Thread by @projekttruth

1. The Julian Assange Case:
I will attempt to break down what I can glean from research, to show why the US will not be legally allowed to get their hands on Julian & should therefore drop all charges & stop psychologically torturing him while he serves his time in Belmarsh.

2. On that matter, I believe Julian has already served over & above time in detention for the proportionate punishment for the crime of skipping bail & should be immediately released. The UK are committing a crime here if they hold him any longer.

3. Let's examine the US charges:
There are 18 indictments.
1-17 are all worst-case-scenario interpretations of the Espionage Act as pertains to both the receipt & publication of secrets.
18. The “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion”

4. What is the Espionage Act?
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law. It was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment, to prevent insubordination in the military, and to prevent the support of United States enemies during wartime

5.Julian Assange has been charged with violating the Espionage Act by seeking classified information. The case has been described as having significant implications for press freedom and the First Amendment.

6. Attorney & former whistleblower @JesselynRadack notes that the law was enacted "35 years before the word 'classification' entered the government's lexicon" and believes that "under the Espionage Act, no prosecution of a non-spy can be fair or just".

7. @DanielEllsberg said, "the current state of whistleblowing prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes a truly fair trial wholly unavailable to an American who has exposed classified wrongdoing.

A foreigner like Julian Assange would therefore have even less chance.

8. What is Espionage?
The practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political & military information. Espionage is a method of intelligence gathering which includes information gathering from non-disclosed sources.

9. Or in other words, as most people agree, espionage is a political crime & it would be highly unusual if UK extradited Assange to face charges under the Espionage Act.

10. What is extradition?
Extradition is an act where one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to their law enforcement.

11. The consensus in international law is that a state does not have any obligation to surrender an alleged criminal to a foreign state, because one principle of sovereignty is that every state has legal authority over the people within its borders.

12. Bars to Extradition
Observing fundamental human rights is also an important reason for denying some extradition requests. Such bars can be invoked in relation to the treatment of the individual in the receiving country, including their trial and sentence.

13. Britain refuses extradition on grounds that the person, if extradited, may receive capital punishment or face torture, or for all punishments that they themselves would not administer.

14. Britain will not allow extradition if the death penalty may be imposed on the suspect unless they are assured that the death sentence will not be passed or carried out. Julian Assange declared on Thursday that “175 years of my life is effectively at stake.” 175 yrs is Life.

15. Many countries will not extradite if there is a risk that a requested person will be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The US is already guilty of this through psychological threats, spying on him & their decade long sordid smear campaign.

16. Many countries refuse to extradite suspects of political crimes. A political offence exception is a provision which limits the obligation of a sovereign state under an extradition or mutual legal assistance treaty or statute.

17. Pure political offences are offences which are directed against the political organization or government of the state & contain no element of a common crime at all.Pure political offences include crimes such as treason, espionage, & sedition.

18. In most cases, there is no duty to extradite for pure political offences, and there is agreement that the political offence exception applies to these offences.

19. Human rights as a bar to extradition can be invoked in relation to the treatment of the individual in the receiving country, including their trial & sentence as well as the effect on family of the individual if extradition is granted.

20. The U.S. had 60 days from Assange’s arrest at the Ecuadoran Embassy to send the formal extradition request under an extradition treaty with Britain. Assange’s court date came less than a month after the U.S. filed its indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia.

21. Proving already that no consideration is being given to Assange & his legal team to allow for adequate time & means for preparing his defence coupled with the restrictions placed upon him in Belmarsh prison regarding visitations & computer access.

22. Any of these reasons are the basics for barring extradition. Julian's legal team must have even more grounds & precedents in their arsenal & any UK Judge unless corrupt could simply not allow an extradition to the US.

23. All I can conclude from this entire charade is that the torture of Julian Assange needs to stop. The US don't have a case in getting him there so drop the charges now, stop hanging this 175 yr threat over him, stop the psychological battering.

24. And the UK complicit with the US the entire way, should immediately free Assange from Belmarsh prison and let him live under house arrest if needs be. Let this fine, selfless, intellectual truth-teller & freedom fighter have his life back.

25. End the charade. End the persecution. End the torture. End the smear campaign.

#FreeAssange
#NoUSExtradition
and
#FreeChelseaManning also illegally being held in prison in the US for bravely & loyally not playing their game.

26. The persecution of Julian Assange is so utterly unjust & why so many of us are worried is that we don't trust the UK & US governments, their justice systems, or trust that rule of law will be upheld. We know he cannot be treated impartially. So why do we feel this way?

27. The US & UK have been after Julian for a decade.They clearly influenced Sweden,(fake rape charges) Ecuador (illegally revoked asylum, espionage), &Australia (turning back on him).The UK (no access to medical help,the arrest,harsh sentencing in max. security in Belmarsh.

28. Countless US politicians have called for his head, his assassination. How can a person have a fair trial in a country where there is no impartiality? A decade long smear campaign directed by the US & UK govts, and carried out by the MSM has demonised and dehumanised Julian.

29. The brainwashing has been so complete that many don't see he is a journalist who published war crimes, rather they see him as the criminal. The media have been not only complicit in spreading fake news about him, they consistently deny he is one of them.

30. While the media retain this position&remain gutless hypocritical propagandists & don't stand with Julian,many of the efforts of his supporters will be undermined.We need to take the fight to them.Let's deny them their position of superiority & status.We are the new media.

31. Why let them get away with the betrayal to Julian Assange, the greatest truth-teller, award winning journalist/publisher of all time? Isn't an independent press one of the essential pillars of a democracy, where we support journalists & whistleblowers alike?

32. On one hand the media want us to be outraged by all the various blows to Press Freedom but don't include Julian Assange in their fight. It's nonsensical. Why do we continue to read/watch their work? Let's tell Julian's haters personally we don't buy their crap anymore.

33. I believe we should fight for a Free Press,but even more,our fight is Freedom Of Speech for All. We should have the right to speak truths & not be in trouble for that, even when it is against governments. Afterall, we say we live in a democracy or do we? What is a democracy?

34. A democracy has 4 key elements: a political system for choosing govt through free&fair elections;active participation of the citizens in politics&civic life; protection of human rights of all citizens;a rule of law, in which the laws &procedures apply equally to all citizens

35. If the US&UK regard themselves as democracies, then they have no leg to stand on in regard to Julian Assange.He spoke truths the public have the right to know. Would it not have been more of a crime in not publishing all that Wikileaks have so far?

36. Let's make the media accountable for their complicity in turning Julian into a pariah! Let's ask them: Why not support Julian Assange?And support those who stand up for Julian
@johnpilger @ChrisLynnHedges @21WIRE @caitoz @PeterCronau and many at @RT_com to name just a few ✊