Exposing the Show Trial Against Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange
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THE SPARKPLUG Vol. 1 Issue 5 In salute to disobedient, moral journalism. December 2020 - #2 Exposing the Show Trial Against Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange By Elizabeth Leier In 2010, Assange faced allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden. He always denied the allegations and, contrary to most reports, always sought Assange’s first extradition hearing took place in London over several weeks to answer them, provided guarantees be made against a possible onward 1 from February to September 2020. A decision regarding his extradition is extradition to the United States. In 2013, a Freedom of Information request expected to be handed down in the New Year – on January 4, 2021. This (FOIA) filed by Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi revealed that the U.K. hearing is the culmination of a struggle which has lasted a decade, ever since authorities were pressuring the Swedish prosecution against interviewing Assange had the courage to publish troves of classified information which Assange in London and dissuading them from dropping the preliminary revealed, amongst other things, the war crimes committed by Western allies investigation. Finally, after Assange’s expulsion from the Ecuadorian 2 during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Embassy in 2019, Sweden officially dropped the case . The U.N Special Rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer investigated the initial allegations made These publications earned Assange and his website many awards which by the Swedish prosecution and declared them to be unusual, in addition recognized his heroism and contribution to journalism. In spite of this to noting several procedural abnormalities. recognition, he now faces the overwhelming might of the United States government which is doing everything in its power to silence him and deny Countering Disinformation him the protections ordinarily reserved to the press. It is crucial to understand that the only crime Assange has ever been This fight is monumental, and Assange’s personal future is not the only thing charged with is a bail violation. This charge is highly contestable under at stake. Fundamental democratic freedoms and the rights to dissent will be international law, given that Assange sought and was granted political shaped by the outcome of this fight. Should he be extradited and, almost asylum by Ecuador in 2012. Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy, not certainly found guilty, Assange faces 175 years in a U.S. Federal prison for because he was fleeing from Swedish justice, but because he had a credible publishing the truth about American imperialism and the wars that have been fear of persecution from the United States government in relation to his waged by its allies. publishing work. He was indeed granted asylum by the left-wing government of Rafael Correa on the strength of these fears, which were Case Background clearly justified given the prosecution he now faces. However, the U.K. refused to grant him safe passage out of the country, which resulted in his Julian Assange founded Wikileaks in 2006 with the aim of empowering citizens 7-year de facto imprisonment in the London Embassy. by granting them access to information that is otherwise suppressed by those in power. In 2010, Wikileaks published the famous “Collateral Murder” video Despite experiencing harsh conditions within London’s Ecuadorian which showed the callous murder of two Reuters journalists and other civilians Embassy, such as a daily police presence and constant surveillance, by an American helicopter in an Iraqi suburb. This video was followed by the Assange continued to work and publish during his confinement. Iraq War Logs, the Afghanistan War Diaries and Cablegate, which revealed US Continues on page 2 → army field reports and diplomatic cables, thrusting Assange and Wikileaks into the public spotlight. Acceptable Censorship: The extradition farce and media silence on Assange When do we ever hear about “responsible journalism”? When Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, is morality ever evoked as the guiding tenet of this work? 2001, a generation of us have grown up with this US-led war. A generation of us have witnessed friends, still in The reference to “disobedient, moral journalism” at the top their teens, enlisting to fight an imperialist war with an of the printed issue is borrowed from John Pilger’s article enemy that was raised and armed by the US. Now, this same this past September, “The Stalinist Trial of Julian generation has come of age watching the US government Assange”. Pilger invokes “the exceptions, the dissidents … persecute Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Assange who belong to no club” as the vanguard of responsible for publishing the truth about the nature of US wars and journalism at a moment where, more than ever, mainstream perpetration of war crimes, also laying bare the complicity media is compromised, and journalists who wish to gain or of allies like Canada, Australia, and the U.K. It is retain stature and a paycheck must keep silent, or follow grotesque that in all this time, the only real punishment the media line drawn for them by funders and governments. that has been given out has been against Assange, as he spends most of his time imprisoned in solitary confinement. This issue looks at both the implication of the trial against Assange on media freedom, and the wider imprint of As Assange described in his last interview on September 20, the War Diaries considering the continued engagement of 2018 from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, “Most human NATO forces across the Middle East. Joining this issue is wars have come about as a result of lies, and that seems fellow Canadian Dimension contributor, Elizabeth Leier, absolutely clear in democracies. Democracies have to be breaking down the essential points of the persecution of lied into war.” So when mainstream media — which dominates Assange to date in “Exposing the Show Trial Against our screens, apps and access — is more concerned with Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange”. profit than with truth, we must ask the same question Assange then poses: “how many deaths is each journalist responsible for?” LK. Volume 1 Issue 5 The Sparkplug Page 2 Continued: Abuse as Process and the Ongoing Show Trial Speaking to the United Nations during his Embassy confinement, Assange Exposing the show trial… deftly identified a new and disturbing trend. Having been arbitrarily detained for a decade without charges, he presented his situation as abuse- In 2016, Wikileaks published the leaked Democratic National Committee through-process. He noted how this tactic is increasingly used in cases to (DNC) emails which showed the extent of corruption within the U.S. intimidate and dissuade dissidents by subjecting them to lengthy and Democratic Party. This release drew condemnation from those who falsely incoherent bureaucratic processes designed to strip them of their energy equated the revelations to an endorsement of Donald Trump. Having been and will to fight. the object of much disinformation, Assange now found himself embroiled in the absurd Russiagate scandal propagated by the mainstream press There is no doubt that process has been used to abuse Julian Assange. The (since debunked by journalists such as Aaron Maté3, Glenn Greenwald4 and man who was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy by police in April Matt Taibbi5). Prior to his expulsion from the Embassy, Assange also faced 2019 had visibly suffered from prolonged isolation and increasing punitive increasingly cruel smears from the media who made a point of ridiculing treatment. Visiting him shortly after his arrest and incarceration in him over petty allegations and repeatedly disparaged his character. Belmarsh, Melzer declared that Assange was exhibiting all the signs associated with psychological torture. Undeterred by these findings, The motivations behind his 2019 expulsion and subsequent arrest were British authorities proceeded to place Assange in solitary confinement and made clear as the United States immediately filed their extradition request deny him the basic tools needed to adequately prepare his defense, with U.K. authorities. Having never been charged with a crime or displayed including proper access to his lawyers. In a subsequent demonstration of violent behavior, Assange was found guilty of breaching bail by a judge - cruelty and bad faith, the authorities reportedly subjected him to strip who thought it appropriate to label him a narcissist - and carted off to HMP searches and other ill-treatment on the first day of his trial. Belmarsh, a high-security prison built to house terrorists. In fact, the degree of procedural abuse and bias that has thus far emerged from the Assange During the COVID-19 lockdown, Assange has further suffered from case is bewildering. prolonged isolation, in addition to being arbitrarily kept in an environment where risk of infection is high. As he has been in poor health since his 7- Beyond the outrageous and politically motivated claims of espionage and year incarceration in the Embassy, Assange’s chances of fatally treason directed against Assange, the absurdity of this case further emerged succumbing to COVID-19 are elevated; accordingly, many doctors have as the secret spying operation6 conducted against him in the Ecuadorian called for his immediate release9 on medical grounds. Authorities have Embassy was revealed by the security staff tasked with surveilling him. thus far refused calls for his release, despite the fact that he is no longer According to testimony, the company hired by the Ecuadorian state to serving a sentence. surveil the Embassy, U.C Global, was in fact spying on Assange as he held legal meetings and transmitting the information to the CIA. That this breach The case against Assange is clearly driven by political interests and malice. of lawyer-client privilege did not lead to an immediate dismissal of the case The objective is to silence him, whether it be by breaking him to the point is a clear sign of the judicial bias against the Wikileaks founder.