Stella Assange Profile picture
Feb 5 9 tweets 5 min read Read on X
The legal arguments in Julian Assange’s High Court extradition hearing on 20-21 February.

Thread: Image
1. Julian Assange should not be extradited to face prosecution and punishment for his political opinions exposing state criminality.

Assange is being prosecuted for exposing US government criminality including war crimes and torture.

There is extensive evidence of Assange’s political opinions on the importance of transparency in being able to hold governments accountable to deter future abuses.

Extradition for political opinions is not allowed.

The new evidence which emerged since the hearing of the CIA plans to kidnap and/or kill Assange further supports this ground.Image
2. Julian Assange should not be extradited to face prosecution where the criminal law is being extended in an unprecedented and unforeseeable way.

This is the first time in US history that a publisher has been prosecuted for obtaining or publishing (as opposed to leaking) US state secrets. The drafters of the Espionage Act did not intend for publishers to fall within its ambit, unchallenged expert evidence showed that receipt and publication of state secrets is routine, and that there was an ‘unbroken practice of non-prosecution’ of publishers.
 
The prosecution ‘crosses a new legal frontier’ and ‘breaks all legal precedents’. Extradition would therefore expose Assange to a novel and unforeseeable extension of criminal law.

To extradite Assange would be a grave violation of Article 7 ECHR.Image
3. Julian Assange should not be extradited because his prosecution amounts to a grave violation of his right to free speech.
 
Publishing state secrets can play a vital role in a democratic society and criminal prosecution and conviction for such publications will deter the press from playing this ‘public watchdog’ role. The US indictment against Assange criminalises essential journalistic practices and imposes a disproportionate sentence (175 years).

To extradite Assange would be a grave violation of Article 10 ECHR.Image
4. Julian Assange should not be extradited given that the US affirms that he may not be granted any First Amendment protections at all.
 
The US said it would argue at trial that Assange would not get First Amendment protection (Free Speech protections) as he is not a US national (he is Australian). In other words, as a defendant he would be prejudiced at a trial as he is not a US citizen.Image
5. Extradition should be barred because Julian Assange will not receive a fair trial.
 
He cannot mount a public interest defence. In the US system, there is a tradition of coercive plea bargaining via overcharging to secure a conviction. Julian Assange faces 175 years for his journalism.

The jury pool will be drawn from people connected to US Government national security agencies and contractors, and therefore likely to be prejudicial to Julian Assange. They will also be sensitive to public comments made by the US President and CIA Director, tainting the presumption of innocence.
 
Evidence obtained through the inhuman and degrading treatment of Chelsea Manning, spying on his lawyers and the illegal removal of Julian Assange’s legal files from the Ecuadorean Embassy mean there is no prospect for a fair trial.

To extradite him would be a grave violation of Article 6 ECHR.Image
6. The US-UK Treaty prohibits extradition for political offences meaning Mr Assange’s extradition would violate the treaty, international law and amounts to an abuse of process (including Article 5 ECHR).
 
The offences with which Assange is charged are all formally “pure political offences” and therefore are extradition-barred under article 4(1) of the US-UK Extradition Treaty. It is an abuse of process for the US to make an extradition request which is prohibited under the terms of the Treaty.Image
7. Renewed application to admit fresh evidence about US plans to kidnap/render/assassinate Mr Assange in 2017 - relevant to his Article 2 and 3 ECHR rights.
 
The CIA planned to kidnap and assassinate Assange. This indicates that he will be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment if extradited to the US. To extradite Assange would mean delivering him right into the hands of the very people who plotted to assassinate him.

8. The Extradition Treaty would allow the US to amend or add charges which could expose Julian Assange to the death penalty.
 
Under the same facts alleged in the extradition request, Julian Assange can be recharged under provisions of the Espionage Act which carry the death penalty. It is noteworthy that Chelsea Manning was charged with ‘aiding the enemy’, which carries the death penalty and US government officials have publicly labelled the allegations against Assange as treason and called for the death penalty.Image

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More from @Stella_Assange

Jun 26
“You stand before me to be sentenced in this criminal action,” Judge Manglona says. “I would note the following: Timing matters. If this case was brought before me some time near 2012, without the benefit of what I know now, that you served a period of imprisonment ... in apparently one of the harshest facilities in the United Kingdom.Image
“There’s another significant fact – the government has indicated there is no personal victim here. That tells me the dissemination of this information did not result in any known physical injury.

“These two facts are very relevant. I would say if this was still unknown and closer to [2012] I would not be so inclined to accept this plea agreement before me.

“But it’s the year 2024”Image
She also has to consider the case and seven year imprisonment of Chelsea Manning.

It appears your 62 months ... was fair and reasonable and proportionate to Ms Manning’s actual prison time.

She also acknowledges Assange’s “14-year ordeal”. Image
Read 4 tweets
Oct 18, 2023
Julian #Assange and I are signatories of the #WestminsterDeclaration, which launched today. Thread.

#FreeSpeech = #FreeAssange

westminsterdeclaration.org
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Front page of @Telegraph reporting the launch of the #WestminsterDeclaration, which has been delivered to @RishiSunak


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‘With new declaration, luminaries warn that online censorship is destroying freedom’ @nypost

#WestminsterDeclaration

nypost.com/2023/10/18/wit…
Read 10 tweets
Oct 4, 2023
On this day in 2006 Julian #Assange created @wikileaks.

Julian is 52 now. He was 38 when WikiLeaks published Collateral Murder and was last free. The video shows the US army killing a dozen civilians, including two Reuters employees on assignment and the rescuers who stopped to help the wounded. Reuters formally attempted to obtain the video but the Pentagon refused to hand it over. The evidence of what had happened remained on US military servers until intelligence whistleblower Chelsea Manning sent it to WikiLeaks.

Collateral Murder had a massive impact. The millions of dollars that had been poured into Pentagon PR messaging couldn’t make the public unsee the war crime.

#FreeAssangeNOW
This video of the killing of the good samaritans who stopped to save the severely injured Reuters employee Saeed Chmagh is evidence of the commission of a war crime.
Read 6 tweets
Aug 21, 2023
is closing until Julian Assange is free. Cryptome.org
Image
‘Indict us too: Daniel Ellsberg and John Young Demand US Drop Charges Against Julian Assange’

Read 6 tweets
Jan 23, 2022
On Monday at 10:45 GMT, the High Court will decide what will happen next in the case of USA v #Assange.

Here's what you need to know.

(Thread:)
On 10 December 2021, the High Court reversed the district judge's earlier decision refusing the US request for #Assange's extradition on the basis that to extradite him would be 'oppressive' (s.91) because it would have a real risk of causing his death.

After ruling in favour of the US, #Assange asked the same High Court judges to certify a number of points of law of general public importance in order to appeal to the Supreme Court. Only if the High Court judges certify at least one can his appeal be sent to the Supreme Court.
Read 12 tweets
Jan 21, 2022
BREAKING: The UK High Court will deliver its decision on Monday morning about whether to permit #Assange to appeal the US extradition decision to UK Supreme Court on points of law of general public importance. I'll be there to give a statement. Follow my account for more details.
The judgment will either:

1) Certify that the point(s) of law raised by #Assange are of general public importance--thus giving him permission to lodge an application with the UK Supreme Court; or
(see thread)

Or

2) Deny such certification, in which case the extradition order will pass to UK Home Secretary @PritiPatel to authorise or deny #Assange's extradition.
Read 5 tweets

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