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Jan 6, 2021 26 tweets 10 min read Read on X
We'll be live-tweeting from the #JulianAssange courtroom again today on this thread.

Starts: 10am BST / 9pm AEST / 5am EST

At 3pm GMT #CNLive! will speak with @johnpilger & @rogerwaters about the outcome.

This👇WILL be the link after the hearing:
Image
We are in the virtual court room. Judge Baraitser has arrived. Awaiting #Assange.

US prosecutor has said it is uncertain whether the US will continue with the extradition effort:

Camera is panning around Court 1 at Westminster Magistrates Court. Few people in attendance. #Assange has not yet arrived.
Judge Baraitser has arrived. We are looking at an empty dock. Split screen shows Defence lawyer Mark Summers. Assange enters & identifies himself.

Miss Dobbins will read objections to bail
Ms Dobbins: This case has continued to refuse Mr Assange bail... He has previously gone to great lengths to evade extradition...

We lost the sound.

Back again. The court has discharged JA on the basis of a slim thread. Our High Court appeal may be frustrated if he flees.
Ms Dobbin now talking about the orchestration by Mr #Assange of @Snowden's escape from US justice. Details elaborate plans, distractions. This court should be in no court as to Mr #Assange's resources to arrange flights. He is welcome in Mexico.
Ms Dobbins : Mexico has offered to protect #Assange with political asylum. The defence says #Assange will not flee due to his health, but how can they be sure of his determinations? He has already showed himself to be a flight risk during Swedish proceedings.
Ns Dobbins: Mr Justice Ousley in deciding not to grant bail said Mr #Assange has a propensity not to face trial. He "ruthlessly" breached the trust of those who put up bail money.
Ms Dobbins. It was reported he cost Sweden a lot of money. Mt #Assange regards himself above the law and is likely to abscond.
Ms Dobbin: One of the people who provided purity for bail last time, Baroness Wooster has offered purity again.
Ms Dobbin: He was made a diplomat to assist with freeing him...

Flight risk overrides livelihood. Flight risk has nothing to do with mental health. Services at Belmarsh can look after him. #Covid prisoners have been moved from his block.
Ms Dobbins: Referring to the Turner Report and test to determine if a prisoner is likely to commit suicide. The key determinant, we will argue, is the conditions in place. We will argue the 4th test in Turner, regarding the diagnosis.

Baraitser interrupts, saying too much detail
Ms Dobbins: Mr #Assange mental health is not as severe as the picture the mental health experts painted.

Mr Assange & partner started a family to avoid extradition. They had never lived together.

There exists concrete proof he will abscond.
Edward Fitzgerald for the defence.

Your decision changes everything. It removes motive to abscond. There is confidence in the UK judicial system.

Mr #Assange his been detained for 15 months. You have given a ruling & ordered his discharge. The natural consequence is freedom
Edward Fitzgerald cites US prosecutor who said today that it is unlikely the extradition effort will continue.

Could should weigh into the balance that when the court says "I discharge you", a prisoner should at least enjoy conditional freedom. That's our law, acc to yr ruling.
Fitzgerald: Mr Assange has every reason to obey British law, after the most significant development. You have acknowledged his clinical depression. Due to the #Covid outbreak, #Assange has been severely deprived of contact w/ his family. 90 fellow inmates tested +ve for Covid.
Dobbins said the prosecution received an email from Belmarsh at 20.47 last night. Many self isolating but only 3 tested +ve.

Fitzgerald says 59 tested +ve before Christmas. Maybe 3 in the last 24 hours. But the main thrust of our submission is your assessment & ruling.
We do not accept that the wrong [suicide likelihood] test was applied. We do not think the court was wrong in the case of Lauri Love. We stand by your judgement & ask that you consider the importance of #Assange's family bond for his mental health. He has every incentive to stay.
Baroness Tracy Wooster makes the point in providing surety again that the situation his completely changed from 8 years ago, both in the nature of the request and the court's ruling. The psychiatrists say that family contact is essential to maintain his mental health.
There are humane reasons for accepting bail. Human rights must compel those other reasons. #Assange's Article 8 rights. Mr #Assange served his time for bail violation. The court must consider the proportionality of further detainment, given its concerns for Mr Assange's health
The Mexican offer was to come into effect after conclusion of these proceedings. Any suggestion that this could be associated with absconding is ill-founded. He would only be safe in this jurisdiction after a positive result. Mexico offers another in the future.

10 mins break
EF: Mr #Assange's experience in the Ecuadorian embassy for 7 years of confinement is not something he is EVER likely to repeat.

Re the situation in Belmarsh. Jan 1st: social visits are & will remain suspended. Mr #Assange would remain in lockdown, w/ no visitors & Covid risk
Mr Assange has seen a suicide on his block. He is surrounded by dangerous criminals. His case is so far away from that....
Baraitser: The history of this case is well-known... Assange skipped bail & remained in the Ecuadorian Embassy to avoid extradition to the US.

I ordered his discharge, but there has been an appeal. Mr #Assange still has an incentive to abscond.
The US must be allowed their opportunity to appeal. Mr Assange is being looked after by Belmarsh, which is nothing like what he would endure in the US.

I am satisfied that he could abscond. I deny bail.
Judge Baraitser said that #Assange's case was not yet won. The appeal must be lodged by the US by Jan 18. If it is lodged, the High Court case is likely to be in April. Julian Assange will remain in custody.

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More from @Consortiumnews

May 20
We'll be live on this thread at 10.30am BST from the #Assange courtroom in London, where judges will announce whether he may appeal on any or all of 3 grounds:

- risk of death penalty
- prejudice by way of his nationality
- risk of no First Amendment protection

Or, extradition! Image
We are now connected to the Royal Courts of Justice. The courtroom is filling up. Journalists were instructed to sign in 30 minutes before proceedings began. The #Assange Hearing starts in 24 minutes.
We await the arrival of Dame Victoria Sharp and Justice Jeremy Johnson, the two judges who heard #Assange's Renewal Appeal. Their decision was deferred, because they offered the U.S. a chance to offer assurances on 3 points that could block extradition. The US responded.
Read 25 tweets
May 13
We're heading off to the Supreme Court in Canberra for the sentencing decision on military whistleblower David McBride @MurdochCadell. Updates will be on this thread. Image
We're inside the courtroom, awaiting Judge Mossop. David McBride @MurdochCadell is close by with his dog Jake. David's eyes are closed, as they were last week.
Judge enters. Someone cries out "Shame on the court!". The judge tells her to please sit down & be quiet,

Begins reading a statement of facts, beginning with McBride's guilty plea.
- Stealing documents which carries a max penalty of 10 years
- Communicating information to Chris Master & Dan Oakes. Max penalty - fine or prison for "any amount or time" - but could be 6 months prison
- Publishing documents on 'The Ops Room'. Fine or prison for any term, as originally specified in the Defence Act - gives history of the Act
Read 29 tweets
May 5
We are standing outside courtroom 7 of the Canberra Supreme Court with @MurdochCadell & his defence. Another case is still being
Heard
Before the sentencing of David McBride we will hear submissions from the prosecution first, led by Trish McDonald, and then from the defence, led by Mark Odgers. The courtroom door has not yet opened.
We are now in the courtroom for the sentencing of David McBride @MurdochCadell, and currently awaiting the arrival of Judge David Mossop. David is accompanied by his dog Jake.
Read 63 tweets
Feb 21
Our live updates from the #Assange courtroom at the Royal Courts of Justice, Day 2 afternoon session, will be on this thread. Image
Court in session. Now we can hear the prosecution but not the judges.
Prosecution is refuting Ground 4 and Ground 6 of the defence's appeal. Focusing on the Fair Trial issue.

There is an argument of Speciality or nothing. The claim is the applicant is at risk of being punished for conduct he has not been charged with. That is Specialty and it is being forced into Art. 6
Read 28 tweets
Feb 21
Our live updates from the #Assange courtroom on Day 2, morning session, will be on this thread. Image
@unjoe @CathyVoganSPK We are connected to the #Assange courtroom for Day 2 of his Renewal Appeal. Today we will hear from the prosecution and we have view on Clare Dobbin KC preparing her papers. No sound from the courtroom as yet
@unjoe @CathyVoganSPK Court in session. No sign of #Assange.
Read 47 tweets
Feb 20
Our live updates from the #Assange Renewal Appeal courtroom - Day 1 afternoon session - will be on this thread. Image
@unjoe @CathyVoganSPK Court in session again.
@unjoe @CathyVoganSPK Mark Summers speaking again for the defense.
Continuing with prior cases in the US relating to this case. Prior publishers of many source names only had passport confiscated. Daniel Ellsberg, a state employee, was not prosecuted.
Read 38 tweets

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