The UK High Court has delayed the extradition of Julian Assange to the US for a further three weeks, requesting the United States give assurances that Assange will be protected by First Amendment free speech rights, that he won’t be discriminated against as an Australian citizen, and that he will not face the death penalty. The High Court judgment said that if those assurances were not given by the United States, leave to appeal will be given to Assange, and there will then be an appeal hearing.
Listen:
The US will no doubt give the required assurances. They will extradite Assange with High Court approval, and then do what they like.
It seems purely pantomime; the UK High Court washing their hands, Pontius Pilate-like, before dispatching Julian Assange to his US crucifixion. In this current round of the Game of Empires, the US is the hegemon, and the UK is the vassal, and the power relationships dictate that the vassal will comply with the hegemon’s requests.
Things are looking very bleak.
Extradition looms menacingly near for Julian Assange.
Julian’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, commented:
“This morning, I was hoping Julian would be granted leave to appeal. At worst, I feared he would be extradited before tomorrow morning. Instead, his purgatory continues — but that also means we have another window to increase the pressure on the people who can take decisive action to make a real difference. Right now, that is the Australian Government.”
Outside the court, Julian’s wife, Stella Assange, addressed supporters:
“Today’s decision is astounding. The courts recognise that, Julian is exposed to a flagrant denial of his freedom of expression, and his free speech rights, that he is being discriminated against on the basis of his nationality as an Australian, and that he remains exposed to the death penalty.
“And yet, what the courts have done have been to invite a political intervention from the United States to send a letter saying it’s all OK. I find this astounding. Five years into this case, the United States has managed to show the court that their case remains an attack on press freedom, an attack on Julian’s life.
“What the courts haven’t agreed to look at is the evidence that the United States has plotted to assassinate Julian, to kidnap him, because if it acknowledges that, then of course, he can’t be sent to the United States. Julian is a political prisoner. He is a journalist and he is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives. This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you, that if you expose the interests that are driving war, they will come after you. They will put you in prison and they will try to kill you.
“Julian is just a few days away from the 5th anniversary of his arrest and imprisonment in Belmarsh prison. He has been in Belmarsh for five years without conviction and the charges against him are to punish him for publishing the truth, for publishing evidence of the war crimes committed by the country that is trying to extradite him.
“Now the UK courts have invited the United States to issue assurances. The Biden administration should not issue assurances they should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought. Julia should never have been imprisoned for a single day. This is a shame on every democracy.
“Julian is a political prisoner. He is a publisher and he is being punished for expressing his political opinion, for expressing freedom of the press in its purest form. Free Julian! I ask everyone to rally behind him and call for his Freedom. Call for the Biden administration to drop the case, and support House Resolution 934 before the US Congress to drop this case. Thank you. Free Julian!”
Dr John Jiggens is a citizen journalist. He was the founding editor of The Westender and The Cane Toad Times and currently works in the community newsroom at Bay-FM in Byron Bay. His PhD was Marijuana Australiana: Cannabis use, popular culture and the Americanisation of drug policy in Australia. He has published several books on the history of cannabis prohibition.
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