#Assange faces 175 years in a US supermax for revealing 100% true information. He will be tried under the Espionage Act which has no public interest defense & won’t be allowed First Amendment protections. This criminalises journalism
#RuleOfLaw
Don’t forget that 30 intelligence insiders have confirmed that there were plans to assassinate Julian & engage in a shootout on Knightsbridge’s streets
Good morning from inside the #RCJ. Firstly, to confirm that despite an electrical failure on his train journey & thanks to pre-5 am by Derek @JA_Defence, much-beloved @CraigMurrayOrg has made it in.
I will tweet here if I’m allowed.
A few journalists & I have made it to the door of the court room. We are waiting to be let in. It appears that the judgment may just be handed down and there may not be any discussion. The lawyers are not here yet. 40 mins to start
35 days since journalist Craig Murray @cmurrayjustice was locked up alone 22h/day in a prison for serious offenders !
877 days since Julian #Assange was jailed in Belmarsh, 3364 days since he was arbitrarily detained and deprived of freedom & natural sunlight
Some thoughts... 1/
Judicial torture & executions were routinely carried out at Saughton from 1386-1817. Saughton's barbaric history carries through neatly to the present day. Like other prisoners Murray is in his cell alone 22 hours/day. This is #torture & breaches rule 44 of the Mandela rules
2/
Leave alone, the wrongs of jailing a journalist for honest reporting, on the flimsy pretext of jigsaw id, Craig's case, reflects badly on the quality & independence of Scotland's judiciary, because Craig was denied the option to do community service #ScotlandJailsJournalists
3/
1/ Sweden wanted to prolong war in Afghanistan. Along with its NATO buddies it wanted to sell weapons to kill and maim people while allowing Swedish companies to profit off the misery . See link below
3/
The Swedish state stitched up #Assange by denying him due process. British prosecutors in #Starmer’s CPS put pressure on
the Swedish prosecutors to keep things at preliminary investigation stage for 7 years.
Thanks to those who live-tweeted. (I particularly miss the voice of Craig @cmurrayjustice )
Now a few personal comments about the key points of concern in this historic case 🧵
1/
It is easy to be distracted by the finer points of law & to focus on dancing on the head of a pin. But what are the big issues
a) What shouldn’t be up for debate is that states & corporations that commit grave crimes must be held accountable by the media & judiciary 2/
b) #Assange is in Belmarsh deprived of family, friends and medical care. Meanwhile the war criminals are free because of serious & repeated failings in ensuring any accountability for horrific crimes.
The daily experience was upsetting & sad.
For me there was physical tiredness from queueing (every day for 3 weeks in Sep) in the wee hours in the 🥶
Julian has a chronic lung condition; he’s depressed & has osteoporosis made worse by lack of sunlight.
He’s been MADE ill
2/
Being driven over from Belmarsh in the early hours in a manky SERCO van after being strip searched and X-rayed was yet another brutality inflicted on him.
They seemed to use process at every point to grind him down & remind him that they didn’t find him worthy of humanity.
3/
@ScottShaneNYT thanks for your acknowledgement of the truth - grudging though your phrasing seems .
As one of many ordinary citizens who understood the world better because of @wikileaks' & #JulianAssange’s courage, here are some thoughts on "what we think of" him
#Wikileaks & #JulianAssange revolutionised journalism by making it possible for citizens to look at the real data behind the slanted & constrained world-views presented by mainstream journalists.
#Wikileaks' revelations reshaped our understanding of the #Iraq war & cut through the simplistic image painted by military PR - a sunny picture of a well-meaning US army saving the world one war at a time. #Wikileaks made #BlackLivesMatter