Thread by @rebecca_vincent

Good morning from Day 4 of Julian Assange’s US extradition hearing at the Old Bailey! Will share today’s updates on this thread.

#FreeAssange 1/

Waiting outside the public gallery entrance with activists @deepa_driver and Moritz Müller, who have been queuing since the early hours to gain access. So grateful for @rubio49158845, who kindly gave me his seat again 🙏 2/

We *should* be getting in this morning, but have been told the public won’t be admitted until 11:30 - we’re not sure why. Only three of us will be allowed into the public gallery, which means they’re still saving spaces for the mysterious “VIPs” who have still yet to show up. 3/

This is apparently why we’re still waiting. It’s unclear whether we will be allowed in for the case management hearing, and what will happen next. And so we wait. 4/

We were allowed in only as court was breaking up, so did not quite make it into the public gallery. Court has been adjourned until Monday morning due to a Covid scare with one of the lawyers’ family members. It’s unclear why Assange was brought into court with this risk known. 5/

It’s been a frustrating week. @RSF_inter is the only NGO that’s managed to gain any access to this hearing, and that’s only been through sheer persistence and huge support from political observers and grassroots activists - and still we’ve only gotten in sporadically. 6/

So far in this extradition hearing, four witnesses have testified, for the defence. Their statements have been strong, focused on the political motivation and journalistic implications of Julian Assange’s prosecution - assessments which we share at @RSF_inter. 7/

For full details, it’s worth following journalists like @kgosztola, who have consistent access to proceedings via the video link, and reading the excellent daily reports from @Bridges4Media, which are also published at assangecourt.report. 8/

One frustration we have, besides the overarching access problem, is in the overflow courtroom we cannot see Julian Assange or assess his conditions. We’re left squinting at a small screen, and I can only properly follow as I have the lawyers’ voices memorised from February. 9/

This is not adequate to sufficiently scrutinise proceedings - but then, all of this is woefully insufficient to ensure respect for the principle of open justice & the right to a fair trial in a case of such tremendous public interest. The UK should - and could - do better. 10/

Here’s my round-up for @RSF_inter of proceedings so far - and that’s a wrap for this week. We’ll be back at court on Monday, and in the meantime continue to campaign for the US and UK to #FreeAssange! /11