Schmutzige Tricks gegen Wikileaks-Gründer Julian Assange

Begonnen von mlawrenz, 15:29:03 Sa. 21.August 2010

⏪ vorheriges - nächstes ⏩

Martin Mitchell

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Auszüge aus

WSWS.ORG

@ https://www.wsws.org/de/articles/2021/01/08/assa-j08.html :

Zitat.  
World Socialist Web Site WSWS.ORG

Ärzte zum Assange-Urteil: ,,Er muss sofort freigelassen werden"

Von unseren Reportern
8. Januar 2021

Ärzte in Großbritannien, Australien und den Vereinigten Staaten fordern die sofortige Freilassung von Julian Assange aus dem Gefängnis, nachdem das Gerichtsurteil vom 4. Januar seine Auslieferung an die USA aus gesundheitlichen Gründen blockiert hat.

Mitglieder der Gruppe Doctors for Assange betonen, dass der WikiLeaks-Gründer nicht sicher sein könne, solange die amerikanischen Spionagevorwürfe gegen ihn aufrechterhalten blieben.

Dr. Stephen Frost ist ein bekannter Spezialist für diagnostische Radiologie in Großbritannien, er hat die Doctors for Assange im November 2019 gegründet. Frost sagte, dass die Gerichtsentscheidung vom Montag die Warnungen der Gruppe über Assanges fragile Gesundheit nach einem Jahrzehnt staatlicher Verfolgung und ,,psychologischer Folter" bestätigt habe.

Dr. Frost sagte der WSWS: ,,Das Ziel von Doctors for Assange war es, die Aufmerksamkeit der Welt auf die medizinische Vernachlässigung und die anhaltende psychologische Folter von Julian Assange zu lenken, über die der Sonderberichterstatter der Vereinten Nationen für Folter, Professor Nils Melzer, im April 2019 berichtet hatte.

Nach internationalem Recht ist Folter unter allen Umständen absolut verboten. Es gibt keine Ausnahmen. Dass sich fünf Staaten – die Vereinigten Staaten, das Vereinigte Königreich, Australien, Schweden und Ecuador – verschworen haben, um einen einzelnen Menschen im Zentrum Londons zu foltern, ist daher unfassbar und darf sich nie wiederholen.

Julian Assange muss dringend medizinisch untersucht und behandelt werden. Nach dem Urteil vom Montag muss er unverzüglich freigelassen werden. Es sollte nicht vergessen werden, dass der Grund, den Richterin Baraitser anführte, um die Auslieferung nicht zuzulassen – Julian Assanges schlechte mentale Gesundheit – direkt auf die oben erwähnte psychologische Folter zurückzuführen ist. Diejenigen, die für diese unentschuldbare Folter verantwortlich sind und sich daran mitschuldig gemacht haben, müssen zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden, nicht zuletzt, weil sie offensichtlich dachten, sie stünden über dem Gesetz.

Folter ist unumkehrbar und unauslöschlich. Im Fall von Julian Assange hat sie zu schwerwiegenden psychotischen Symptomen geführt, nämlich zu ,auditiven Halluzinationen', die ,herabwürdigender und verfolgungsähnlicher Natur' sind. Solche Halluzinationen, in Kombination mit Suizidgedanken, wären in einem US-Supermax-Gefängnis eine wirkungsvolle und unzulässige Kombination. In der Tat ist es äußerst unverantwortlich, ihn mit solch schwerwiegenden, unbehandelten Symptomen ihn im Belmarsh-Gefängnis weiter leiden zu lassen."

[ ......... ]

WH [Dr. William Hogan, Direktor der Abteilung für Biomedizinische Informatik an der Universität von Florida]: ,,Die World Psychiatric Association gab am Montag [04.01.2021] einen Tweet heraus, der Assange unterstützt. Wir haben unsere Mitgliedschaft seit dem ersten Lancet Brief im Februar letzten Jahres wahrscheinlich verdoppelt oder sogar verdreifacht. Aber die großen medizinischen Verbände haben beunruhigender Weise alle geschwiegen: die American Medical Association, die British Medical Association, und auch die World Medical Association. Sie sind stolz auf ihr Engagement gegen Folter im Zweiten Weltkrieg und in den 1960er Jahren, aber zu Assange haben sie kein Wort gesagt und sind völlig verstummt. Offenbar hatten sie Angst, sich zu äußern.

Außerdem glaube ich, dass die Verleumdungstaktiken funktioniert haben. Nils Melzer beschreibt, dass er, als er von Dr. Sondra Crosby kontaktiert wurde, voll und ganz damit rechnete, jede Vorstellung, Assange werde gefoltert, zerstreuen zu können. Und dass er schockiert war, als er das Gegenteil herausfand. Und als er anschließend den Fall untersuchte, stellte er fest, dass er selbst von den Verleumdungen getäuscht worden war. Ich denke also, dass ein großer Teil der medizinischen Gemeinschaft sich der Fakten einfach nicht bewusst ist.

Auf dem Spiel stehen die kostbarsten Prinzipien der Ärzteschaft. Wir sind gegen Folter. Was im Zweiten Weltkrieg in Nazi-Deutschland geschah, schockierte die Welt – besonders weil die Ärzteschaft an den Schrecken dieses Regimes beteiligt war. Was nun hier geschieht, verstößt gegen die ärztliche Ethik. Wir sollten nur Dinge tun, die zum Guten gereichen und dem Wohl unserer Patienten dienen, und wenn wir Ungerechtigkeiten und Folter wie diese sehen, dann müssen wir unsere Stimme erheben. Dagegen müssen wir uns geschlossen und mit lauter Stimme wehren."

[ ......... ]

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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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Verhindert die Auslieferung von Julian Assange an die USA! - PETITION UPDATE @ HTTPS://WWW.CHANGE.ORG_-_PETITION-UPDATE_-_JULIAN-ASSANGE_-_11-01-2021 :
Thilo Hahn ----- PF, Germany
Julian Assange: Der Sündenfall der westlichen Welt
Der Wikileaks-Gründer hat in seinem Auslieferungsprozess gegen die USA einen wichtigen Etappensieg errungen. Doch frei ist er noch nicht. Eine Kolumne.
Milosz Matuschek, Jan 11, 2021

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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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Zitat.
profil - direkt aus Österreich @ https://www.profil.at/ausland/manfred-nowak-ueber-die-jagd-auf-assange-es-ist-ein-politischer-skandal/40115733 (aktueller geht's garnicht mehr)

AUSLAND ---
15.01.2021

Manfred Nowak über die Jagd auf Assange: "Es ist ein politischer Skandal"

Der ehemalige UNO-Sonderberichterstatter für Folter Manfred Nowak über die Jagd nach WikiLeaks-Gründer Julian Assange, erfundene Vergewaltigungen, gefälschte Beweise und die Folgen für den investigativen Journalismus.

von Siobhán Geets

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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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Zitat.
IRISH POST

IP-NEWS

https://www.irishpost.com/news/donald-trump-considering-presidential-pardon-for-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-according-to-pamela-anderson-201800

Donald Trump considering presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to Pamela Anderson

BY: Michael Murphy
January 19, 2021 [ Europe: in the evening of Tuesday ]


[ prepared for private distribution by E-Mail, by Martin MITCHELL in Australia, in accordance with European Date and Time: Tuesday, 19th Januar 2021, 23:59 Uhr CET ]

DONALD TRUMP is apparently considering pardoning WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before his presidency ends, according to long-time supporter Pamela Anderson.

She said it would be the "perfect way" for the outgoing president to end his term in office because he "is against fake news and WikiLeaks is anti-fake news".

As one of the Assange's most high-profile supporters, Ms Anderson has been a vocal advocate of the activist's struggle for freedom to leaders around the world.

The former Baywatch star has also visited the WikiLeaks founder several times in London and described him as "the world's most innocent man" after one visit to Belmarsh maximum security prison in 2019.

Assange has so far had mixed luck in the UK courts, as they ruled against extraditing the Australian national to the US - where he faces a lengthy prison sentence if convicted at trial - but also denied him bail, which he had requested on mental health grounds.

If the dissident were to find himself in front of a judge in the US, he would likely be charged under an 18-count indictment for conspiracy to hack computers and to obtain and disclose national defence information.

The 49-year-old father of two successfully sought asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012.

In 2019, after a seven-year stint spent confined to a room inside the building in Knightsbridge, his protection was revoked due to a change in Ecuadorian leadership, and he was removed by UK police to serve a 50-week prison sentence for skipping bail in 2012.

Should Mr Trump issue a pardon during his final 24-hours in office, it would need to be signed off before the keys to the White House are handed over to Joe Biden at midday on Wednesday.

Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on
ITV's Good Morning Britain, the actress claimed to have access to Trump and verified that he is considering the pardon:

"I know that I am in his ear," she said.

"I know he is debating and we will see what happens. He has until midday on the 20th and I hope he makes that decision because I think that could add a positive to his legacy.

"I think that he is obviously against fake news and WikiLeaks is anti-fake news. It would be a perfect way to go out."

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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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Zitat.
Forbes media @ https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/01/20/trump-didnt-pardon-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-and-his-supporters-arent-happy/?sh=41f6810e49e0

BREAKING | Jan 20, 2021,12:21 hours EST [ US-time ] | 6,461 views

[ Forbes media headquarters is located in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA ]
[
WIKIPEDIA @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes ]


Trump Didn't Pardon Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange And His Supporters Aren't Happy

Siladitya Ray
Siladitya Ray Forbes Staff

Business

Covering breaking news and tech policy stories at Forbes.

Updated Jan 20, 2021, 13:14 hours EST [ US-time ]


TOPLINE

Trump's decision to leave out Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from his final list of presidential pardons has not gone down well with his supporters on mainstream and fringe social media platforms, with several Assange supporters accusing the outgoing president of folding to pressure from his advisers and Senate Republicans.

KEY FACTS

Several Trump supporters believed Assange — who faces life in prison if successfully extradited to the U.S. — would receive clemency from the president as Wikileaks had leaked a collection of emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016.

Before the final list of pardons was released, Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson called on Trump to pardon Assange, stating that the WikiLeaks founder was in jail "for telling the truth".

Carlson then claimed that he had heard Assange's pardon was being blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who sent word to the White House informing Trump that if he pardoned Assange Republicans will be "much more likely to convict you in an impeachment trial".

Outraged commenters on 4chan's /pol/ forum — popular with Trump supporters — expressed anger with one user stating that "Trump caved, as usual... (he) deserves everything his deep state masters will do to him".

The message board TheDonald, where Assange is hailed as a hero to took on the "swamp" by leaking the DNC's emails, was also filled with threads of people expressing dismay at Trump and calling the removal of Mitch McConnell from the senate.

McConnell, in particular, has increasingly become the target of hate on pro-Trump forums for his opposition to the president's efforts to overturn the election.

CHIEF CRITIC 

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called out Trump's decision tweeting, "The omission of Snowden, Assange, and Ulbricht, from the pardons and commutations list speaks volumes. The President went 0 for 3 in his final round with the swamp".

CRUCIAL QUOTE

After the list was released, Assange's mother, Christine Assange, tweeted, "So much for "Drain The Swamp" & taking down the #DeepState. My journalist son Julian Assange brutally persecuted for doing more to expose the deep state than any other journalist in history.. is not on the list".

TANGENT

Apart from Assange, several people were also calling on Trump to pardon U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden who fled the country after leaking information on the extensive domestic and international surveillance operations undertaken by U.S. intelligence agencies. Snowden reacted to the development by tweeting that he was "not at all disappointed to go unpardoned by a man who has never known a love he had not paid for. But what supporters of his remain must never forgive that this simpering creature failed to pardon truth-tellers in far more desperate circumstances." Earlier on Tuesday, Snowden said that if Trump fails pardon Assange after getting "bullied" by Senate Republicans, "they're going to vote to impeach him anyway".
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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

counselor

Naja, ich habe nicht wirklich geglaubt, dass Trump Assagne begnadigt. Er hat halt nur seine Kumpels, wie den Faschisten Steve Bannon und einige weitere Freunde begnadigt.
Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

Martin Mitchell

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Zitat.
[The South African daily online newspaper] Daily Maverick @ https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-22-uks-former-brexit-secretary-says-assange-judge-got-the-law-wrong/ :

DECLASSIFIED UK

UK's former Brexit secretary says Assange judge 'got the law wrong'

By Richard Norton-Taylor • 22 January 2021

As US prosecutors lodge an appeal in their resolve to jail Julian Assange for espionage, a former British Cabinet minister [David Davis] has delivered a stinging attack on Britain's extradition treaty with the US.

[ ......... ]

[ ......... ]

[ ......... ]

[David] Davis also pointed out that journalists in the US were protected by the first amendment. Daniel Ellsberg was charged for leaking the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times. The newspaper was never prosecuted. No journalist in Britain or the US was prosecuted for publishing scores of secret documents from America's National Security Agency or Britain's GCHQ leaked by Edward Snowden.

The irony, said [David] Davis, is that if Assange were an American journalist in the US, he would not be prosecuted. DM [Daily Maverick]


Richard Norton-Taylor was the Guardian's defence correspondent and its security editor for three decades and is the author of several books, most recently The State of Secrecy .
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Zitat.
WIKIPEDIA @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Maverick :

Daily Maverick is a South African daily online newspaper founded in 2009 and edited by Branko Brkic and published by Styli Charalambous. It is run by an independent private company.[1][2][3] According to the Daily Maverick website, the publication is "a unique blend of news, information, analysis and opinion delivered from our newsroom in Johannesburg, South Africa".[1] Charalambous says the website is also "a platform for photojournalism, providing readers with a visual insight into what is happening in South Africa, Africa and globally".[4]

Contributors include assistant editor Marianne Thamm, free market columnist Ivo Vegter, constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos, founding General Secretary of COSATU Jay Naidoo, activist Sisonke Msimang, and photojournalist Greg Marinovich.[2]


Daily Maverick is part of The Guardian's Africa network.[5]
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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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An alle, die es möglicherweise interessiert.

Das ist alles was ich in Australien bezüglich dieser 90 Minuten langen WDR-Dokumentation sehen kann. Für Leute in Australien ist diese WDR-Dokumentation nicht aufrufbar. Nur von Deutschland aus ist diese WDR-Dokumentation aufrufbar.

Zitat.
"WDR-Dokumentation"+"Julian Assange"

Mediatheken – Prisma

Der Fall Assange: Eine Chronik - Der Fall Assange: Eine Chronik
INFO • MI., 20.01. • 89 MIN.

https://www.prisma.de/mediathek/wdr/dokumentation/der-fall-assange-eine-chronik,28209624

Julian Assange und die Justiz - eine nicht enden wollende Geschichte. Viele hatten gehofft, dass der Wikileaks-Gründer gegen Kaution aus seiner Londoner Haft frei kommt. Aber Assange bleibt bis auf Weiteres im Gefängnis, auch wenn er vorläufig nicht an die USA ausgeliefert wird. Dort gilt er als Staatsfeind, dem der Prozess gemacht werden soll. Das Tauziehen im Fall Assange geht weiter. Ein Blick auf eine spannende Geschichte mit unglaublichen Verwicklungen und Wirrungen.
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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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Zitat.
INQUISITR @ https://www.inquisitr.com/6459814/joe-biden-assange-prosecution/

January 24, 2021

Joe Biden's Administration Will Likely Continue Pursuing Julian Assange Prosecution, Journalist Says

Tylor MacDonald

Although Barack Obama's administration declined to pursue the prosecution of Julian Assange and Donald Trump's government failed to extradite him to the United States, journalist Glenn Greenwald believes Joe Biden's team will continue to pursue charges against him.

In an interview with
Reason, Greenwald noted the Obama administration's decision to forgo prosecution of Assange was before the 2016 election when the writer's organization — WikiLeaks — released damaging information on Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

"They now hate him even more, and so I'm sure they're going to continue that prosecution as well", Greenwald said.


"So I'm very worried about what a Biden-Harris administration is going to do when it comes to leakers and whistleblowers and sources, except for the ones who are leaking to their approved journalists for reasons that are designed to advance their interests."

According to Greenwald, the United States government wants Assange to "die in prison", but not because he is a continued threat. Instead, he argued that the activist is being persecuted to "create a climate" where whistleblowers will think twice before exposing intelligence that would reveal government crimes.

Per NPR [ See @ https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953280737/will-biden-doj-pursue-assange-extradition-outgoing-prosecutor-isnt-sure ], Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — who is seeking to try Assange on Espionage Act charges — said he isn't sure whether Biden's administration will continue the effort to extradite the controversial publisher from the United Kingdom.

"There'll be some decisions to be made. Some of this does come down to resources and where you're going to focus your energies."

Still, Biden's past comments on the case don't appear promising for Assange. Per The Guardian [ See @ https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/19/assange-high-tech-terrorist-biden ], Biden previously called him a "hi-tech terrorist", which the publication said was the strongest criticism from the Obama administration at the time. Biden also suggested that Assange put lives at risk, which echoed Clinton's suggestion that the WikiLeaks founder spearheaded an "attack" on the world.

As
The Inquisitr [ See @ https://www.inquisitr.com/6422409/hillary-clinton-ignored-julian-assange-warning/ ] reported, Assange allegedly tried to warn Clinton's State Department of an incoming leak of U.S. diplomatic cables. The leak reportedly came from a former WikiLeaks employee and the U.S. government ultimately pinned the blame on Assange. In an alleged audio recording of the warning, then-State Department attorney Cliff Johnson expressed appreciation for the journalist's offer to help mitigate the fallout.

British judge Vanessa Baraitser recently rejected the U.S. government's request to extradite
Assange [ See @ https://www.inquisitr.com/6451389/dore-trump-pardon-assange/ ], claiming it would be "oppressive" and dangerous to his mental health. The writer has allegedly been cut off from lawyers, family, and friends, and has reportedly showed signs of mental torture.

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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

Martin Mitchell

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Zitat.
ALJAZEERA @ https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/24/assange-vs-the-violence-of-imperial-humanitarianism

OPINION
Opinions | Julian Assange

Assange vs the violence of imperial 'humanitarianism'

What the UK court's arguments in the Assange extradition case tell us about misuse of humanitarianism in law.

Azeezah Kanji

Legal academic and writer based in Toronto.

24 Jan 2021

[ PHOTO: Julian Assange's partner Stella Morris holding up a placard that reads "Free Julian Assange !Jail the War Criminals !
TRUTH IS NOT A CRIME". --- »People react after a judge ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States, outside the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court, in London on January 4, 2021 [Henry Nicholls/Reuters]

In the United Kingdom court
decision sparing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from extradition to the United States (for now, pending appeal), the intimately symbiotic relationship between humanitarianism and violence was evident once again.

Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that it would be "oppressive" to extradite Assange – but not because of the injustice of the US government's campaign of retribution against him for exposing its massacres, misrepresentations and manipulations, but rather due to the fragility of Assange's mental health.

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KEEP READING

What's next after Assange extradition request blocked
[ See @
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/4/assange-extradition-case-explainer-whats-next-in-500-words ]

Julian Assange timeline: Computer programmer to cause celebre
[ See @
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/6/julian-assange-the-wikileaks-founders-decade-of-legal-battles ]

How will Julian Assange's legal saga end?
[ See @
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/the-stream/2021/1/13/how-will-julian-assanges-legal-saga-end ]

Trump slammed for failing to pardon Assange, Snowden
[ See @
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/20/dissapointing-assange-supporters-dismayed-by-pardon-omission ]

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The same "justice" system that has eviscerated Assange's mental wellbeing with prolonged psychological torture, in the
assessment of the UN special rapporteur on torture, now poses as his hope for salvation.

Like a large-scale governmental version of Munchausen by proxy, the state mystifies its own role in producing the pathology in question, then attempts to extract moral capital from exhibiting a modicum of care. Structural violence creates the need for humanitarianism, which mitigates some of the excesses of violence, ensuring the flourishing of both violence and humanitarianism.

Judge Baraitser not only declined to find that the US's prosecution of Assange is for political "offences" – and therefore barred by the UK-US Extradition Treaty – but held that there is no judicially enforceable barrier against political extraditions at all: "the defence has not established that the UK-US treaty confers rights on Mr Assange which are enforceable in this court" since the treaty is "not yet incorporated into domestic law". Perversely, according to this judgement, Assange (and other extradition targets) are subject to the treaty, but precluded from invoking its protections.

The fact that Assange revealed damning truths about state atrocities that would otherwise have remained concealed was also dismissed as irrelevant. "The defence have not established that the principle of the 'right to truth' is a legal rule that is recognised in either international law or domestic law."

The defence of necessity was similarly discarded: "he [Assange] has not provided evidence of any individual incident which was going to create a danger to members of the public which his disclosure was designed to avoid."

US allegations that WikiLeak endangered the lives of US military informants, in contrast, were accepted as reality despite the absence of evidence. In a remarkable feat of guilt transfusion, it is not the US military but Julian Assange who is inculpated for having "blood on his hands".

Having stripped away all of Assange's defences, the court left him with no shield against extradition other than his own psycho-pathologisation – continuing the long tradition of depoliticising claims for justice by reframing them as issues of the claimant's "mental illness".

Judge Baraitser concluded that exposing Assange to the tortures of US super-maximum security imprisonment under "special administrative measures" –
characterised by intensive solitary confinement and sensory deprivation – would create a serious risk of suicide. She located the underlying problem, however, not in the pathologies of the US carceral system but in the dark recesses of Assange's psyche. "Whilst the imminence of extradition or extradition itself would trigger the [suicide] attempt, this would not be its cause; it [would be] Mr Assange's mental disorder that would lead to an inability to control his wish to commit suicide."

In some quarters, this decision has been hailed as a takedown of US mass incarceration. But in fact, the carving out of such "humanitarian" exceptions has proven to be perfectly compatible with the entrenchment of carceral rule.

"Reform efforts targeting protected categories like the young, or the mentally ill, or more recently, pregnant women, leave behind a core of people who are not young, not (yet) mentally ill, not pregnant, and therefore not deserving of protection",
notes criminologist Keramet Reiter. "This durable core of punishable subjects becomes an ongoing justification for the need for solitary confinement."

Professor Reiter's
research shows how human rights litigation provided the design template for the torture chambers of US super-max prisons. Judges castigated the dark, unsanitary, violent, noisy "holes" of previous solitary confinement regimes. So in the super-max version of solitary 2.0 (constitution-compliant edition), the fluorescent lights are left on 24 hours a day, the cells are constructed of sterilised concrete and steel, hi-tech automated food flaps remove the need for any human interaction, and heavy sealed doors muffle the sounds of prisoners' cries.

Everything exceeding the courts' bare minimum requirements has been recast as a superfluous "privilege" and eliminated – corroborating writer Arundhati Roy's observation about human rights serving as a discount substitute for justice.

US super-maxes are a "clean version of hell", in the words of a former warden quoted in another extradition case,
Babar Ahmad and Others vs the UK. While the UK requires assurances that those extradited will not be subject to the quick death of execution, imposition of the slow, "living death" of solitary confinement is allowed.

In extradition cases like Babar Ahmad and Others vs the UK – in which the defendants have been British Muslims accused of amorphous "terrorism" offences – mental illness and disability have not been grounds for empathy and alleviation of punishment, but further demonisation. The colonial exception to humanitarian protections for those deemed "savages" and "barbarians" – or as they are known in contemporary terminology, "terrorists" and "unlawful combatants" – continues to operate under the aegis of universal human rights.

Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan, for example, were extradited to solitary confinement in the US in 2012, despite diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (Ahmad) and depression and Asperger syndrome (Ahsan).

In the European Court of Human Rights decision green-lighting the transfer, the US's supposedly "long history of respect of democracy, human rights and the rule of law" was cited as a justification. Both Ahsan and Ahmad ultimately pleaded guilty under the threat of life sentences, although the sentencing judge subsequently acknowledged that neither was engaged in "operational planning or operations that could fall under the term 'terrorism'."

Their co-complainant Haroon Aswat received a temporary reprieve from extradition, due to his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, but this was ripped away following US assurances he would receive treatment in incarceration.

"No mechanism is available for verifying the claims made in the assurances", as a group of experts on US terrorism prosecutions pointed out. "In effect, the decision meant Haroon Aswat could be subjected to the mental health deterioration that will most likely result from solitary confinement ... so long as he enjoys occasional access to a psychiatrist." "Assurances" become a humanitarian shield for abuse.

In our "humanitarian present", the "moderation of violence is part of the very logic of violence", as academic Eyal Weizman dissects in his book The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza. "It is through this use of the lesser evil that societies that see themselves as democratic can maintain regimes of occupation and neo-colonization" – not to mention torture and mass incarceration.

Documents publicised by WikiLeaks illuminated how practices of domination are packaged in the logic of humanitarianism: a blueprint for self-proclaimed virtuous violence.

The Guantanamo Standard Operating Procedures manual, for instance, contained detailed instructions for stripping and shackling detainees (many wrongfully captured, including elderly men and children), inflicting psychological terror with military dogs, force-feeding hunger strikers (a form of torture), violently disciplining "mass suicide" attempts, and performing "Muslim funerals and burials". But not to worry – camp officials must "respect all detainees as human beings and protect them against all acts of violence".

The US military's Rules of Engagement for Iraq, meanwhile, authorised soldiers to inflict "collateral damage" of up to 30 civilians at a time. But rest assured – all "use of force" will be "necessary and proportional".

In practice, as we also know from WikiLeaks, this meant shooting pregnant women, disabled people, and children at checkpoints, killing Iraqis trying to surrender, and gunning down journalists and rescuers from helicopters (the infamous "collateral murder" video). None of which were prosecuted as war crimes, under an international humanitarian law (law of war) that condemns the indiscriminate violence of the poorly-resourced while privileging the "precise", technologically-advanced carnage of powerful states.

As US General James Mattis warned prior to the invasion of Fallujah in 2004, "We will always be humanitarian in all our efforts ... May God help them when we're done with them."

And yet Assange is the one who is in the dock. Having unmasked the machinery of imperialism, he is now being crushed within its gears. In one of his final acts as US president, Donald Trump refused requests to grant Assange clemency, having previously pardoned four Blackwater mercenaries for the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad: a reminder that the power to save and the power to condemn are two sides of the same coin.

If the prosecution of Assange is permitted to succeed, it will be yet another brick in the fortress of impunity for those who kill, torture and invade in humanitarianism's name.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.

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Azeezah Kanji
Legal academic and writer based in Toronto.

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Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
Recht muss nicht nur gesprochen werden, es muss auch wahrnehmbar sein, dass Recht gesprochen wird.
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND GESCHIEHT VIELFACH BEIDES NICHT.

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

Frauenpower


counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

ManOfConstantSorrow

Die US Regierung (egal unter welchem Präsidenten) fürchtet Transparenz genauso wie die Mafia.
Arbeitsscheu und chronisch schlecht gelaunt!

Kuddel

ZitatWie Julian Assange in Großbritannien gefoltert wird

UN-Sonderbeauftragter Nils Melzer hat ein Buch über den Fall des Wikileaks-Gründers verfasst. Wem an Menschenrechten und Demokratie liegt, sollte es lesen
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Wie-Julian-Assange-in-Grossbritannien-gefoltert-wird-6049826.html

Kuddel

ZitatJulian Assange wird 50
Todesstrafe in Raten

Whistleblower Julian Assange sollte freigelassen werden - auch, weil ein Zeuge seine Aussage revidiert hat.
https://www.fr.de/meinung/kommentare/verborgenes-sichtbar-90839142.html

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

ManOfConstantSorrow

ZitatDer US-Bundesanwalt ist für seinen Zynismus berüchtigt und stellt den Wikileaks-Gründer als gefährlichen Kriminellen dar
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Mann-fuers-Grobe-Assange-Anklaeger-Kromberg-in-der-Kritik-6145834.html
Arbeitsscheu und chronisch schlecht gelaunt!

Troll

Zitat Wikileaks-Gründer Assange verliert ecuadorianische Staatsbürgerschaft

Bei der Verleihung der Staatsbürgerschaft Ecuadors an den Australier seien verwaltungsrechtliche Fehler gemacht worden, sagt nun ein Gericht.

Ein Gericht hat dem Wikileaks-Gründer Julian Assange die ecuadorianische Staatsbürgerschaft entzogen. Bei der Verleihung der Staatsbürgerschaft an den gebürtigen Australier 2017 seien verwaltungsrechtliche Fehler gemacht worden, berichtete die Zeitung El Comercio am Dienstag unter Berufung auf ein Verwaltungsgericht in der Hauptstadt Quito. Assanges Anwalt Carlos Poveda kündigte an, Rechtsmittel gegen die erstinstanzliche Entscheidung einzulegen.

...

Quelle: heise via Fefes Blog
Politik ist der Spielraum, den die Wirtschaft ihr lässt.
Dieter Hildebrandt
Es ist kein Zeichen geistiger Gesundheit, gut angepasst an eine kranke Gesellschaft zu sein.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

ManOfConstantSorrow

ZitatBekommen die USA Julian Assange doch noch in ihre Hände

Vorverhandlung für Berufungsprozess erweitert Berufungsantrag der USA für mögliche Auslieferung. US-Vertreterin versucht Gutachter zu diskreditieren


Nach einer juristischen Niederlage vor dem Londoner High Court ist der seit zwei Jahren in Großbritannien inhaftierte Gründer der Enthüllungsplattform Wikileaks, Julian Assange, wieder unmittelbarer von einer Auslieferung in die USA bedroht.
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Bekommen-die-USA-Julian-Assange-doch-noch-in-ihre-Haende-6164024.html
Arbeitsscheu und chronisch schlecht gelaunt!

Kuddel

Zitat Die Verfolgung des Wikileaks-Gründers ist die blanke Antithese des modernen Rechtsstaates.
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/assange-und-die-elite

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!


counselor

Alles ist in Bewegung. Nichts war schon immer da und nichts wird immer so bleiben!

Frauenpower

Ein Londoner Berufungsgericht, ein High Court,  hebt den Auslieferungsstopp von Julian Assenge an die USA auf!!

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