Thread by @StefSimanowitz

1/. COUNTDOWN TO JUSTICE/INJUSTICE - 10HRS

“The activities that #JulianAssange engaged in are activities that journalists engage in all the time. We wouldn’t have information without them”
@JuliaHall18 @amnesty

#Assange will hear the verdict on his extradition to the US today

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1300747218899603456

2/. 9HRS - "#Assange, is at glaring risk that he would be put into a maximum-security prison & subjected to Special Administrative Measures"

"If the decision comes to extradite him, we'll come out very strongly against it" @JuliaHall18 @amnesty @AJEnglish
aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/3/…

3/. 8HRS - It's staggering little most people know about the #Assange case & it's importance for the protection of those who publish leaked/classified information that is in the public interest

But before people can care, they need to know what's at stake
nytimes.com/2021/01/03/wor…

4/. 3HRS UNTIL #ASSANGE VERDICT

The US govt is not only charging a publisher who has no non-disclosure obligation but a publisher who is not a US citizen & not in the US.

They are behaving as if they have jurisdiction all over the world & can pursue any journalist/publisher.

5/ “I’m here today for the same reason I was in Iraq...I think that sooner or later truth will prevail”

Eric Levy, 92, at #Assange hearing 7/9/20

Eric went to Iraq in 2003 as a Human Shield to try & stop the illegal war & stayed in a Baghdad power station throughout Shock & Awe

6/. “We’ve been approached a 3rd & 4th time by police, now more hostile. More people have gathered near court & police have stated anyone who is “part of a group’ that doesn’t go home will face arrest.” Tweet by @rebecca_vincent of @RSF_en while queuing to attend #Assange verdict

7/. A vehicle that some think is carrying #JulianAssange has just arrived at the Old Bailey from Belmarsh prison for the verdict in his extradition hearing. #Assange #AssangeCase #BREAKING #DontExtraditeAssange

8/. #JulianAssange’s partner, @StellaMoris1 walks, dignified, into the Old Bailey, flanked by Editor-in-Chief of @wikileaks, @khrafnsson, and surrounded by a scrum of photographers.
#DontExtraditeAssange #Assange #AssangeCase

9/. “Why am I here? How many times can I say it. I can say it a million times. I can say it until I’m dead. I’m hear for humanity & the survival of humanity.”
Eric Levy, 92, awaiting the #JulianAssange extradition verdict outside the Old Bailey.
#DontExtraditeAssange #Assange

10/. “The persecution of whistleblowers must end!...There are many Julian Assanges!”

A man draped in a Union Jack outside the the Old Bailey, where founder of @wikileaks, #Assange, will find out shortly the verdict in his extradition hearing
#DontExtraditeAssange #JulianAssange

11/. It appears that the man draped in the Union Jack has received a spot fine

Protests are banned under Tier 4 & only journalists are allowed to outside the court

“The fine is £100 if you pay within 28 days, but if we issue you with a fine & you don’t move on we’ll arrest you”

12/. The police have checked my ID four times

The fact that I’m covering the #Assange extradition verdict for @amnesty didn’t cut it

Luckily, I’ve also got a press card

The last policeman spotted that my card expired 3 months ago...but I’m still here. #DontExtraditeAssange

13/. #JulianAssange will NOT be extradited to the US!!!

The judge ends her summing up saying she is satisfied that procedures described by US would not prevent Assange from finding a way to commit suicide in US supermax prison. #BREAKING #BreakingNews #Assange

14/ #BREAKING: Judge rules against US extradition of #JulianAssange, contending extradition would be oppressive by reason of #Assange’s mental health

The US government is going to immediately appeal

Incredible, joyful scenes outside the court. No one was expecting this!

15/. #BREAKING: #JulianAssange’s Defence team have lodged a bail application to see if #Assange can now be released on bail

The judge won’t rule on bail today but @CraigMurrayOrg says it should happen v soon

“There’s a good chance we should have him walking among us this week.”

16/. “We welcome the decision not to extradite #JulianAssange on the grounds of his serious mental health condition, but we have serious concerns about the substance of the judgment.” @RSF_en’s @rebecca_vincent steps out of court to update us on what happens next with #Assange.

17/. “We welcome the fact that #JulianAssange will not be sent to the USA & that the acknowledged that due to his health, he’d be at risk of ill-treatment in the US. But the charges against him should never have been brought in the first place.” @amnesty
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

18/. “The fact that the ruling is correct & saves #Assange from extradition, doesn’t absolve the UK from having engaged in this politically-motivated process at the behest of the US & putting media freedom & freedom of expression on trial” @amnesty’s Nils Muižnieks #JulianAssange

19/. “Julians freedoms are tied to all our freedoms, and those freedoms are lost in the blink of an eye.”

#JulianAssange’s partner, @StellaMoris1, addresses the media after #Assange’s extradition verdict.

20/. #JulianAssage’s defence team will lodge an appeal on Wednesday

Journalists & jubilant crowd are now starting to disperse

Julian #Assange has been taken back to Belmarsh high security prison

(N.B. Footage above👆was filmed wearing a mask & observing social distancing).

21/. “Amnesty International has long criticised the US penal system as a source of ill-treatment.”

Nils Muiznieks, @amnesty’s Europe Director, on today’s very welcome decision not to extradite #Assange to the US. #JulianAssange #DontExtraditeAssange

22/. For a detailed analysis of the #AssangeCase judgment & the next steps in the campaign, see this discussion with with @rebecca_vincent (@RSF_inter), @khrafnsson (@wikileaks) & @CraigMurrayOrg convened by @DEAcampaign

Sadly, I wasn't able to attend

23/. "We'll give him protection"

Mexico's President, Andrés Obrador, offers political asylum to #JulianAssange

In 2014, @snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia for one year

Three months ago, he was granted unlimited permanent Russian residency.

https://twitter.com/Rodpac/status/1346115272802004992

24/. “Given the gravity of this case & its importance to press freedom, it’s scandalous - yet revealing - how little attention US media paid to it, barely covering the proceedings” @ggreenwald

Since you may struggle to this in MSM, see @RSF_en’s analysis
rsf.org/en/reports/uk-…

25/. US govt’s pursuit of #Assange is nothing short of a full-scale assault on the right to freedom of expression

It is an attack on journalists who expose official wrongdoing by publishing info disclosed by credible sources

And it is an attack on us all
google.co.uk/amp/s/www.news…