Nationalist buffoon v neocon psychopath.
Trump or Clinton. Worst or Worstest.
I have e-mailed my MP (SNP) to ascertain the position of the SNP regarding Assange’s extradition, as there seems to be dearth of comments from the group.
thanks Albert so Have I, but I know it is futile, as he is well embedded in the Leave campaign and has said that he has a problem with EU migrants, whilst being ok with migrants from Ireland. It is no wonder that these people get very disturbed when reality hits their voting record in Parliament.
Most of MP’s are topsy turvey an d reacting to what happened the day/week before, they are not in charge of their senses anymore.
Equally with JA, they are desperate to pin something on him that would allow them to turn him over to Satans helpers, those whop hold the poker, like Pompeo and Bolton.
I am worried that he is now within a system that would make accidents and deliberate assassination possible and whatever happens to him will be the responsibility of us here, those who initiated this deterioration in his safety.
That judge is not psychologically qualified to make a personality judgement on Assange
We are asked to believe that £ 14 million was spent on surveillance of man who had skipped bail on a charge that had been dropped.
That is not true.
The purpose given for the arrest was untrue. The legal basis for the arrest was bogus. Unless they are going to be able to show that the police routinely spend £14m in the arrest of a bail jumper who know longer stands charged with the original crime.
If the basis for the arrest was deliberately deceitful then the process that flows from it is based on a false tenet (the whole process is tainted, the process is unreasonable and therefore by definition unlawful)
Chomsky on Assange and Lula, and why the US and its minions (Britain etc) need to shut them down.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chomsky-Assange-and-Lula-the-Same-Case-to-Silence-Their-Voices-20190414-0028.html
Also on Assange from the link.
“Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told CNN that they are “going to extradite him. It will be really good to get him back on United States soil. So now he’s our property and we can get the facts and truth from him.”
how will they ascertain recognise what the truth and facts are even if they find them?
This affectionate tribute to Julian opens with a lovely photo of him (when younger) with Ms Castro and his cat.
My Friend Julian Assange – Alicia Castro, ex ambassador in London
Editor’s Note: @ProfessorsBlogg tweeted 14/4 a translation of “Mi Amigo Julian Assange”, authored by Ms Alicia Castro, formerly Argentina’s ambassador in the UK and Venezuela. The text in Spanish appeared the same day in Página 12, Argentina. Text translated by Prof. Marcello Ferrada de Noli, April 14, 2019. / Dr Lena Oske, MD, Acting Editor at The Indicter Magazine.
theindicter.com/my-friend-julian-assange-alicia-castro-ex-ambassador-in-london/?
I like the phrase “the decadent Teresa May”
‘Honest Government Ad | Julian Assange / American Empire’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1efOs0BsE0g&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR15lUBH3A44AManPA_AqifZHHdWyxwKRjuPPefwjI8susmiQhPmJtX8-0o
Copied from ‘Londoners Protect Julian Assange’ Facebook page.
Ahead of me, that channel has some great satire. Have you seen the pieces on “genuine satire” referring to a law Ausgov wanted to introduce. YCMTSU.
@ Twostime April 15, 2019 at 13:03
I don’t follow the channel, I just picked that up on the JA support Facebook page.
Paul, seriously check out all their “Honest Gov” vids. I particularly enjoyed the recent one on “The Economy” from the “Department of Class Warfare and Neoliberal Shitfuckery” you can’t ask for more than that 🙂 MODS will be here soon 😉 . Also check out “Visit West-Papua!” & “Visit Timor-Leste!”.
Don’t let the shitfuckery of the failing globalist/uni-polar powers get you down. Get up, stand up, stand up for our rights :)…
Julian Assange’s defence to the bail skipping charge, to which he pleaded not guilty, didn’t get much coverage, did it? His lawyer argued that he had reasonable excuse because he could not get a fair trial in Britain, a country whose officials were liable to hand him over to their masters in the US. Is he going to appeal?
Security state cooperation between Britain and the US is automatically considered D-noticed if not technically so. If it’s ever covered it’s 10 times removed and in abstract professionals-only-please terms such as “extraordinary rendition”.
The first para of your post is even more convoluted than usual. What has a “fair trial” got to do with the bail-skipping charge? It was an open and shut case – Assange had skipped bail, nobody’s denying that. So the judge was supposed to find him not guilty of skipping bail despite the fact that he had skipped bail? Conclusion : the judge’s verdict was not only fair, it was the only one he could have handed down.
Very interesting Article: Why is the left blinkered to claims about Assange and sexual assault?
Nesrine Malik, Guardian Online, 15/04/2019
Very interesting article? Well, I would describe it as a typical Guardian deep state infested media piece of filth written by yet another establishment lackey.
lol blinkered, next “why is the left blinkered to claims about assange smearing crap on embassy walls”? because it’s straight up propaganda to get assange in prison, or worse, in the u.s., that’s why.
Oh please.. more vile propaganda and outright lies from the Blairite deep-state Guardian.
“let me remind you why I believe Julian Assange was in the Ecuadorian embassy for seven years before he was ejected and arrested last week. I don’t believe it was for being a journalist or a truth-teller to power, and it wasn’t for releasing evidence of America’s war crimes. He was in the embassy because, in 2010, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant so that he might answer allegations of sexual assault and rape. Assange would not accept extradition, jumped bail in the UK and absconded”
It is beggars belief that a once reputable newspaper would print such vicious lies. It was all about the possibility of Assange being renditioned to the US. I know this was rubbished by many at the time, but look at what has actually happened: within an hour of being removed from the Ecuadora embassy, Assange was in fact arrested on an extradition warrant. He is now facing extradition for trial in the US in a court specially chosen (due to its proximity to the CIA and other US security authorities) that has never given any national security defendant the slightest benefit of the doubt, ever.
“It also seems that, in this country, as long as we have the same enemies, we condone the protection of those who flee sexual assault allegations.”
Assange did not flee “sexual allegations”. He answered questions in Sweden and was told he was permitted to leave the country.
The Guardian is lower than the Daily Mail or Express as far as I’m concerned. At least those rags don’t try to put a smarmy, Blairite “progressive” veneer on the pile of sh*t they print.
It’s also the case that Swedish officials visited Assange in the embassy and interviewed him, following which they returned to Sweden without any further action being taken.
Nadine, that is an exemplary piece of rightwing deflection and smearing. More so these days than ever the Guardian should be appriached with Malcom X’s warning in mind: “if you’re not careful the newspapers will have you hating the people being oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing.”
Hide your head in shame Nesrine Malik. You were born in Sudan and have lived in Egypt, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, the latter the worst of all and with whom the USUKNATOIsrael axis has carried out its evil in Yemen. The others have all been corrupted by the same lot. Haven’t you noticed?
‘Nesrine Malik is a British Sudanese columnist and features writer for The Guardian. She was born in Sudan and grew up in Kenya, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. She received her undergraduate education at the American University in Cairo and University of Khartoum, and her post graduate education at the University of London. Alongside her journalism career she previously spent ten years in emerging markets private equity. She was named Society and Diversity Commentator of the Year at the 2017 Comment Awards.’ Publisher’s blurb.
Isn’t it more a classic Guardian “women always suffer” piece, which we get at the rate of a couple a day, and more on Sundays? “In the hierarchy of progressive political causes, women seem to be relegated to the bottom of the pile”. Comments are never opened, because they fear the male backlash. But it’s just that meme applied to the Assange case, I would have thought, cherry-picking a superficial vision of the rape accusations.
There are Blairite female Labour MPs, who feel left out in the cold under Corbyn’s more leftist direction, so have become more and more outspoken on feminism and what they perceive as the cruel unjust patriarchy that exists. The Guardian is very much like a fanzine of that wing of the Labour party.
In Sweden a similar impetus drove the formation of Feminist Initiative – a radical feminist political party – support has waned however, they got 0.4% of the vote in the 2018 general election. The party lost seven seats in the municipal elections and did not gain any county council seats.
This proves that kind of divisive (Guardian /PLP) politics is toxic; deeply unpopular even among female voters.
An interesting article? “Why is the left blinkered to claims about…” the intricacies of falling foul of obscure Swedish morals laws? I don’t know, for some reason breaking foreign laws was never covered in my education, indeed I know of few experts in the laws of foreign countries, left wing or otherwise. Why do you raise this topic?
Nadine arn’t you going to defend youself from all these criticisms of your ?
How many people have actually been charged in Sweden and outside Sweden for a similar offense as Assange has been accused of? And how many of those people have been convicted? The offense we’re talking about is consensual sex during which a condom tears, or is not used at all as was agreed, and when the woman later finds out, she retroactively withdraws consent. In the US there are a very large number of people in jail for sexual misconduct, how many of these people have been convicted of what Assange has been accused of?
Many Americans have in the past argued very strongly that Assange should go to Sweden to face justice for the crime he has been accused of there, that these charges are very serious, that Assange should face a lengthy jail sentence in Sweden. So, if the US attitude is like that, then you would assume that there should be a large number of prisoners in the US who have been jailed on similar grounds.
Whilst gardening in the warmth of the Spring sunshine this morning, I kept thinking of Julian in his cell. We have collectively filled up seven pages here with our protests and links to articles, mostly in support of him, but nothing has changed since his arrest last week. The gangsters-in-charge and their acolytes have the power. We keep voting them in. Why?
Nothing at all seems to change. Just reflecting on a few of Craig’s articles over the last year or so – the Skripals, the ‘corrections’ to Wikipedia articles, the Integrity Initiative – no change. Things which would rightly have been scandals but they all blow over. It was ever thus.
“The gangsters-in-charge and their acolytes have the power. We keep voting them in. Why?”
Haven’t they given up on elections now? The Tories are becoming increasingly anti-election, as we can see from the Brexit impasse. They’re afraid of going to the people, because they may lose, and so prefer just to stay in power. Sounds more and more like Khartoum.
Laguere
“Sounds more and more like Khartoum”
In Khartoum the people have sustained a peaceful revolution that is producing results, even though slowly, but here no one is complaining and continue to vote for the same incompetent politicians.
An Egyptian solution is the most likely prospect, but I was talking about the past. You are right, of course about present possibilities.
That the current government does not bow to Mr Jeremy Corbin’s calls for an immediate general election can hardly be equated with the idea that the Conservatives “are becoming increasingly anti-election”.
As for staying in power, the next general election is due, under the Fixed Parliament Act, in 2022. In other words, in three years time. Hardly the 30 years the horrible former strongman of the Sudan stayed in power for.
I didn’t refer to Corbyn’s calls for a GE, which will be ignored no doubt. If however Corbyn looks like winning, I wouldn’t have the confidence your officious reference to the fixed-term law suggests.
Not specifically, but your theme was that the Conservatives are becoming “increasingly anti-election”. And the only evidence you have for that strange assertion is that the present Conservative govt appears to have no intention of following Mr Corbyn’s solicitations.
And will you perhaps withdraw your silly comparison between the Conservatives not leaping into an election at Mr Corbyn’s command and the Sudanese strongman and wanted war crimes criminal having hung on to power for 30 years?
Calling the lot currently occupying 10 Downing Street and Whitehall generally, the ‘government’ , is stretching it a bit. A bunch of fascists.
I fully endorse the second sentence of Sharp Ears’s post. The only difference between us is that I can draw the correct conclusion from that whereas she can not.
CB I think you were making a point but not clear what it was – a cunclusion?
Think about it.
Can we eschew, or at least tone down the starting of sentences with conjunctions, Charles Bostick? And others?
And paragraphs starting with “meanwhile”? And and? Also low- grade “quasi-signatures”, such as obscure punctuation (Molloy?), gratuitous Capitalisation, and pseudo-poetry impervious to first reading (you know who you are) are unhelpful in getting a wider readership (a given desire of the blog?) They are stale.
Although these journalists’ devices may have sold papers by the bale in the past, this is nota Paper, and we are not journalists. Craig himself is guilty of some of this “journalese”, I know not why, but that does not mean we all attempt to emulate a baleful Style. And he is a journalist, but it is His Style. And his blog.
All this annoys me, because as someone who has read and appreciated this blog on and off for a decade, I fear the wheels may soon come off. Which would be a shame.
Heavy moderation, although necessary due to the blog’s success, should not unduly support a residue of die-hard and staunch supporters who pursued the wrong career.
As it currently seems to.
Prisoner number for Julian Assange, anyone?
Is it true he’s being kept in solitary?
Article 3 of the European convention on human rights, now part of our law by virtue of the Human Rights Act, which states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The term “cruel and unusual punishment” comes from the eighth amendment to the US constitution. And Article 3 is much broader in application.
Aside from Corbyn , the PLP and wider political ( esp. Lib Dems and SNP) reaction has been dispiriting , fame or notoriety is not the same as guilt, he’s not Charles Manson. On the face of it, the allegations in Sweden are flimsier than those that saw footballer Ched Evans walk free. Labour MPs were ready to pronounce extensively on that case too before being in possession of all the facts.
For me, Jeremy Corbyn, whatever his shortcomings may or may not be, has shown some courage and integrity in giving at least some defence of Julian Assange. Corbyn must know that his support will not help his political ambitions at all, but at least he is a man with a conscience, unlike many of his political associates.
Ditto Diane Abbott, of course.
The PLP talk only about the Swedish allegations because they know Corbyn’s on a sticky wicket trying to defend Assange when rape allegations are involved. This is just a continuation of the authoritarian PLP’s fight against Corbyn by other means.
The PLP aren’t so dumb as to not realise Assange’s real fear about Sweden, has always been the possibility of being extradited on to the US where espionage charges could be layered on to the conspiracy charge, leaving him facing 20-30 years in solitary. The PLP are being so disingenuous.
Assange is just as likely to be extradited from Britain, so why should he fear going to Sweden? In any case, Britain has to give the green light for a re-extradition to the US from Sweden.
grabbed the Observer at a friends place, out of boredom and then read some of Jess Phillips mis directions and use of Assange’s misfortunes to promote her hobbyhorse.
She rants about Diane Abbott for forgetting the two women in Sweden, which ‘wasn’t even informed of our actions so they could have asked again for extradition’.
She has not even realised that the Swedish prosecutors have dropped the case and are not interested in our spot the donkey game, trying to use Sweden as a conduit for our malaise.
The Labour PLP is using any old iron to beat Corbyn with these days. People like Jess Phillips use these two women for their protracted arguments against Corbyn by ignoring the scissors that cut condoms and the fact that Anna Ardin was a [possible CIA asset, all that matters is that the conduct between the sheets is bona fide according to their book.
Even when the other birds feathers look wet and dishevelled Jess does not mind, she’ll put them on her head to look the same, what a prat.
Garth Carthy,
I dispute that
“Corbyn must know that his support will not help his political ambitions at all”
I had already decided, that I was not going to vote for any of these horrible people of any political party ever again.
By showing “some courage and integrity in giving at least some defence of Julian Assange”, Jeremy Corbyn has kept the last hope and flicker of light of Democracy alive,
like a candle in the wind
I may yet vote again.
Tony
tonyopmoc,
I have been a lifetime supporter of Labour. The Brexit imbroglio has revealed to me the treachery of MP’s of both Parties.Teresa May and Yvette Cooper especially.
There is no point in voting either Labour or Tory, if you want Brexit., Ukip or Farage can only deliver a Brexit at this stage
@Laguerre
It wasn’t even certain who’d have primacy in what were always likely to be competing extradition requests from the US and Sweden.
Assange probably thought he could wait this process out in the embassy until the political situation changed in the US or UK ,or both.
As for the present situation, Sweden has to first reopen the abandoned rape case. If you’ve read the background to the allegations you’d realise why Assange was always very eager to travel there, if, and only if , they were given assurances about extradition to the US.
Off topic, but quiet exciting. Beware of your laughter, led by donkeys strike again. Apparently that man with a German passport and a penchant for US senators with dubious pasts failed to register this site, some say he can’t find enough funds for his EU campaign.
Maybe Trump would like to help him out.
https://thebrexitparty.com/
It’s a scam.
Hmmmmm, I’d say its a way for Nigel to keep his snout in the trough ? Having fouled his nest at UKIP, this is just what one would expect him to do in order to keep his Euro MP position. Truth be told I’d have to suspect that he may well relish either Brexit never happening, or dragging on for years ?
Interesting that the Tory’s are anxious to avoid a Euro Election, no doubt they realise its potential to become a sort of mini referendum with maybe a 70% turnout instead of the usual 20, Will of the People and all that 🙂
Labour MP Chris Williamson addressed the Julian Assange rally at HMP Belmarsh on Sunday.
It would be good to see a lot more following his example and that of these three women today:
https://www.facebook.com/RTUKnews/videos/264533611168697/
Belmarsh prison (The British Gitmo) is a notorious prison.
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/04/15/julian-assanges-nightmarish-future/#comment-363133
Frankly, I do not understand how so many of the Left (to which I thought I belong, too) can support such a person. Sorry to say, but Assange is a narcissist of the worst kind, without any self-critizism or self-discipline, not respecting the boundaries of others. This applies to his behaviour in the Ecuadorian embassy, to his – alleged – behaviour in Sweden and also to his “journalistic methods”, Most of his “journalistic work” is not the result of diligence and responsibility, but rather consists of dumping unfiltered information to the public, without consideration of other persons’ privacy and well being. This behaviour is not respectable journalistic work, but rather cheap voyeurism and sadism, comparable if not worse to the “journalism” of the Sun and the like. Sorry, but this man deserves to be held to account by the Swedish Courts and, no worry, Sweden is more bound to the rule of law and human rights than many other Europen countries.
He’s exposed the corruption & criminality of the world’s most powerful factions .. that’s the reason you are able to list so many establishment smears of him. They are the talking points the politicians and establishment ‘journalists’ have been anxious to embed in people’s minds .. crowding out all the corruption & criminality of the powerful he has exposed.
“this man deserves to be held to account by the Swedish Courts…”
So are you going to tell the Swedish authorities that? They have already demonstrated three times that they do not believe there is any evidence worthy of a prosecution. What more can they do to convince you?? I suggest you start at the beginning and read everything there is to read about Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks revelations before you carry on with such nonsensical ranting. And stop reading the mainstream media; it’s not good for anybody. The rest of your comments don’t even warrant the time to compile a response, but make me realise that one or other of us is living in a parallel universe, and I can guarantee it’s not me.
The Swedish prosecutors stopped only because they did not see a way forward since Assange cowardly hid in the Equadorian Embassy with no sign the “asylum” would be lifted anytime soon.
“only because they did not see a way forward……,etc.”
Do you have a source for that? A scoop, or some inside information?
Btw, one man’s narcissism is another man’s self-preservation.
Nadine, not sure who or what you are, or where you are from (77th Brigade?) perhaps just read the affidavit and all the linked citations? https://wikileaks.org/IMG/html/Affidavit_of_Julian_Assange.html ?
You’ve completely lost me now. Perhaps you might care to explain their reasoning for deciding, after they’d interviewed him in Sweden in person immediately after the complaints were lodged, that there wasn’t a case to answer and they told him he was free to leave the country whenever he liked.
Silly goose!
It isn’t worth even wasting time engaging with you.
Seems like you’re hostile to Assange because your ideology dictates you must be hostile to anyone accused of sexual crimes, regardless of whether they’re guilty or not. You list many subjective opinions of Assange’s work and character, but then attempt to tie it all together with the Swedish allegations, which are unrelated to his ‘journalistic methods’ you were critiquing initially. Whether Assange conducts himself ethically as a journalist or publisher has absolutely zero relevance to whether he raped those women.
Do you set no weight at all by the small mountain of circumstantial evidence pointing to this being a politically motivated witch hunt? You clearly don’t have much of a grasp on the publicly available information in this case, or you’re choosing to ignore it because it doesn’t suit the narrative you’re wanting to push.
She doesn’t have an ideology unless we count her devotion to the super-b-tches at the Guardian.
Nadine, your post is as ignorant of the facts as Jess Phillips report and use of JA case for her hobby horses, is despicable. Both of you failed to see the disregard given to the real reasons for his first arrest and or the reasons now being trumpeted for his extradition.
Forget about the rape case that never was, it was consensual sex and the scissors were thrown in after, no genetic material of Julian was found in the condom, it was brand new or washed thoroughly and it was cut with a sharp implement.
Nadine wants us to know that she is a lefty who does like some human rights but not others.
Noted.
She also has got nothing to say about the filtered journalistic excellence that fed the combined MSM with stories they would not dare to publish themselves without Julian providing this material.
In effect they are not journalists any more, but public political whores and prostitutes to malignancy of the worst kind.
To argue that Sweden should deal with the outfall of our pathetic system is laughable and deranged, take a cold shower and realise that those who foster these unrelated and rather embarrassing stories only paint themselves in a peaked hat, agreeing with the character assassination techniques used via sex kittens our own Governments are so well known for.
To make out that journalists at the Guardian can do more than just read press releases hold a phone and or bow to their MI masters is wishful thinking, why else would their revenues go down for years now?
Oh Nadine! Are you even bothering to read and digest the many criticisms of the mainstream here?
Or do you prefer to believe the lies and distortions of the media.
None of the mainstream media can be trusted.
They all, or virtually all, have intelligence agents or links with intelligence agents on their staff according to Roy Greenslade – and he’s an expert on intelligence issues in the media.
You criticise the Sun but I hope you are not under the illusion that the so-called broadsheets are serious, honest media.
For all intents and purposed, all mainstream media is controlled in at least certain aspects, by deep state controlled propaganda.
Why do you think Assange is a narcissist? Do you know him or do you believe the media and a judge who should keep his biased trap shut?
I would recommend you have a browse on the excellent ‘Media Lens’ website or even buying one of their books. They are NOT raving lefty hotheads – they are two cool, honest men who work very hard to expose the ugly truths about our corrupt media.
As you have such in -depth knowledge of Julian Assange’s journalistic shortcomings, perhaps you could share with us all one specific example of where he has indulged in “dumping unfiltered information to the public, without consideration of other persons’ privacy and well being”. I take it you’re not referring to the rights to ‘privacy and well being’ of the military personnel who sadistically executed Iraqi civilians in cold blood with trigger happy glee.
Haha you’re a bit late coming to the party, sorry but the Swedish allegations were dropped a long time ago. But you are not alone either in your ‘demands’ nor in your ignorance.
The Swedes are now most unlikely to step on Uncle Sam’s shoes. Sweden will be a Plan B and if it comes to that, will require a lot of jugglery.
The question is: How can you skip bail on a charge that was dropped years ago?
Second question: Even if he has been arrested for skipping bail ( allow that one ) then what is the maximum sentence for bail skipping in the UK – I’ve heard a fine is usually applied and not a sentence in many cases.
People skip bail all the time in the UK – but they don’t end up being exported to the US for doing so.
Or is the idea to give him a long enough sentence to hold him whilst the Yanks and the British governments get their story straight as to the best charge and decide who gets first dibs on him ?
Third question:
If the Swedish government is the ‘ plaintiff ‘ does the woman who initially lodged the case want to revive or resume it?
If not – what happens then?
Nadine, thanks for providing so much detail in support of your lead assertion that you are bereft of understanding why “the Left” fails to credulously and submissively endorse the false and slanderous portrait of Assange and his work fabricated by Western hegemony propagandists.
I’m sympathetic, because your profound bemusement is a common side-effect of viewing the world through ideological goggles.
@ Nadine April 15, 2019 at 17:08
You may be ‘Left’, at least of Mussolini.
The crimes Assange exposed included the grossest War Crimes, crimes committed in illegal wars, based on lies, destroying and laying waste countries and populations. And all you can say about the matter is accuse him of narcissism and voyeurism and ‘sadism’ (I don’t know where you got that from). Oh, and ‘bad behaviour’ in the Embassy, which is highly debatable.
Some folks will do anything to earn a crust….as shown by the infamous traitor Lenin Moreno, who sold not just Julian Assange, but his country and the Ecuadoran people down the river to the Great Satan.
Julian Assange is not wanted in Sweden. He has not been charged.
You say “Assange is a narcissist of the worst kind.”
Can you define this ‘kind’ intelligibly so that I can understand it? Can you give examples which are not merely your or another’s opinion but specific observed actions which you can demonstrate with evidence and which represent an objective fact. Can you also explain why it may be the worst narcissism you have encountered? (it would be helpful if you can include examples of “without any self-critizism or self-discipline, not respecting the boundaries of others”. Be sure to document why these examples are not opinion. Also please specify if possible how these examples relate to the charge of narcissism and how this charge is relevant to your indignation that “so many of the Left” support Julian Assange.)
Please provide evidence of “his behaviour in the Ecuadorian embassy.” Are you referring to alleged behaviour or behaviour you witnessed directly? if the behaviour is alleged, can you explain why you trust implicitly in the accuracy and authenticity of the allegations and those making them?
Can you address the fact of the case against Assange in Sweden being dropped at least twice and that the accusers appear to have changed their story at least once. Can you address the fact that there is currently no case against Assange in Sweden and relate this to your allegations about his “behaviour in Sweden” and your apparent insistence that there is a case to answer in Sweden?
Can you provide evidence of “dumping unfiltered information to the public” making sure to explain what you mean by ‘unfiltered’ in this instance and specifying what journalistic practices and methods you make reference to here?
Can you clarify what you mean by ‘diligence’ with regard to the information revealed by Wikileaks? As you are no doubt aware, all of the information released by Wikileaks has been verified as accurate and authentic and has never been challenged. No other media outlet as far as I understand it has a perfect record of accuracy. To what are you referring when you use the word diligence in this context?
Can you demonstrate with examples what you mean by “..without consideration of other persons’ privacy and well being” and thereby establish the loss of well being you suggest has accrued as a result of Wikileaks releasing information? This is requires evidence if you are to be believed.
If you cannot provide examples pertaining to the previous paragraph, your charge of “not respectable journalistic work, but rather cheap voyeurism and sadism, comparable if not worse to the “journalism” of the Sun and the like” is surely your own invention. In which case anything further you wish to contribute should be assessed in light of this deliberate attempt to smear and defame Julian Assange for purposes unknown.
You say “Sorry, but this man deserves to be held to account by the Swedish Courts.” As we have discussed, there is no case to be answered according to the Swedish authorities, which rather suggests you have an undisclosed agenda to malign Assange, who is currently in jail and unable to defend himself. That is definitely not an attractive personality trait, long story short, you appear to be guilty of many of the accusations you’ve levelled against Julian Assange.
I hope some of that helps.
The word ‘narcissist’ is very common (almost predictable) in btl comments by people who don’t like Julian Assange. I think Judge Snow unwittingly outed himself as a member of the anti-Assange pack when he used the word in his judgement.
I was wondering about ‘narcissist’ too. Suddenly you see it everywhere people comment on Assange’s character … all singing from same hymn sheet … what do they mean by it, what’s the evidence he is one, and if it was so, how would it affect the justice of sending him to face charges in America?
Seems to me wikileaks was a great achievement and we are all better off knowing what has been revealed so far. It’s natural for governments to want to keep secrets, but it can easily go too far and you can’t have democracy if you have no idea what your government is up to behind the scenes.
The facts about Julian Assange, some of which from 2010 I can corroborate. Whilst I wasn’t in Sweden, I was closely following events, almost live, I read the texts, the next day, from the girl involved which proved he was innocent.
http://steelcityscribblings.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Julian-Assange-s-statement.pdf
Tony
From your linked PDF Tony, a letter from the Crown Prosecution Service to Marianne NY in January 2011:
“Please do not think that the case is being dealt with as just another
extradition request”
I note that establishment gimp, and hero of remainers on this blog, Keir Starmer, was in charge of the CPS at that time.
Greg Palast Speaks well on Going Underground, And says
Julian Deserves the Congressional MEDAL OF HONOUR! Not Prison Time! –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrOv6AHZZUw
[ MOD: Kindly do not post off-topic, or provide “breaking news”, on the front post. ]
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Paris is burning. A fire in the Notre Dame Cathedral.
At the risk of jumping the gun, conflict is everywhere, now firmly rooted in human consciousness.
Interestingly Victor Hugo penned The Hunchback of Notre Dame to raise funds for the cathedral which at that time was dilapidated. Notre Dame cathedral is also the Zero-Kilometre point for Paris and France.
You are a mine of information, RoS, and the great thing is that you just love sharing. I think you’re the real inventor of “Trivial Pursuit”.
Republic of Google
Plagiarist.
That place has certainly seem some action.
For a time during the Revolution it was turned into a Temple of Reason.
Then in 1950 the Lettrist Michel Mourre, backed by his comrades, took over the pulpit during Easter Mass and gave his own sermon on live TV.
In 2013 far right wing racist historian and former OAS member Dominique Venner shot himself by the high altar to protest against gay marriage, an action that was saluted by Marine Le Pen. “Tout notre respect à Dominique Venner dont le dernier geste, éminemment politique, aura été de tenter de réveiller le peuple de France”, she wrote. (“All our respect goes to Dominique Venner, whose last action, eminently political, was to try to awaken the people of France.”)
I bet you think Wikileaks is like that?
A Trivial Pursuit.
Just because you don’t want to know doesn’t mean others shouldn’t.
Put you head under the covers to get away from the Bogeyman.
By the way if you want to know who funds Wikileaks ask uuhmm………………..Wikileaks apparently they have never lied once with their leaks so why would they lie to you?
One theory goes ( a source told me ) he gains his personal financing through weedling his way into old dears inheritances.
The trouble is he’s been out of action due to being in an Embassy for while so he could be skint by now who knows.
Another source told me he may be the son of a Nigerian Prince with a lot of money he needs to put in a bank account but you can’t trust the MSM can you?
Oh I know – ask the Guardian.
Problem solved.
Meanwhile a white people’s army under the sign of the dagaz transformation rune are blocking many of the streets of central London and following leaders one of whom has said she is “willing to die” for their cause. They are dramatically demanding that the government declares a state of “climate emergency” and that it
hands over its environmental and strategic national economic policy to their own organisationcreates a “citizens’ assembly on climate change and ecological justice which would lead Government action”. The wine bars of Totnes and other “transition towns” must be practically empty of Tarquins and Jemimas today!Fair enough Mods, got you!
Page 8 and we’re being censured for being OT? Wow.
Indeed…. I’ve had a couple of my posts nixed. Clearly,
Brexit means BrexitOn-topic means On-topic.Yes, the redevelopment of what was known tobe badly kept, as Victor Hugo’s remarked 100 years ago, is nowgathering pace at an alarming rate.
No doubt top architects offices are already assembling teams to replacing Henry 5th. Crowning pile with a modern defining landmark.
Forgive, Nadines attention to our topic here might be somewhat diverted.
‘Pro-WikiLeaks Hackers Warn UK Gov: ‘Free Assange or Chaos is Coming for You’ (INTERVIEW)’:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/pro-wikileaks-hackers-warn-uk-gov-free-assange-or-chaos-is-coming-for-you-interview/
Bit of asymmetric warfare; try to avoid buying Ecuadorean bananas, and anything associated with the Great Satan, where feasible, like Cokes, Pepsi, McDonalds etc. Cancel holidays in the US, Spain and re-book to somewhere with a more progressive government, and tell them why (Assange, Wars, ‘Regime Changes’, Gitmo, Catalonia etc.).
And where ever you go, avoid Boeing. And above all, vote Jeremy Corbyn.
Like 🙂 (is this OT yet?)
It’s about Assange and Wikileaks, isn’t it? 🙂
This is probably an empty threat sadly, if hackers really did have some sort of power to do great damage to the gov they’d do it. Intel Hackers are not some omnipresent power that can swoop down like Batman – although David Cohen at Anonymous seems to think he is. They’re people on the run that do very risky things in the hope they’ll gleam some info that can be used against the very powerful security state.
https://forward.com/news/world/422505/julian-assange-wikileaks-anti-semitism/
Some allegation of Mr Assange being Anti Semitic now, a slur that seems to get harder for anybody to avoid as the weeks pass by.
Ok, so JC smears come to JA. I think this explanation of Anti-semitism is just fine : https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1096082892034318338
JA anti-Semitic? That’s odd, he is often accused of being an Israel plant by the internet ignoramus set on the grounds that WL has never published anything anti-Israel.
I wish JA well and believe that he will be freed before long. (Mainly because he is a very hot potato indeed, one which even our shameless politicians are reluctant to grasp.)
But this business is not just about bail-jumping, nor is just about freedom of the press. It is about control of the internet, this young and still growing monster. Dissemination of information is just one of its uses but happens to be what is at issue here.
In a very short time the internet has also come to control the workings of much of the world, especially the cities. Governments cannot simply ignore its power – one of their main jobs after all is defense of the realm. A bad actor – not necessarily a state actor – could in theory bring a city grinding to a halt by hi-jacking the internet nerves that keep it running. (Or, for example, sabotage the electricity generating system of of an entire country)
My own strong belief is that an completely uncontrolled internet is potentially enormously dangerous to all of us. Others may disagree.
” My own strong belief is that an completely uncontrolled internet is potentially enormously dangerous to all of us. Others may disagree.”
Whereas the MSM is Completely Controlled..By Billionaires.. And look how devastating that Elite Control has had for peoples.. Like the Iraq’s, Libyans, Syrians, Yemeni’s ect.
From the little I know about the internet is that if I don’t pay Orange ( my internet supplier ) for the next 6 months THEY ( not the NSA/GCHQ et al) will cut off my access to the free world ( ironic title as nothing in the Western World is free ) and I am excluded from said world of wonder.
If I don’t pay they won’t release the machine code and therefore I can’t switch to another supplier without it.
Ironically Google – Facebook and so on gather information on people to hand over to our alleged ‘ Protectors ‘ without us knowing but the MSM baulk at Wikileaks receiving and emitting information and passing it on to us.
We actually pay for the privilege of reading it too.
Or if you don’t pay up – you can’t read/watch it.
Very democratic if you are poor.
Yes. That seems to me to be a very good point. Why cannot Wikileaks just say that it is a platform just like Google ,Facebook etc. and claim that it has no responsibility for what is shown there. I know there is a bit of editing, but there is also at Google and Facebook .
[ MOD: Caught in spam-filter ]
after very little MSM Assange stories today, I’ve just noticed a big spike in ‘on-message’ claims that Julian was “trying to use his cupboard in the Ecuador embassy as a spying centre”, independently, so many outlets!
almost ‘initiative led’, no?
UPI ?
Ukraine 112 ?
BBC ?
Canada Globe & Mail ?
US CBS?
Canada Global news ?
UAE National ?
Metro UK ?
so much independent thought…, not,
….to help the poor journo’s , shall we remind them about spying…..shall we first see who has just recently been CLEARED of spying allegations in Belgium….
http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/politics/14989/suspicion-of-spying-around-huawei-there-is-no-proof-in-belgium-says-cybersecurity-centre
contrast this with those integrity operatives who were never cleared of spying in Belgium…
https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/british-spy-agency-gchq-hacked-belgian-telecoms-firm-a-923406.html
“use his cupboard” – lol is the only response. It is a sad state of neffairs, we have to continue to battle against. Thanks @David