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5 Oct, 22 tweets, 12 min read
A THREAD:

Extradition Hearing #JulianAssange Phase 2:
7 Sept to 1 Oct 2020

DEFENCE WITNESS STATEMENTS
(in the order present in court or read into the record):
DAY 1 (7 Sept 2020)

Witness #1: Mark Feldstein

"The administration has already won a partial victory. Even if the espionage charges against Assange are ultimately dismissed, this politicized prosecution will still produce dividends ..."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 2 (8 Sept 2020)

Witness #2: Clive Stafford Smith

"WikiLeaks cables have contributed to court findings that US drone strikes are criminal offences & that criminal
proceedings should be initiated against senior US officials ..."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 3 (9 Sept 2020)

Witness #3: Paul Rogers

"... WikiLeaks publications played a part in ... bringing to light in an irrefutable way, particular criminal acts on the part of US military previously deliberately covered up."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 3 (9 Sept 2020)

Witness #4: Trevor Timm

"WikiLeaks is not unique in asking for leaked documents of public importance [& working with sources]

If this is a crime, thousands of journalists would be committing crimes on a daily basis."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAYS 5 & 6 (14 & 15 Sept 2020)

Witness #5: Eric Lewis

"If extradited to the US and convicted, it is my view that Mr Assange ... is highly likely to be sentenced to imprisonment that will constitute the rest of his likely natural lifespan."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
ADDENDUM:

REPORT from The Centre For Constitutional Rights (US)

"The Darkest Corner: Special Administrative Measures [SAMs} and Extreme Isolation in the Federal Bureau of Prisons" (Sept 2017)

ccrjustice.org/sites/default/…
DAY 6 (15 Sept 2020)

Witness #6: Thomas Durkin

"I have represented many defendants pre-trial in the federal system & [that system] severely compromises an attorney's ability to meaningfully review the discovery materials with the client."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 7 (16 Sept 2020)

Witness #7: John Goetz

"... when the partners published their respective stories on July 25, 2010, ... Wikileaks delayed the release of 15,000 documents as part of what Assange called "the harm minimisation process"."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
AN ASIDE:

Two Twitter MOMENTS cover relevant events to this point, although NOT part of the Witness Statements.

1) Mark Davis and the Afghan War Logs:
twitter.com/i/events/11602…

2) Julian Assange's reported "uncaring" comment. Did he really say that?
twitter.com/i/events/11645…
DAY 7 (16 Sept 2020)

Witness #8: Daniel Ellsberg

RE "Collateral Murder":
"The American public needed urgently to know what was being done routinely in their name, & there was no other way for them to learn it than by unauthorized disclosure."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 8 (17 Sept 2020)

Witness #9: John Sloboda

"It could well be argued ... that by making [the War Logs] public Manning & Assange were carrying out a duty on behalf of the victims & the public ... that the US govt was failing to carry out."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 8 & 9 (17 & 18 Sept 2020)

Witness #10: Carey Shenkman

"The current US admin has signaled its desire to escalate prosecutions as well as “jailing journalists who publish classified info.” The Espionage Act’s breadth provides such a means."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 9 (18 Sept 2020)

Witness #11: Nicky Hagar

"The [War Logs & "Collateral Murder"] publications demonstrated that the actions were unlawful both under international law and the US military's own Rules of Engagement."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 9 (18 Sept 2020)

Witness #12: Jennifer Robinson

"[The Rohrabacher] statements confirmed the specific proposal was that Mr Assange would not face US criminal prosecution if he provided info about the source of the DNC publications ... "

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 9 (18 Sept 2020)

Witness #13: Khaled El-Masri*

"As a result of the [WikiLeaks] cables it is now known (but not at the time in 2006) that the German govt bowed to pressure from the US govt to not seek the extradition of the rendition team."

Full PDF: bridgesforfreedom.media/wp-content/upl…
DAY 9 (18 Sept 2020)

Witness #14: Dean Yates*

After 'Collateral Murder':
"I immediately realised the US Military had lied to us. When I think back to that meeting with the two generals in Baghdad, I feel cheated. They were not being honest."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 10 (21 Sept 2020)

Witness #15: Christian Grothoff

"Anyone who intercepted David Leigh’s transfer [could] decrypt the file ... Thus, no information security professional should have deemed the disclosure of this passphrase to be safe ..."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 10 (21 Sept 2020)

Witness #16: Cassandra Fairbanks

"He [said] the US govt would be going into the Embassy to get Assange. I responded that entering the embassy of a sovereign nation ... was an act of war
[Response] "not if they let us"."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
The Medical Testimonies - Statements suppressed

DAY 11 (22 Sept 2020)
Witness #17 Michael Kopelman

DAY 12 (23 Sept )
Witness #18 Quinton Deeley
Witness #19 Catherine Humphrey*
Witness # P1 Seena Fazel

DAY 13 (24 Sept )
Witness # P2 Nigel Blackwood
Witness # 20 Sondra Crosby
DAY 13 (24 Sept 2020)

Witness #21: Christopher Butler*

Butler confirms that the Internet Archive
- holds copies of the relevant WikiLeaks archives
- has not been requested by the US govt to take down this data, and
- is a US based institution

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…
DAY 13 (24 Sept 2020)

Witness #22: John Young*

"Since my publication on Cryptome.org of the unredacted diplomatic cables, no US law enforcement authority has notified me that this publication of the cables is illegal ..."

Full PDF: tareqhaddad.com/wp-content/upl…

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More from @LaFleurDelSur

La Fleur Productions Profile picture
7 Sep
Extradition Hearing Phase 2 Day 1 THREAD from @kgosztola
Extradition Hearing Phase 2 Day 1 THREAD from @MElmaazi
Extradition Hearing Phase 2 Day 1 THREAD from @MaryKostakidis
Read 4 tweets
La Fleur Productions Profile picture
5 Sep
Get your reading glasses out. Here it comes:

A THREAD:

(1) Briefing Paper for Phase 2 of the UK Hearing of the US Request to Extradite #JulianAssange (starts 7 Sept 2020) from @DEAcampaign

dontextraditeassange.com/wp-content/upl…

Note: Phase 1 Briefing Paper here: defend.wikileaks.org/2020/02/23/usa… Image
(2) "Julian Assange's Extradition Case: Previewing A Major Three-Week Hearing" from @kgosztola of @shadowproofcom.

This analysis lists key legal issues and likely defence witnesses for each point.

dissenter.substack.com/p/julian-assan…
(3) The new (2nd) superseding indictment from the US DOJ - issued 24 June 2020 (but not yet before the UK court).

DOJ Statement: justice.gov/opa/pr/wikilea…
DOJ Indictment: justice.gov/opa/press-rele…

DOJ 1st superseding indictment (23 May 2019): justice.gov/opa/pr/wikilea…
Read 12 tweets
La Fleur Productions Profile picture
3 Sep
Short THREAD:
This article addresses the recent (19 Aug 2020) #Facebook policy change:

"An Update to How We Address Movements and Organizations Tied to Violence"
about.fb.com/news/2020/08/a…
On the face of things, most people would agree that it is better not to allow the glorification &/or encouragement of violence.

But where does the real celebration - nay glorification - of violence come from?

[HINT: think Hollywood, online "games", the military ... ] Image
Then there is the issue of why violence is shown at all on our screens.

To CELEBRATE violence - almost as art form?

Or to EXPOSE the violence of states (& those they employ) - done in our names?

Here is a Case Study from another social media platform:

twitter.com/i/events/11635…
Read 4 tweets
La Fleur Productions Profile picture
25 Aug
Please help @CraigMurrayOrg:

"I am EXTREMELY keen for you to follow tomorrow’s procedural hearing where the question of what evidence is permitted will be addressed."

Wed 26 Sep 2020 9:45am BST
Dial (+44)-207 660 8149
Access code 137 161 9904
Rules: scotcourts.gov.uk/coming-to-cour…
See comments on Craig's blog for updates re procedural hearing today, but main point seems to be:

"The Judges rejected the Crown application & basically said all the Defence evidence needs to be considered at the full hearing where they will decide if it is relevant or not."
Well, well, what have we here?

Seems it IS possible to do something about corruption in high places - at least in #Scotland. This might fix one tiny corner but looks like a very big broom is needed for the rest of the mess.

thenational.scot/news/18677006.…
Read 4 tweets
La Fleur Productions Profile picture
2 Apr
A THREAD

There's been a meme around for a long time that goes like this:

"First they came for the journalists. We don't know what happened after that."
Of course, it was obvious to all those who looked with open eyes that #JulianAssange was the canary in the #FreePress coal mine.

Or was, perhaps, Alexander Pope's butterfly - broken on a (Catherine) wheel. [From Pope's "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot"]
Some journalists argued that Julian #Assange was "not a journalist" - maybe that made them feel safer.

Most just looked away - maybe after a carefully crafted sentence at a state-sponsored, glittery #FreePress event (where news platforms like #RT were shut out in the cold).
Read 10 tweets
La Fleur Productions Profile picture
22 Nov 19
THREAD

The NY book launch of "In Defense of Julian Assange" edited by Tariq Ali and Margaret Kustler, and published by @orbooks, was held at the former home of the late Michael Ratner, Assange's former attorney 21 Nov 2019.

Read a review here:
portside.org/2019-11-20/tri…
@orbooks First speaker was civil rights attorney, Margaret Kunstler @granmarga.

"The Powers That Be are upping the ante.
Charging a journalist with espionage is eating the 1st Amendment. It’s outrageous. The 1st doesn’t allow for an espionage charge."

@orbooks @granmarga Next @aaronjmate:

"When we think about [those] demonised in the West, it's usually reserved for foreign leaders ... we want to overthrow ... Rarely has [that] been used against somebody [like] Julian Assange.
And who is he? He's a media publisher."

Read 11 tweets

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