Tag: JulianAssange

Julian Assange Wins Ability to Appeal Extradition

On By thinkcarebelieveIn Articles and Press Releases, Julian Assange1 Comment

#JulianAssange #FreeAssange

The Decision:

The judges of the UK High Court grant Mr. Julian Assange the permission to appeal on grounds 4 and 5 (related to discrimination based on his nationality and the First Amendment) and on all counts.

“In respect of the appeal in relation S 103 of the Extradition Act we have decided to give legal appeal on grounds 4 and 5 on all counts on the second superseding indictment. *Court adjourned*”

Live Updates during Court Proceedings:

Taylor Hudak on Telegram: https://t.me/taylorhudak

Richard Medhurst on X: https://x.com/richimedhurst

Free Assange on X: https://x.com/FreeAssangeNews/status/1792489032351367519

May 20, 2024 Press Conference:

All day Video feed: Press Conference is at 8:15:45 in video: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OyJAWYeNraKb

LONDON- Stella Assange speaking outside just after leaving the courtroom following the announcement of the decision: “Please, for those the United States in the position to make the decision, please just drop this case now.” Her husband, journalist Julian Assange’s Case heard a decision if he was allowed to appeal the extradition to the U.S. for Espionage Act allegations. A little later, Stella continued, “It was a short day but it was a tense few moments before the decision was actually delivered. The judges took a break that they said was going to be 10 minutes but I think it was closer to a half an hour. But when they came back, they granted leave to appeal on grounds that Julian would be discriminated against and excluded from Constitutional protections under the First Amendment. The judges obviously saw the problem here, that the United States is applying its secrecy laws into this country, it’s applying its secrecy laws internationally, and yet saying at the same time that if you’re not a U.S. citizen, and if you’re abroad that you won’t have access to Constitutional protections, and the judges were deeply disturbed by this, I would say, and allowed the leave to appeal.”

Stella brightened as she went on, “While I was speaking to Julian I heard a knock on the door and I could hear the guard saying ‘Congratulations today’ and ‘it’s time to go to exercise’ and so our conversation came to an end. but thankfully it meant that he was able to go out into the yard and enjoy the sunshine that we have today. He was obviously relieved, he hadn’t slept all night, and he’s under enormous pressure. It’s hard for all of us, but just imagine what it’s like for Julian who has been in Belmarsh for over 5 years, and who has had to endure this grueling process from inside his cell, and isolated from everyone, and from a distance. So it’s a very good sign today. I think the US Administration should take this as a moment to drop the case, and to just put an end to it, and distance itself from this terrible prosecution, which this administration did not initiate, and should have put an end to already.”

Assange attorney Barry Pollack stated that the United States never should have brought this case. It is utterly inconsistent with First Amendment values while the United States should take a look at this and make a decision as to whether this is what they should be pursuing due to flawed prosecution. Pollack later said that as things stand now, it’s not clear whether Julian will be allowed to argue only on counts 4 and 5 that the court said were related directly to journalism, or whether Assange will be able to argue based on all of the counts, which would be clearly quite significant, and a good reason for the United States to rethink pursuing this further.” When asked to clarify further, Pollack offered, “The US tried to confine it to just three of the Espionage Act counts and at least from what the justices said today in court, they rejected that argument and are going to hear the appeal on all of the charges.”

WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson explained “The signaling in a wider context should result in one thing, that the Biden Administration takes a serious look at the damage it’s done to its reputation and actually ends this case, before more damage is being done, that is the only just solution, is to end this, not in prolonged proceedings in court rooms here in London, or the European Court of Human Rights, but in the political arena in D.C., where it all started, and should never have started, so its the right thing to do and I believe that that is the clear signal that came out of the Royal Courts of Justice today.”

Reporters Without Borders Advocate Rebecca Vincent was on hand to affirm the importance of what is happening here because it is the first time that the UK court has nodded in the direction of the freedom of expression grounds, that are at the heart of the Assange Case. “The heart of this case will now get the chance for full consideration which opens a path of legal prevention of extradition.” She added that it is critical that we all stay with it and that campaigns continue, because the case is at a point where it is in Biden’s power to bring it to a close. “The UK Court has taken a step toward protecting journalism and press freedom, that those in Washington who are responsible for this will take note and think carefully about how to proceed. We expect better from the country of the First Amendment and we hope that this is indeed the beginning of the end of this ceaseless prosecution.”

Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton reiterated Attorney Pollack’s remarks that this is an opportunity for the DoJ to look at this and bring it to a close. Adding that President Biden said just last month that he was considering dropping this case in answer to Australian Parliament’s request for Assange’s release. Julian Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, travels to Washington tomorrow, May 21, 2024 to build awareness of House Resolution 934 which has 11 co-sponsors now, to build more signers to the #HRes934 to protect journalism under the First Amendment and to drop the charges against journalist, Julian Assange. He asks Americans to keep signing petitions, calling Representatives, writing them, and making appointments to visit with them to educate them about the importance of Assange’s freedom.

It’s obvious that today, the sun shone through and people are seeing what is so important. We take this win and let it built and stay more mobilized and join our voices and only become louder. Next step, all parties will communicate to the court their availability and a date will be set for the appeal hearing. The question was asked if Assange would be allowed out on bail until his appeal and that is a possibility that will be explored further.

“Today marks a turning point, we spent a long time listening to the United States putting lipstick on a pig, but the judges did not buy it!” Stella Assange said staunchly. “It becomes clear to everyone that Julian is in prison for doing good journalism.” Stella has been doing the job of mother and father of their two sons, Gabriel (who just turned 7) and Max (5) while Julian has been in prison. She gives interviews and knows every detail of this case, always maintaining laser focus. Also, this week, 31 members of British Parliament lent their support for Assange’s release. The International Federation of Journalists was on hand to give their full support for Julian Assange and for press freedom. it has over 6,000 members worldwide all asserting their support along with free speech advocates, human rights groups, activists, law professors and lawyers, lawmakers and heads of state all voicing that it is time to let Julian Assange have his freedom back. IFJ President Dominque Pradalié said: “The judges have made the right decision – the threat to free speech that this prosecution creates should be of concern to us all. So too should the health of Julian Assange – at least he can now plead his case. He should be freed at once.”

Official Defend Assange Press Release:

https://assangedefense.org/hearing-coverage/julian-assange-granted-partial-leave-to-appeal

The fight for Julian Assange’s freedom means:

~Our rights to speak freely are hindered.

~The freedom of our reporters and journalists.

~The ability to publish the truth.

~The ability to hold governments accountable.

~The right to know the truth.

~Freedom from censorship.

~Saving the life of a journalist who did his job well.

Supporters take action all around the world.

The investigation report and mandate written by UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer on Julian Assange’s detainment and treatment.

Assange Team PreDecision Press Conference

On By thinkcarebelieveIn Articles and Press Releases1 Comment

London, England- A Press conference was held today at the Foreign Press Association prior to the UK High Court extradition decision for Julian Assange. ThinkCareBelieve thinks this is important because if Julian Assange is extradited to the United States, he stands little chance of winning in the Eastern District of Virginia Court, which has earned the nick-name “Espionage Court” and if Assange is convicted, that precedent would be open to be used against any journalist, publisher, reporter, blogger, social media user, or common citizen. This is enough of an incentive to forget what we’ve heard in the media in the past and independently look at the facts of this case and ask ourselves what we stand for.

Speakers on the panel: Julian’s wife Stella Assange, WikiLeaks Editor Kristinn Hrafnsson, Assange’s Attorney Jen Robinson, and Reporters Without Borders Director Rebecca Vincent.

Links to Recorded Previously Live Press Conference:

Reuters on X- https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YpKkwYBaDPKj

The Independent on YouTube- https://youtu.be/DKC6MUPAR2c?si=jqR3QrazCKYf1p2X

Reuters on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/live/GmN3GFtCJL8?si=iDy9f8-zchhx3D01

Important Points Shared at This Press Conference:

“This case is of huge legal significance, not just for Julian but for journalists everywhere. The Australian government has put their support behind Julian Assange. We are working closely with our Prime Minister and our Attorney General and the Australian government to try to seek a resolution of this case and we continue to demand that Julian be released and this case be brought to an end and he be brought to Australia.” -Jen Robinson, Assange Attorney via remote

“This is institutional corruption on a judicial level. Julian Assange is a political prisoner. It’s abundantly clear, and I hope that you can look into the details of the case where the evidence is basically screaming at you.” -Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor of WikiLeaks

“Julian is just one decision away from being extradited. If the judges find against him on Monday then there will be no further avenues for appeal in the UK, and the UK will move to extradite him. The timing is uncertain, but we know that in other cases, other national security cases of extraditions to the United States, the person has been extradited within 24 hours of the decision. The United States has been given opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to change its case in order to get Julian extradited. Initially it lost in January 2021. That was the initial Magistrate’s decision to deny extradition based on the mental health and physical conditions that Julian would be placed under, if extradited, and then once that decision came through, the United States was allowed to change its case by issuing so-called assurances, which the High Court then accepted, and an extradition order was issued and then Priti Patel who at the time was the UK Home Secretary in June of 2022, issued her approval of the extradition as well. Julian then requested permission to appeal to the High Court which was initially denied, and then when he sought a separate panel of High Court Judges to review that decision, which is the current panel that Julian is before, in February they gave a provisional permission to appeal to the High Court, and that provisional permission is subject to U.S. so-called assurances. Now think about how bizarre this case is, where the U.S. has not only been allowed 2 sets of assurances, but also 3 sets of indictments. It seems that they are given endless chances to change their case in order to get Julian extradited to face 175 years for publishing evidence of U.S. war crimes.” – Stella Assange, Wife of Julian Assange

“We agree with the assessment that this is a political case. We don’t know what will happen in the event for example with the return of Trump whose DoJ brought this case in the first place. President Biden has the chance still to be the President who put an end to this, who acted in the interest of press freedom and journalism, rather than enabling this very dangerous prosecution that will tarnish the reputation of the country of the First Amendment.” -Rebeca Vincent, Reporters without Borders

Notable Guest in Attendance at Press Conference:

The rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), just wrapped up a thorough investigation into Assange’s case was in attendance at the Press Conference to answer questions. Sunna states, “As noted in the motion underlying my mandate, Julian Assange’s harsh treatment risks deterring others who wish to report truthful information pertaining to armed conflicts,” said Ms Ævarsdóttir. “Whether or not he is extradited, his prosecution and lengthy detention already risk deterring other whistle-blowers and journalists from reporting on various transgressions of governments or powerful private parties.”

https://pace.coe.int/en/news/9462/pace-rapporteur-ending-visit-to-julian-assange-in-belmarsh-prison-expresses-deep-concern-for-his-well-being

ThinkCareBelieve believes that when we take a look at the ideals and practices for which Julian Assange stands, we can see him as a man of integrity. He has a moral and social intelligence that shines through his work and his talks in educating the public on how to empower themselves with knowledge against a state of increasingly diminished rights. Julian Assange changed journalism forever by employing the practice of “Scientific Journalism” which printed the source documentation alongside the articles for verification of facts.

Official AssangeDefense Press Releases can be found at: https://assangedefense.org/press-releases/

You can read the investigation report about Julian Assange from Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and his mandate here: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24838

MayDay for Julian Assange

On By thinkcarebelieveIn Julian AssangeLeave a comment

MayDay. The world needs a hero right now. People are urgently standing up for their rights and freedoms, asserting their rights and using their voices. Despite the Biden Administration saying “journalism is not a crime,” the fate of our most award winning journalist in the world is in America’s hands, and America is not responding to the millions of voices and letters, emails and phone calls received daily clammoring for Julian Assange’s release from detention in a UK maximum security prison.

MayDay. If Julian Assange is successfully convicted, then any journalist in the world could be arrested for similar reasons using the Espionage Act, for printing anything the U.S. claims to be state secrets. It will become a new customary practice for the U.S. to impose its laws on anyone in the world, regardless of whether that person has ever been in the United States or not.

On May 20, 2024, people are gathering outside the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand at 8 am London time, to hear the UK High Court’s decision whether to accept the (non) assurances given by the United States and extradite him immediately, to allow him to appeal, or to release him. The UK High Court asked the United States Department of Justice for assurances that Mr. Assange would have the protection of the First Amendment, would not be discriminated against due to his nationality and would not be given the death penalty. The response issued by the United States was that “a sentence of death will neither be sought nor imposed on Assange,” assuring that he will not be “tried for a death-eligible offense” and that Mr. Assange, an Australian citizen, can “raise and seek” a defense under the First Amendment, but cautioned that “a decision as to the applicability of the First Amendment is exclusively within the purview of the U.S. Courts.” (1)

The U.S. is not willing to assure Assange and his family of his free speech rights, but is instead saying that he is welcome to try to get protection from a U.S. court. Assange has already spent 5 years in detainment while an endless legal back and forth continues between the U.S. and the UK. Assange’s wife Stella responded with a statement,“The U.S. has limited itself to blatant weasel words claiming that Julian can ‘seek to raise’ the first amendment if extradited,” she said. “The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family’s extreme distress about his future – his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism. The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late.”(2)  

Numerous international organizations have spoken out against the America’s stand against giving journalist Julian Assange free press and human rights protections. Julia Hall from Amnesty International says that U.S. diplomatic assurances are inherently unreliable. It promises to do something and then reserves the right to break the promise, and “The strategy is to keep Assange detained as long as possible. It’s a kind of death by a thousand cuts.”(3)

The concern is that by imposing the Espionage Act, a U.S. law, on a non-American journalist that published on foreign soil, but then unwilling to give that same journalist U.S. free press First Amendment protections, the U.S. is showing prejudice based on nationality.

Even more concerning are the implications for journalism worldwide. If the U.S. is successful in an Assange conviction, it will alter the common practices of every journalist, and there will be many more arrests until every journalist complies with only printing state approved information. “What this diplomatic note really means:” Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton tweets out, “Any Publisher globally is fair game. No 1st Amendment protection. Publish and Perish.”(4)

Urgent calls from journalists worldwide are being made: “We the undersigned Europeans unions and associations of journalists, join the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in calling on the U.S. government to drop all charges against Julian Assange and allow him to return home to his wife and children. We are gravely concerned about the impact of Assange’s continued detention on media freedom and the rights of all journalists globally. We urge European governments to actively work to secure Julian Assange’s release.” Many world leaders have declared to the United States that Julian Assange should be given his freedom and that free speech must be upheld. Recently, the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, called for the immediate release of Julian Assange saying that he is hopeful that this will be achieved, because it would be an act of justice of the highest level. A good demonstration to the world that freedom of expression, demonstration, and freedom of the press are respected.

With the harshest stories of Assange put out by the media, painting him as someone not worthy of the respect of upholding his human rights, thereby manipulating public opinion negating any effort to challenge U.S. prosecution of this award-winning journalist. Whether it was out of the embarrassment they suffered, or to discourage any other journalist from doing investigative reporting on their war crimes, the U.S. was not open to hearing from any of those world leaders or international organizations. While all this goes on, Julian Assange sits in a 6’ x 12’ box for 23 hours a day (5), with only some books for companionship.

In June of 2022, the mother of Julian Assange, Christine made an impassioned plea for her son’s freedom. “I respectfully make my plea directly to the parties involved… after 11 ½ years in pre-trial detention, and with legal proceedings dragging on with no end in sight, it has become clear to all following that this case is political and requires a diplomatic solution. When people become very invested in winning at all costs, the collateral damage is truth, justice and humanity. I implore all sides to take a step back from the heat of the fight for a moment, and to reflect. I ask all sides to consider a diplomatic solution. Negotiating an end to conflict is a normal part of civilized existence, within a marriage, the boardroom, long-running legal cases, and disputes within nation states. In the spirit of bringing this to an end, both sides will need to give a little. Julian has been detained long enough to satisfy any needs for revenge from those pursuing prosecution. He has suffered enough to satisfy those wishing to make him a symbol for press freedom. I beseech those who say they really care about Julian to put his needs as a suffering human-being first. And I have faith that with good will on both sides a resolution can be reached. Thank you for hearing my plea.”

What has and hasn’t been covered of this whole story in the legacy media is a crime. What gets repeated is the same initial misleading misinformation painting Julian Assange as an errant hacker helping Manning steal government secrets, but nothing could be further from the truth. That is where the public has been done such a grave disservice by lack of truthful reporting in the media. The public has missed out on learning about the Assange family’s fight for Julian’s life, out of their love for him. But more importantly, because the media is not reporting this story accurately, most of the American public is being caught off-guard and unprepared for the fight to uphold their First Amendment rights in America. The world has missed out on this story, one that is so very important to our humanity, as human beings with hearts that beat. Claim humanity and fight for the freedom of Julian Assange.

1. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/united-states-provides-binding-assurances-to-the-united-kingdom-that-julian-assange-will-not-face-the-death-penalty-if-extradited

2. https://assangedefense.org/hearing-coverage/u-s-continues-its-pursuit-of-julian-assange/

3. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/the-us-diplomatic-assurances-are-inherently-unreliable-julian-assange-must-be-released/

4. https://twitter.com/GabrielShipton/status/1780705737959940164

5. https://twitter.com/Infrarot_Medien/status/1759916419112722844

5. https://twitter.com/Stella_Assange/status/1474726659806871553

What We Don’t Know About Julian Assange

On By thinkcarebelieveIn Articles and Press Releases, Julian AssangeLeave a comment

At a press conference recently, Whitehouse SPOX Karine Jean-Pierre (KJP) again deflected any comment about the imprisoned detainment of publisher/journalist Julian Assange when asked about him by a reporter in conjunction with a question about The Press Act, H.R. 4250, which was recently passed by Congress on January 22, 2024. The Press Act specifies to maintain the free flow of information to the public, by establishing appropriate limits on the federally compelled disclosure of information obtained as part of engaging in journalism, and for other purposes. The short description is the “Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act.” The term “covered journalist” mentioned in The Press Act means a person who regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, or publishes news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public. The ACLU had this to say: “While the majority of states already have shield laws in place that protect journalists from compelled disclosure of their sources, the Press Act provides uniform protections to journalists across the country.”

The Press Act seems to be tailor-made to exonerate Julian Assange, the most award-winning journalist in the world, who has been detained in a UK high security prison for the last 5 years, while all attempts are made to win a second appeal. Julian won the first appeal, but then the US added more allegations, holding him in legal limbo while the UK High Court and the US Department of Justice bat the ball back and forth. SPOX KJP refused to comment, her words “journalism is not a crime” ringing hollow between the walls of the press room.

In order to be informed with the truth, and have some confidence that what we are being told is the truth, we need a truly free press that is not intimidated by a government threatening to imprison the entire world into not investigating or reporting government crimes. Our system was set up for the press to be free to investigate the inner workings of a government to promote governmental transparency, and with a clear understanding that governments exist to serve the people. News reporting was once a vocation with real integrity. As the fifth estate, reporters were known to be tenacious and were respected for their ability to be truthful. Sadly, public trust has diminished due to the MSM’s lack of courage and tendency to repeat government narratives.

If Julian Assange is the most award-winning journalist of our time, then why aren’t we hearing more positive things about him? Certainly someone who published information about U.S. war crimes, that brought wars to a complete end, would be heralded as a hero, right? Why have we only heard bad things about Assange in the media? Assange and WikiLeaks partnered with numerous major publications that published the same information at the same time, yet those publications were not prosecuted. The whole reason the Obama administration did not prosecute Assange was because it would have created a severe problem for The New York Times. If they went after Assange, they’d have to go after all the others too. The Trump Administration, however, namely Mike Pompeo, acting head of CIA at the time, as well as others targeted Assange and WikiLeaks, and made a plan to bring them to their demise. After this, the media, including his former partner news organizations savagely turned on Assange, despite having benefited so much from their collaboration.

If the precedent set by an Assange conviction endangers the very fabric of press freedoms, then why would the legacy media still be repeating false allegations saying Assange helped Chelsea Manning hack into U.S. computers or assisted with password cracking when the facts that those things never happened have long been established by the Chelsea Manning Trial. Mainstream Media keeps repeating it, ignoring the facts in evidence, just because the US government says it. This is a problem for our country and free speech, and is why we need to concern ourselves with making sure the free press can operate without fear or intimidation by any government.

Julian Assange is officially registered with the Department of Justice as a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) journalist/publisher (Registration number 7370) to provide briefings about the litigation to parties interested in the litigation and participating in public educational events about the litigation. He is not a hardened criminal, nor some kind of terrorist looking for secrets to hack. On the contrary, he is a humanitarian, a fighter for peace and truth and transparency in order to fight ignorance and protect the vulnerable. Assange is a gifted prodigy, and like so many whose brains work differently, are not easily understood by society, because they don’t fit into customary categories of societal norms. He may have been a mischievous hacker in his younger days, who got caught and slapped on the hand, but then began putting his skills to use for the betterment of humanity. He founded Suburbia Public Access Network, one of Australia’s first internet service providers and gave it away for free to community groups and educated them on how to use it.

In the course of his early hacking exploits, Assange saw things that were happening in the shadows and their implications for the future and he became concerned. He noticed an increasing public indifference to the escalating authority of government and diminishing rights of the people. An indifference not merely out of a distracted self-absorption, but public ignorance created by a media that increasingly followed the government directives to craft and repeat narratives, rather than report truthfully based on research and investigative journalism. Some of the dark secrets he stumbled across compelled him to donate his considerable computer skills to Australian police to help them catch online child predators in the 1990s. He “assisted in relation to two investigations. His role was limited to providing technical advice and support [and] to assist in the prosecution of persons suspected of publishing and distributing child pornography on the internet. Mr Assange received no personal benefit from this contribution and was pleased to be in a position to assist.”

https://theage.com.au/national/victoria/assange-helped-our-police-catch-child-pornographers-20110211-1aqnl.html

Following the WikiLeaks publication of the Collateral Murder video which showed the violent U.S. helicopter strike of unarmed civilians in Iraq including two Reuters journalists, all eyes went to the United States. Soon after, helicopter and drone strikes stopped and the war in Iraq ended. Another way Assange’s work helped the world was when the diplomatic cables were published by WikiLeaks and others, revealing that two subcontractors hired by the U.S. were caught paying for local child “dancing boys” to come in and entertain the men. The Afghan Interior Minister was panicking over the exposure of the story and soon resigned, followed by the enforcement of tighter restrictions and oversight.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/02/foreign-contractors-hired-dancing-boys

Assange and Wikileaks were of service to Australians by publishing the secret draft of the massive Transpacific Partnership trade deal (TPP). The TPP was revealed to allow multi-national corporations to influence Australia’s control over their own pharmaceutical products and medical devices favoring them over Australian products. Having this information was very empowering for the people. The Australian public and organizations could then be able to challenge its threats to Australian sovereignty, legal rights, health care & the environment.

https://theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/11/pacific-trade-deal-raises-fears-over-future-of-pharmaceutical-benefits-scheme

It is not unreasonable for transparency of government information made available for the public to lead to government accountability and allows the public to make changes in their government. It was not a welcome thing for governments, but was an empowering force for the people. WikiLeaks collaboration with hundreds of international media partners was a pioneering form of journalism. They published source documentation alongside their articles for public verification in large datasets. They were tough on censorship and believed in strong adversarial journalism to keep governments honest. The innovations Assange and WikiLeaks implemented formed a model that has been copied by media organizations all over the world. When governments become embarrassed that their reckless behavior is made public, what should happen is that the problems are addressed, and change occurs. It has become clear that the U.S. government needs this kind of intervention, because, as Whitehouse SPOX Karine Jean-Pierre stated, “journalism is not a crime.”