The world needs hope right now, and we need to believe that there are good brilliant minds that care about the future of humanity. We badly need to believe in something positive. The world needs a hero-
We need to believe in the decency of humanity again. We need to reject obvious mistruths and obfuscation of facts. Julian Assange is a humanitarian. His work is for the good of society, bringing transparency of government activities, into the light of day for all to see. His work brought government accountability. As a result, there were changes made to policy and procedure for the better.
One example, just after WikiLeaks published the Collateral Murder video, all eyes were on the U.S. Rules of conduct were changed which brought an immediate termination of U.S. drone and helicopter strikes in Iraq, and the Iraq War soon ended. Have we become so desensitized to war crimes now that we are willing to allow a journalist who did their job courageously, publishing evidence of them, and stopped them from happening, to be slowly disappeared in a cold, dark cell?
President Trump Ponders Pardon for Julian Assange
President Trump stated on Timcast IRL on 5/27/24 that he is seriously considering pardoning Australian journalist Julian Assange. Assange has been held in remand in the UK’s Belmarsh prison for 5 years. Interestingly the Trump Administration is rumored to have worked on a pardon agreement for Assange before Trump left office in January 2020, only to be blocked by then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The same Mike Pompeo who as Head of the CIA gave a press conference in April of 2017 following WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 release labeling WikiLeaks a “hostile intelligence service.” Also the same Mike Pompeo that was exposed in Yahoo’s article for plotting the kidnapping and murder of Assange while he was in asylum in the UK Ecuadorian embassy. Assange was then arrested in 2019 and held in Belmarsh prison while appealing requests by the U.S. for his extradition to face allegations of violating the U.S.’s Espionage Act during the Trump Administration. This comes after an assurance of all other US Presidential candidates except President Biden that they will pardon journalist Julian Assange on day 1. The volume on the people’s voice calling for Assange’s release has been growing exponentially for the violation of his free speech press protections and human rights. People literally everywhere are concerned about what a future will look like if Julian Assange is convicted in a U.S. court. The precedent would be set to increase the U.S. government’s ability to reach anywhere in the world and pull any journalist, publisher, reporter, blogger or social media user, because it didn’t like what they said or wrote. It is not an exaggeration that the nature of news and information will change to something that will require free speech to act within government guidelines, contrary to what the First Amendment and freedom of speech and expression are supposed to be.
A year ago, Don Jr. was also asked by Timcast if his father would pardon Julian Assange. This was his reply:
Presidential Candidates Declare Their Intentions for Assange
“Julian Assange, along with the whistleblowers who reveal to us the evil that is being done in our name, are heroes. They deserve our respect and admiration, not a prison cell.” -Ron Paul
“Time to call Julian Assange what he is, a political prisoner persecuted for publishing information that revealed crimes of the powerful. Democrats, Republicans & global elites despise him for exposing war crimes & corruption. Fight for his freedom to protect our own!” -Jill Stein, Green Party
“Got my prayers centered on you brother, I thank you for exposing vicious lies and crimes of the American Empire, and I have memories of being with you in the Ecuadorian Embassy, where we wrestled with issues and sang songs and had laughter, talked about Martin King and Malcom, of being with brother Gabriel and John your father… we are with you, the world is with you, you are standing tall, God bless Mrs. Stella and your loved ones.” -Cornel West, Independent
“Assange should be celebrated as a hero for For doing exactly what journalists are supposed to do, which is to expose government corruption. We shouldn’t be putting them in prison. We should have a monument to him here in Washington, DC.” -RFK Jr., Libertarian
“A free press is not the enemy of the people… at your best you’re guardians of the truth…to seek the truth, illuminate and educate” and “Journalism is not a crime, not here, not there, not anywhere in the World.” -Joe Biden, Democratic Party
“This is not really about Julian Assange. This is about the U.S. Military wanting to cover-up its war crimes.” and “I would withdraw all charges against Julian Assange on my first day in office.” -Marianne Williamson. Democratic Party
“Yet Chelsea MANNING, the government officer who actually *leaked* the information to Assange, had “her” sentence commuted by President Obama because she’s trans – yet Assange now sits in a foreign prison for doing what the D.C. press corps does every day.” –Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican Party
What Julian is Going Through Now by Stella Assange
Marjorie Cohn, past president of the National Lawyers Guild, on the latest in Julian Assange’s extradition case and where it stands right now.
Law Professors Attest that Assange is Entitled to his Freedom
More than 40 Law professors call for end to prosecution of Julian Assange. https://freedom.press/news/law-professors-to-doj-drop-assange-prosecution/
Assange’s Brother Gabriel Shipton Meets with Nicole Shanahan
Stella Assange’s Interview with Anonymous Artist of Assange Guerilla Art
Stella Assange, wife of Julian, interviews the the anonymous artist whose work was showcased at the Assange Guerilla Art Action at the V&A Museum in London in her article: “We are in the hands of a minority in power that has lost its sanity”. https://stellaassangeofficial.substack.com/p/feels-like-we-are-in-the-hands-of?r=1dphgx&triedRedirect=true
Winner of the Archibald Prize Sketches Julian Assange with Chocolate
Stefania Maurizi’s Fight for the Truth Continues
Stefania Maurizi, author of Secret Power: WikiLeaks and Its Enemies, has been investigating the collusion between the U.S., the UK and Sweden to imprison WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through FOIA requests. She has been on this investigation for 9 years and has made steady progress despite heavily redacted documents she usually receives. Now there is a cross-party group of Members of Parliament requesting an inquiry, by the Select Justice Committee, which is the justice committee of the UK Parliament, opening an investigation to shed light on what really happened between the Crown Prosecution Service, Washington and Sweden to keep Julian trapped in London labeled as a criminal, to lose all rights and be stopped from practicing journalism. Follow her on X for updates on her investigation (@SMaurizi), the results should be enlightening.
Secret Power: WikiLeaks and Its Enemies
By Stefania Maurizi
ISBN: 978-0-7453-4762-2
*Winner of the European Award for Investigative And Judicial Journalism 2021
*Winner of the Premio Alessandro Leogrande Award for Investigative Journalism 2022
*Winner of the Premio Angelo Vassallo Award 2022
What Will the Future Look Like if Julian Assange is convicted?
Hrafnsson (WL): Tell us about the danger entailed in Julian Assange’s case.
Wizner (ACLU): A conviction of Julian Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act would be a catastrophe both for investigative journalism in the United States and for press freedom around the world for reasons that we will get into. So this is a very, very high priority, and we’ve been working publicly and privately to do everything we can to make sure this conviction never takes place.
Hrafnsson (WL): Would you describe the prosecution of Julian Assange as an ordinary prosecution? We know there have been increasing legal attacks by the state against whistleblowers and journalists to some extent, what makes the Assange Case special?
Wizner (ACLU): It’s true there have been an escalation of legal threats against sources of investigative journalism. It was extremely rare in the history of this country for there to be prosecutions of journalistic sources even for turning over classified sensitive information. That escalated under the Obama Administration and even more under the Trump Administration that followed. But no administration in modern American history has crossed the rubicon that this case involves, and that is not prosecuting the source, but prosecuting the publisher. Julian Assange received information and published truthful information. That has never been understood to be a crime in the United States. It’s never been tested legally, we don’t know how our courts are going to respond to this particular escalation. It’s always been understood that this was something that our Department of Justice would not do and as you know, Kristinn, the Obama Administration considered this prosecution, they convened a criminal grand jury for a number of years, brought many of your friends and mine into the room to testify, and ultimately concluded under Attorney General Eric Holder, that there simply was no way to slice off a prosecution of Julian Assange and simultaneously protect the investigative journalism that other entities like the NY Times, the Washington Post, The New Yorker, others who routinely publish classified information do. They call this the New York Times problem, and they decided that after a long investigation not to bring charges. That was a decision that was quickly reversed when Donald Trump appointed Jeff Sessions to be the Attorney General of The United States, and that’s why we are here, but this is an unprecedented prosecution in the modern history of the United States. (See video for more, the interview continues..)
What Positives Came from Assange’s Work
Stella Assange: The Risk to Journalists
A Poem by Kym Staton, Producer of The Trust Fall, a multi-award winning documentary coming soon to US Cinemas
at the initial court hearings
they stripped him twice
then after announcing that he could be shipped overseas
like a piece of cargo
they stripped him again
and put him in a cold bare cell
and deprived him of visitors
the stripping held no purpose
than to humiliate
he’s had his entire life stripped back
his freedom removed
with the fast acting solvent of persecution
and the malicious tearing of smear
you can strip back a piece of wood
or a frame of metal
but you can’t strip back a soul
the shock of having
your violent corrupt character revealed
is infinitely more shameful
than having your bare body exposed
they torture him because he stripped back their masks
pulled back their curtains
uncovered their lies
held them up to the light
and revealed them as they are.
– Poem by Kym Staton
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