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April 13, 2019Publisher’s note: The arrest, extradition, UK high security imprisonment, and imminent “extraordinary rendition” of Julian Assange at the hands of the US of Empire is a dark day for truly independent journalism. Here’s Stephen Lendman summarizing the situation re: Wikileaks, the world’s first truly “stateless” news organization. Wikileaks has connected information provided by whistleblowers of conscience with the global public’s right to know for more than a decade, working to equalize information asymmetries created by the arrival of our Digital Age, in which large multinational corporations (Google, Facebook, Amazon) are deepening their intimate ties with the US “national security state” for two primary purposes: surveilling a global citizenry and managing/ massaging the deployment of digital news and information (“digital gatekeeping”). Here’s Democracy Now on the arrest, with comment by other independent journalists from around the world.
And here’s Lendman:
Prosecuting Assange for the “crime” of truth-telling journalism risks elimination of virtually all fundamental freedoms in the US, UK, and other Western societies.
It reflects the triumph of tyranny over the rule of law, as well as equity and justice for all.
Instead of unequivocally denouncing what’s going on, major US media blamed the victim, the NYTsaying Assange “deserves his fate (while) set(ting) a dangerous precedent,” adding:
He’s “an odious person (sic) who initially sought refuge in the embassy to dodge charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault in Sweden.”
“In the 2016 election, Assange acted as a conduit for Russian intelligence services that had hacked emails from top Democrats.”
“There is ample evidence of his misogyny and anti-Semitism. He might be known as an information anarchist, but by helping Trump become president, he became a handmaiden to authoritarianism.”
“So Assange may well deserve to go to prison.” No responsible editors would touch the above rubbish. Times editors featured it.
Fact: Phony rape and sexual abuse charges against him by Swedish authorities were later dropped because they had no validity.
Fact: Assange is an investigative journalist, publishing material from reliable sources believed to be true.
Fact: Accusing him of ties to Russian intelligence or any other governments is a bald-faced Big Lie, not a shred of evidence suggesting it – nor any suggesting he’s guilty of misogyny and anti-Semitism.
Fact: He had nothing to do with helping Trump triumph over media darling Hillary, her own worst enemy, proved time and against during her abysmal campaign and by her deplorable record as me-first lady, US senator, and secretary of state – a tool of Wall Street and the military, industrial, security, media complex.
Fact: Like countless other times, the self-styled newspaper of record blamed the victim, failing to praise Assange, Chelsea Manning, and other heroic figures for exposing US high crime of war, against humanity, and other major criminal offenses.
The neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post turned truth on its head, saying “Julian Assange is not a free-press hero (sic). And he is long overdue for personal accountability (sic),” adding:
His “case could conclude as a victory for the rule of law (sic), not the defeat for civil liberties (sic).” Claiming “WikiLeaks published material stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta” is a bald-faced Big Lie.
Information was leaked by a DNC insider, not stolen, an indisputable fact the national security state and supportive media want suppressed.
Neither WikiLeaks or Assange acted “as a front (for) Russian intelligence (sic)…for its (alleged) interference (sic) in the US election.” Not a shred of evidence supports both falsified accusations.
WaPo: “Mr. Assange…published secret government documents…obtained…unethically” – a bald-faced Big Lie.
Fact: WikiLeaks published information exposing US high crimes of war and against humanity, along with leaked DNC material, things everyone has a right to know, what establishment media suppress.
WaPo: (U)nlike real journalists (sic), WikiLeaks dumped material into the public domain without any effort independently to verify its factuality (sic)…”
Polar opposite is true! WikiLeaks publishes leaked information from reliable sources it believes to be true and is vital to reveal – a vitally important public service.
WaPo: “…Mr. Assange’s transfer to US custody, followed possibly by additional Russia-related charges or his conversion into a cooperating witness, could be the key to learning more about Russian intelligence’s efforts to undermine democracy in the West (sic). Certainly he is long overdue for personal accountability (sic).”
Fact: Russia seeks cooperative relations with other countries, conspiring against none, doing nothing to undermine democracy (sic) in the West – polar opposite how the US and its imperial partners operate.
Fact: How could Russia undermine what doesn’t exist, not in the US, UK, or other Western societies!
The Wall Street Journal urged “accountability for Assange,” turning truth on its head, saying he “has done much harm to American interests over the last decade (sic),” adding:
“It’s notable, and welcome, that Mr. Assange isn’t being charged under the Espionage Act of 1917.”
Fact: Once extradited to US custody, a second indictment on espionage charges is likely, maybe certain – similar to bogus charges against Chelsea Manning, what got her wrongfully sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, commuted by Obama, then again arrested and detained for invoking her constitutional rights not to give witch hunt grand jury testimony.
The Journal repeated the Big Lie claim about WikiLeaks publishing hacked DNC and Hillary campaign information, failing to explain it was leaked by a Dem insider.
The Journal: “…Mr. Assange has never been a hero of transparency or democratic accountability” – a bald-faced Big Lie.
The Journal: “His targets always seem to be democratic institutions or governments (sic)…If he really is such a defender of transparency, he should have no fear of a trial to defend his methods.”
Fact: No “democratic institutions or governments” exist in the West – nor due process or equal protection under law, especially not in the US or UK run by fascist regimes.
Post-9/11, police state America abolished fundamental rule of law principles, why longterm imprisonment awaits Assange if extradited to the US – guilty by accusation of the “crime” of truth-telling journalism the way it should be.
Assange’s Arrest Affirms US/UK Speech, Media, and Academic Freedoms Are Null and Void
The US First Amendment affirms fundamental speech and media rights without which all others are threatened. No society is free without them. Eliminating them assures totalitarian rule.
In her 1951 book, titled “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” Hannah Arendt said it’s “never content to rule by external means (alone)…(T)otalitarianism has discovered a means of dominating and terrorizing human beings from within.”
She called it dictatorship based on:
“(1) an elaborate ideology (militarism and predatory capitalism in the US and UK);
(2) a single mass party (in the US and UK, its war party);
(3) (state) terror;
(4) a technologically conditioned monopoly of communication (in the US and UK, establishment media serving as press agents for wealth, power and privilege, reporting the official narrative, suppressing truth-telling on vital issues);
(5) a monopoly of weapons (in the US – how it used to be; today Russian super-weapons exceed the best in the West); (and)
(6) a centrally controlled economy (socialism for the rich in the US and UK by accommodative legislation and government handouts to monied interests, law of the jungle free market capitalism for their exploited people).”
Democracy in both countries is pure fantasy. Elections when held are farcical. Dirty business as usual wins every time. Ordinary people have no say over how they’re governed.
US exceptionalism, the indispensable state, and moral superiority don’t exist. Police state America is increasingly a totalitarian plutocracy, oligarchy and kleptocracy – unfit and unsafe to live in for its ordinary people. The same goes for the UK and other Western countries.
They honor their worst, persecute some of their best, notably courageous truth-tellers exposing dirty secrets of the imperial state and its partners want suppressed.
The mistreatment of Chelsea Manning, other heroic whistleblowers, and now journalist Julian Assange for doing the right thing constitutes a major body blow to already fast eroding freedoms in the US and UK – heading toward eliminating them altogether.
Right wing extremist Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno acted in cahoots with the UK and US, illegally rescinding Assange’s citizenship and asylum status in the country’s London embassy – a dark day for the rule of law and fundamental human and civil rights.
Assange’s forcible Thursday arrest had nothing to do with earlier dropped phony rape and sexual abuse charges in Sweden, nothing to do with Assange skipping bail in London – everything to do with his virtually certain extradition to the US.
DOJ spokeswoman Nicole Oxman explained it, saying “I can confirm that Julian Assange was arrested in relation to a provisional extradition request from the United States of America.”
The sole fabricated charge against him of “Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion” was used to smooth the extradition process.
Once in US custody, a further indictment is highly likely, maybe certain to follow on espionage charges under the long ago outdated 1917 Espionage Act, a WW I relic, solely pertaining to the war.
It’s what Chelsea Manning was unlawfully charged under ahead of her guilt by accusation trial and 35-year prison sentence, commuted by Obama after nearly seven years served.
She’s been detained again since March 8 for invoking her constitutional rights not to give grand jury testimony – a secretive, manipulative process designed for prosecutors to get indictments, targeted individuals guilty of no crimes vulnerable, why the system should be abolished.
Assange faces a similar fate as Manning during her earlier kangaroo court trial, possibly life in prison, maybe the death penalty, for truth-telling journalism the way it’s supposed to be, what’s absent in the US and UK mainstream, available only through independent alternative sources, mainly online.
It’s why preserving and protecting Net Neutrality is vital – digital democracy, the last front frontier of media freedom.
Note: The US House passed Save the Internet Act (HR 1644) – written to prevent corporate ISPs from acting as online gatekeepers, able to decide how and what people may access digitally.
The GOP-dominated Senate and Trump veto power remain major hurdles to overcome.
By email, Law Professor Francis Boyle explained that “contrary to (media and other) reports, the US government can add charges after Assange is extradit(ed).”
According to Law Professor Jonathan Turley, indictment of Assange “under the Espionage Act would be quite challenging for the government, absent some new evidence establishing a nexus and intent,” adding:
“I have handled First Amendment and national security cases, and I would call the Assange arrest the most anticipated case of my generation in defining the outside boundaries of those areas…This could prove one of the most important cases in (US) history.”
On Friday, the Russian embassy in the UK press secretary issued the following statement on Assange’s arrest, saying:
“UK media (reports) called the WikiLeaks founder a ‘puppet of the Kremlin.’ We are not surprised at such statements. The UK media often try to find Russian involvement in all possible issues.”
“Such insinuations around the case of Assange had already taken place earlier” – no evidence ever cited. Without it, allegations and accusations are baseless.
“I would like to point out that WikiLeaks was initially promoted by The Guardian newspaper. One can hardly accuse it of having links to Russia,” the statement added.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Assange’s forcible arrest “squeezing the throat of freedom.”
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed the same view, call his unacceptable arrest “a blow to media freedom,” adding:
Assange “is being persecuted…(T)his does not correspond to the ideals of freedom of the press, freedom of the media, and their inviolability” – just the opposite, how totalitarian regimes operate.
A Final Comment
Assange is being unlawfully detained at London’s Belmarsh prison – classified as Adult Male/Category A, a high-security facility. Known as Britain’s GITMO, it’s described as follows:
It’s for “those whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security.
Offenses that may result in consideration for Category A or Restricted Status include:
“Murder, manslaughter, wounding with intent, rape, kidnapping, indecent assault, robbery or conspiracy to rob (with firearms), firearms offenses, importing or supplying Class A controlled drugs, possessing or supplying explosives, offenses connected with terrorism and offenses under the Official Secrets Act.”
So-called most dangerous inmates are held in Belmarsh’s secretive high security unit, described as a prison within a prison – likely where Assange is jailed.
Mark Hughes was the first UK reporter ever allowed in the unit, saying its living conditions are “cramped.”
To gain entry, he “negotiated 15 gated doors and had (his) fingerprints scanned.” Inside, he saw “a windowless” facility “(s)urrounded by CCTV cameras in a small carpeted reception area – the only carpet in the block…”
He had to remove his “shoes and belt and put all (his) belongings through an X-ray machine. (He) walked through a metal detector and a was given a body search – the lining of (his) jeans, the soles of (his) feet and inside (his) mouth were all checked.”
Guards go through the same procedure every time they enter the unit.
“At the end of the reception area is a red iron gate. Passing through this door involves at least a four-minute wait, as it can only be unlocked by staff in the control room who check people’s identity using remote cameras which zoom in to study their faces.”
“Once through you are faced with four more doors, each leading to a different part of the unit. No two doors in the unit can be opened at the same time.”
“The (unit) is on two floors and is split into four ‘spurs.’ Each one has 12 single-occupancy cells.”
The unit “was originally used almost exclusively to house IRA prisoners. But since then it has held KGB agents (sic), al-Qa’ida terrorists (the US and UK support), and even Charles Bronson – Britain’s most violent prisoner – who had a whole spur to himself.”
Some Belmarsh prisoners are isolated in solitary confinement for 22 hours daily, likely how Assange is being mistreated.
Authored by Illinois-based independent journalist Stephen Lendman.
