Thread by @StefSimanowitz

Week two of Julian #Assange's extradition hearing has begun

After a #COVID19 scare, lawyers & clerks are wearing masks

For updates from courtroom, follow:
@kgosztola, @SMaurizi, @richimedhurst, @rebecca_vincent
@kirkkorner

For a summary of last week👇

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1300733107927212032

The prosecution have had years to prepare for #Assange’s hearing & yet basic technology is not working

Today, there were more problems with the audio & video links. Defence witness, Eric Lewis, couldn’t be properly heard

The video feed was turned off causing delays #AssangeCase

Six days after the start of the #AssangeTrial, @amnesty - and other fair trial observers - still don't have access to observe the hearing.

We approached the court again yesterday to "try to get our foot in the door". #Assange #JulianAssange

https://twitter.com/JuliaHall18/status/1305528647017783302

“The US govt is trying to extradite #JulianAssange & put him in prison for the rest of his life for the best work @wikileaks ever did. Work that that won awards in every country.”
@Snowden speaking to @joerogan
about #Assange & the #AssangeTrial today.

In 1971, journalist @DanielEllsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press in the hope that they would help end the Vietnam Wars

Almost 50 years later, the legendary whistleblower, will testify at the #AssangeTrial.
#JulianAssange #Assange @AOC @pamfoundation @KenLoachSixteen

#BREAKING: Judge in #AssangeTrial denies @amnesty access to the court...again

She fails to acknowledge the importance of independent expert trial monitoring & suggests we queue for the v few seats in the public gallery

Ystdy there were 33 empty seats in the courtroom! #Assange

“It is a disgrace that the UK has failed to recognize that intn’l fair trial monitors should be officially recognized & permitted access to the #Assange hearings. Open justice is not served by this failure. It is profoundly undermined.” @JuliaHall18 #JulianAssange #AssangeCase

By stating that no "special provision" will be made for @amnesty’s trial monitor's attendance, is a failure to recognise the important role they play & would mean they have to compete to secure a seat that should belong to the public-at-large. #AssangeCase #Assange #JulianAssange

Campaigners outside the Old Bailey have produced a "souvenir edition" newspaper called the Weekly Leaks, with articles by @SMaurizi, @arusbridger, Sarah Harrison (@wikileaks) & an interview with @NilsMelzer (UN). #AssangeCase #Assange #JulianAssage #DontExtraditeAssange

"Like the Pentagon Papers, they had the capability of informing the public that they’d been seriously misled about the nature of the war, the progress of the war & the likelihood that it would end successfully, if at all."
@DanielEllsberg on @wikileaks Iraq revelations. #Assange

“This situation is disturbing, and it’s unique. This court has failed dramatically to recognize a key component of open justice, & that is how intn'l trial monitors monitor a hearing for its compliance with domestic law & international law.” @JuliaHall18 nytimes.com/2020/09/16/wor…

"It is not just #JulianAssange in the dock

Beside him sit fundamental tenets of media freedom that underpin the rights to freedom of expression & the public’s right to access to information

Silence #Assange they will gag others." @amnesty's @JuliaHall18

https://twitter.com/rebecca_vincent/status/1306509068673130501

Today, IBC's Prof Sloboda is giving evidence to the #AssangeTrial

As @caitoz points out "arguments about when it's okay for journalists to publish documents exposing govt malfeasance shouldn't obscure the fact that govts should be attempting to hide malfeasance in the 1st place"

#BREAKING: “Lack of access to the #AssangeTrial undermines the recognition of trial observers as guardians of int’l fair trial standards.”

Amnesty Intn’l releases a statement after 2 weeks & 3 applications requesting access to the #Assange hearing.
amnesty.org/download/Docum…

“Freedom of the press is at stake,” says @DanielEllsberg who testified at the #AssangeTrial ystdy. “It may sound like hyperbole. It isn’t.”

He says if #Assange is extradited "no journalist in the world is safe from life imprisonment" in the U.S.

“There were samba bands, chanting crowds & a pack of hungry photographers who’d give chase to any security van heading into the court, pressing their long lenses against the darkened windows.

Outside it was a carnival.

Inside the court it was a circus.” google.co.uk/amp/s/www.news…