Julian Assange’s lawyers — in a final bid on Tuesday to stop his extradition — fought valiantly to poke holes in the case of the prosecution to obtain an appeal.
Thank you, Chris, for bearing witness to the agonizingly cruel and inhumane treatment of Julian Assange. You are a consummate friend to Julian and Stella as well as an exceedingly rare journalist of courageous integrity.
As you know, I dedicated my poem “Ode to a Whistleblower” to Julian Assange and Daniel Ellsberg last year. I included an appeal to help fulfill Dan’s dying wish to #FreeAssange in the video played at Ellsberg’s tribute during the Whistleblower Summit:
It is my hope that these can be used to help galvanize further support for Julian and his heroic example of truth-telling, for which he has sacrificed everything.
May justice, for once, prevail, and Julian be liberated from torture and bondage for the crime of exposing the crimes of the State.
What a pathetic and diseased nation the US is; and what disgusting and unfit examples of so-called "humanity" these players, those who seek to destroy Julian Assange. Biden, Trump, Pompeo, et al, all show their corrupt nature and complicit loyalty to the Military Industrial Complex. AS I write this, the mainstream news is broadcasting another report on Hunter Biden and that crap-show on that; yet so far (and that may change but I doubt it) not a thing about Julian's ongoing struggles to obtain, at long last, some justice. That says it all about what the media really stands for. God help Julian Assange, and God help all of us.
Thank you Chris Hedges for your tireless effort to bring the truth to us.
Julian Assange is facing life in a maximum-security US prison because he exposed the criminality of the most powerful government on earth.
Just two examples of his immense contribution follow below:
July 25, 2010 – Wikileaks, along with three media partners – The New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel – begin publishing the first of 91,731 classified military documents that would become the Afghan War Logs. The documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009, offer a picture of the war that is a lot different from the rosier one offered publicly by US officials. Some of the key findings first published by the New York Times follow below:
• Secret commando units like Task Force 373 — a classified group of Army and Navy special operatives — work from a “capture/kill list” of about 70 top insurgent commanders. These missions, which have been stepped up under the Obama administration, claim notable successes, but have sometimes gone wrong, killing civilians and stoking Afghan resentment.
• The military employs more and more drone aircraft to survey the battlefield and strike targets in Afghanistan, although their performance is different than officially portrayed. Some crash or collide, forcing American troops to undertake risky retrieval missions before the Taliban can claim the drone’s weaponry.
• The Central Intelligence Agency has expanded paramilitary operations inside Afghanistan. The units launch ambushes, order airstrikes and conduct night raids. From 2001 to 2008, the C.I.A. paid the budget of Afghanistan’s spy agency and ran it as a virtual subsidiary.
October 22, 2010 – Wikileaks publishes 391,832 classified documents covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. The mass disclosure becomes known as the Iraq War Logs. Some of the key findings from this latest batch of documents follow below:
• The official tally of civilian fatalities was undercounted by approximately 15,000 people.
• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraq’s military and police.
• US forces were given a video showing a dozen Iraqi soldiers executing a prisoner with his hands bound.
• According to one of the logs, a US medical officer discovered “bruises and burns as well as visible injuries to the head, arm, torso, legs, and neck” on the body of a man Iraqi officials had claimed died by suicide.
• In another incident, a US Apache helicopter gunship executed two men on the ground who had been trying to surrender.
makes one want to move to a non narco South American state and hide. Resistance is futile here in the facist surveillance capitalistic state called USA where free speach is censored and surveilled by agencies working to keep the underbelly Jullian and others have exposed hidden. What democracy?
The US indictment and extradition request are obviously made in bad faith and retaliatory, in other words persecution not prosecution. There's almost as much evidence in the public record of this malign intent as there is of Israel's genocidal intent.
That should be emphasized, not the legal nuance -
And Julian is a journalist and publisher, and his actions are protected by the First Amendment. So, the indictment violates the US Constitution as well. British law on press freedom is far weaker, so the Judges' must be made to understand this.
This example of insanity by the Court, is reflective of the deep rooted corruption that plagues all courts throughout the world. It is a clear example of the evil that the Deep State Cabal and Military Industrial Complex, and its secretive corporate alliances have destroyed the world, under years of false claims of fairness in a judicial system that is as corrupt as any governmental agency has been.
This is the breaking point for the media around the world. As pointed out in the panel broadcast, world leaders are using this case as reason to lock up journalists around the world for investigating corruption and human rights violations. If the U.S. gets their hands on Julian Assange, the rest of the journalists around the world need to take note. What you write about will get you killed. Look at all of the Al Jazeera journalists that the IDF has killed in Gaza. The U.S. is setting a bad precedent for the rest of the world at large. 'If the U.S. can do it, so can we.' And democracy takes another step back.
Thank you, Chris, for bearing witness to the agonizingly cruel and inhumane treatment of Julian Assange. You are a consummate friend to Julian and Stella as well as an exceedingly rare journalist of courageous integrity.
As you know, I dedicated my poem “Ode to a Whistleblower” to Julian Assange and Daniel Ellsberg last year. I included an appeal to help fulfill Dan’s dying wish to #FreeAssange in the video played at Ellsberg’s tribute during the Whistleblower Summit:
• “Ode to a Whistleblower” (poem + article on Julian and Daniel): https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/ode-to-a-whistleblower
• “Ode to a Whistleblower (Video Tribute to Daniel Ellsberg)”: https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/ode-to-a-whistleblower-video-tribute
It is my hope that these can be used to help galvanize further support for Julian and his heroic example of truth-telling, for which he has sacrificed everything.
May justice, for once, prevail, and Julian be liberated from torture and bondage for the crime of exposing the crimes of the State.
What a pathetic and diseased nation the US is; and what disgusting and unfit examples of so-called "humanity" these players, those who seek to destroy Julian Assange. Biden, Trump, Pompeo, et al, all show their corrupt nature and complicit loyalty to the Military Industrial Complex. AS I write this, the mainstream news is broadcasting another report on Hunter Biden and that crap-show on that; yet so far (and that may change but I doubt it) not a thing about Julian's ongoing struggles to obtain, at long last, some justice. That says it all about what the media really stands for. God help Julian Assange, and God help all of us.
Thank you Chris Hedges for your tireless effort to bring the truth to us.
Julian Assange is facing life in a maximum-security US prison because he exposed the criminality of the most powerful government on earth.
Just two examples of his immense contribution follow below:
July 25, 2010 – Wikileaks, along with three media partners – The New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel – begin publishing the first of 91,731 classified military documents that would become the Afghan War Logs. The documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009, offer a picture of the war that is a lot different from the rosier one offered publicly by US officials. Some of the key findings first published by the New York Times follow below:
• Secret commando units like Task Force 373 — a classified group of Army and Navy special operatives — work from a “capture/kill list” of about 70 top insurgent commanders. These missions, which have been stepped up under the Obama administration, claim notable successes, but have sometimes gone wrong, killing civilians and stoking Afghan resentment.
• The military employs more and more drone aircraft to survey the battlefield and strike targets in Afghanistan, although their performance is different than officially portrayed. Some crash or collide, forcing American troops to undertake risky retrieval missions before the Taliban can claim the drone’s weaponry.
• The Central Intelligence Agency has expanded paramilitary operations inside Afghanistan. The units launch ambushes, order airstrikes and conduct night raids. From 2001 to 2008, the C.I.A. paid the budget of Afghanistan’s spy agency and ran it as a virtual subsidiary.
October 22, 2010 – Wikileaks publishes 391,832 classified documents covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. The mass disclosure becomes known as the Iraq War Logs. Some of the key findings from this latest batch of documents follow below:
• The official tally of civilian fatalities was undercounted by approximately 15,000 people.
• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraq’s military and police.
• US forces were given a video showing a dozen Iraqi soldiers executing a prisoner with his hands bound.
• According to one of the logs, a US medical officer discovered “bruises and burns as well as visible injuries to the head, arm, torso, legs, and neck” on the body of a man Iraqi officials had claimed died by suicide.
• In another incident, a US Apache helicopter gunship executed two men on the ground who had been trying to surrender.
makes one want to move to a non narco South American state and hide. Resistance is futile here in the facist surveillance capitalistic state called USA where free speach is censored and surveilled by agencies working to keep the underbelly Jullian and others have exposed hidden. What democracy?
The US indictment and extradition request are obviously made in bad faith and retaliatory, in other words persecution not prosecution. There's almost as much evidence in the public record of this malign intent as there is of Israel's genocidal intent.
That should be emphasized, not the legal nuance -
And Julian is a journalist and publisher, and his actions are protected by the First Amendment. So, the indictment violates the US Constitution as well. British law on press freedom is far weaker, so the Judges' must be made to understand this.
Thanks Chris.
This example of insanity by the Court, is reflective of the deep rooted corruption that plagues all courts throughout the world. It is a clear example of the evil that the Deep State Cabal and Military Industrial Complex, and its secretive corporate alliances have destroyed the world, under years of false claims of fairness in a judicial system that is as corrupt as any governmental agency has been.
Excellent article, Mr. Hedges. Keep up the good (and difficult) work.
This entire farce makes the Nazi-era Volksgerichtshof (the 'People's Court') look like an exercise in dispassionate and measured jurisprudence.
This is the breaking point for the media around the world. As pointed out in the panel broadcast, world leaders are using this case as reason to lock up journalists around the world for investigating corruption and human rights violations. If the U.S. gets their hands on Julian Assange, the rest of the journalists around the world need to take note. What you write about will get you killed. Look at all of the Al Jazeera journalists that the IDF has killed in Gaza. The U.S. is setting a bad precedent for the rest of the world at large. 'If the U.S. can do it, so can we.' And democracy takes another step back.
Thanks, Chris. This report should be all over the front pages of all print media.
Julian Assange should be released, celebrated, and allowed to go home and recover.
The blindfold on the statue of justice signifies the willful disregard of the criminal behavior of the government.
Thanks for alerting me to Trump's position on Julian Assange. Along with his support of Israel, I won't be voting for him.
May the Gates of Hell make ready for all those who have for years tortured Julian Assange. As the final tortuous walk to Julian’s Golgotha plays out.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
Hi Chris, what are your sources? Were you in court yourself?