Dr Deepa Govindarajan Driver Profile picture
Dec 13, 2021 10 tweets 5 min read Read on X
1/ Like many, I am very angry and sad about the outcome of the US appeal.
Having attended the court hearings, I know how soul-destroying these are.
So this thread seeks to bring #Assange supporters some small slivers of hope & strength

1/
First I want to say how happy I am for Julian that he has his family & his kids to give him love & hope. Stella deals with things with poise & grace, every day, despite the hardship & sorrow their family bear.
(I love this photo. We work to make sure Julian’s in one soon)
2/
Julian’s lawyers - from the late Michael Ratner to Gareth Peirce, Edward Fitzgerald, Mark Summers & all their colleagues in the UK & elsewhere behind the scenes & in front of cameras, are a significant reason why Julian isn’t already on the US rendition flight.
3/
It must be very hard to put forward excellent arguments, do mountains of work, take two steps forward & then get trumped by game-playing, jobsworth charlatans who manipulate the system to undermine the law. Their courage, intelligence & strength offer hope for #RuleOfLaw

4/
I take huge hope from the grassroots activists at Piccadilly, outside Belmarsh, outside Merrick Garland’s place, outside embassies & in 🇺🇸,🇫🇷, 🇦🇺, 🇩🇪, 🇮🇹,🇦🇹, 🇸🇪, 🇳🇴 & in many parts of the world. They protest in 🌧 & ❄️ every week for #humanrights & a man who doesn’t know them
5/
I take hope from the whistleblowers, hacktivists, journalists, creatives, & experts who have stayed steadfast & true to Wikileaks’ ideals & kept it going.
I take hope from those who have persistently used their name & profile, to support Julian, despite personal costs
6/
I take hope from the those using artistic, legal, musical, literary, journalistic, political + a range of professional skills to get more people to care not just about the case but also the underlying issues
7/
If you’re a supporter, you are making history alongside Julian. When the war criminals try to shut Julian & us down, remember they have very little to show for their miserable, rancid, evil existence.
You are making your life count & are on the right side of history
8/
And while Julian has all of us, there are many in the world who will suffer alone, whose lives will be destroyed & whose stories won’t be told, if it weren’t for whistleblowers & the brilliant folk at Wikileaks. We do this for them.
That’s why Julian’s #CourageIsContagious
9/
Every moment that they torment Julian & us through this farce of an extradition process, they expose themselves more & they awaken us.
I feel I am only getting stronger in my commitment to justice for the oppressed. I hope you are too.
Courage really is contagious
10/

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More from @deepa_driver

Apr 11, 2022
1/ I’ve served as legal observer in the case of Julian #Assange for @SocialistLawyer for ~ 3 years.
Its been very depressing & tremendously liberating for me.
I knew acts of courage such as Julian's are not without hardship, but I now know #CourageIsContagious
Thread 🧵
2/ In these three hard years, Julian's health has suffered.
He had a TIA (mini-stroke) whilst (literally) watching prosecutors in court say he was malingering. He has endured prolonged solitary confinement. He has contemplated taking his own life "hundreds of times a day".
3/ Its worth remembering, that these 3 years, came after ~ 7 years of deprivation of sunlight (he has osteoporosis), no medical care for a broken (abscess) tooth and a badly injured shoulder & deplorable psychological damage from smearing . This created irreversible damage!
Read 11 tweets
Dec 10, 2021
#InternationalHumanRightsDay #AssangeCase

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.
1/ #InternationalHumanRightsDay #AssangeCase

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
Read 12 tweets
Dec 10, 2021
#InternationalHumanRightsDay
Key facts #AssangeCase

1/
- #Assange’s legally privileged conversations have been extensively spied upon by the US.

thegrayzone.com/2020/05/14/ame…
2/
#InternationalHumanRightsDay

The key witness in the US case against Assange is a convicted paedophile & fraudster who admits to fabricating the evidence in exchange for FBI deal.

stundin.is/grein/13910/
3/
#InternationalHumanRightsDay #AssangeCase

#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
Read 9 tweets
Sep 4, 2021
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/
Read 22 tweets
Aug 22, 2021
A 🧵

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
2/

Then remember this (weaponising feminism to prolong war) file.wikileaks.org/file/cia-afgha…
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.

thecanary.co/uk/2018/02/17/…

H/t @TheCanaryUK
Read 4 tweets
Aug 11, 2021
Today, I observed the legal proceedings in the case of #Assange on behalf of @SocialistLawyer

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.

3/
Read 9 tweets

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