Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
"Action, like a sacrament, is the visible form of an invisible spirit" (bell hooks) || journalist || campaigner || @amnesty || Easily distracte

Sep 9, 2020, 12 tweets

For the third day in a row, @amnesty & 40 other legal observers, have been denied access to the technology that would allow them to observe the extradition hearing of @wikileaks founder #JulianAssange.

This was the letter we received yesterday.
#Assange

In her letter, the judge expresses her "regret" at her decision to deny remote access to the proceedings to @amnesty but offers no reason for her decision

Instead, she sets out rules to ensure the court is #COVID19 safe

But remote access is FAR safer than practices I witnessed.

Telling legal observers - some of whom are from the European Parliament - that they have to compete with the public for one of 8 gallery seats results in a scrum of people at the doorway to the court.

There was no distancing & even court officials & police weren't wearing masks.

Today, two activists joined the queue for the public gallery in the early hours of the morning in order to give their spaces to @RSF_en observers.

Despite this, the court has so far refused them entry as they're awaiting some "VIPs” who haven't turned up.

End of Day 3. “We were able to monitor about 45 minutes of Prof Paul Rogers’ testimony, in which he spoke of his belief that the US case against #Assange is politically motivated.” @rebecca_vincent @RSF_inter. #JulianAssange #AssangeCase #AssangeHearing

“Sitting 20 feet away from #JulianAssange", I was struck by how much of a shadow of his former self he had become."

For the fourth consecutive day, @amnesty & other fair trial monitors, have been refused access to the proceedings in the #Assange hearing. amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

I met #JulianAssange briefly when he spoke at the Occupy London camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral in 2011

It was an extraordinary time

Occupy Wall St was spreading across the US & the Arab Spring was sweeping N. Africa / Middle East

It was a time when anything seemed possible.

Outside the Old Bailey, #Assange's hearing has been like a carnival. Inside the courtroom, it's been a circus!

Hearing adjourned til Monday due to a #COVID19 scare with husband of one of the US lawyers coming down with Covid-like symptoms.
#JulianAssange
theguardian.com/media/2020/sep…

CARNIVAL: “We have a nice time here. But remember: carnivals come cheap. What matters is the day after.” Slavo Žižek

COURT: “Wherever he went, he’d bring the circus with him. But now - stood before the hanging judge - Moody longed for fewer clowns: for solemnity.“ Emerson Warner

The US Dept of Justice is reportedly obstructing a Spanish High Court request for assistance in its investigation into whether the Spanish company, UC Global & its owner, that spied on #JulianAssange, collaborated with the CIA. (@elpaisinenglish) #Assange elpais.com/internacional/…

Campaigns Director for @RSF_inter, @rebecca_vincent, gives an overview of proceedings so far at #Assange’s extradition hearing. Severe restrictions imposed on trial observers meant RSF is the only NGO that gained access to @wikileaks publisher’s hearing.

We’ve just had news that the US junior counsel’s #COVID19 test has come back negative and #Assange’s extradition hearing will therefore continue on Monday.

The hearing was halted on Thursday due to a #COVID scare. #JulianAssange #Assangecase #DontExtraditeAssange #BREAKING

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