JOHN PILGER: Visiting Britain’s Political Prisoner

JOHN PILGER: VisitingBritain’s Political Prisoner

November 29, 2019 • 33 Comments 

“I think I’m going out of my mind,” Julian Assange told John Pilger at Belmarsh Prison. “No you’re not,” Pilger responded. “Look how you frighten them, how powerful you are.”

By John Pilger

I set out at dawn. Her Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh is in the flat hinterland of south east London, a ribbon of walls and wire with no horizon. At what is called the visitors centre, I surrendered my passport, wallet, credit cards, medical cards, money, phone, keys, comb, pen, paper.

I need two pairs of glasses. I had to choose which pair stayed behind. I left my reading glasses. From here on, I couldn’t read, just as Julian couldn’t read for the first few weeks of his incarceration. His glasses were sent to him, but inexplicably took months to arrive.

There are large TV screens in the visitors centre. The TV is always on, it seems, and the volume turned up. Game shows, commercials for cars and pizzas and funeral packages, even TED talks, they seem perfect for a prison: like visual valium.

I joined a queue of sad, anxious people, mostly poor women and children, and grandmothers. At the first desk, I was fingerprinted, if that is still the word for biometric testing.

“Both hands, press down!” I was told. A file on me appeared on the screen.

I could now cross to the main gate, which is set in the walls of the prison. The last time I was at Belmarsh to see Julian, it was raining hard. My umbrella wasn’t allowed beyond the visitors centre. I had the choice of getting drenched, or running like hell. Grandmothers have the same choice.

At the second desk, an official behind the wire, said, “What’s that?”

“My watch,” I replied guiltily.

“Take it back,” she said. 

So I ran back through the rain, returning just in time to be biometrically tested again. This was followed by a full body scan and a full body search. Soles of feet; mouth open.

At each stop, our silent, obedient group shuffled into what is known as a sealed space, squeezed behind a yellow line. Pity the claustrophobic; one woman squeezed her eyes shut.

We were then ordered into another holding area, again with iron doors shutting loudly in front of us and behind us.

“Stand behind the yellow line!” said a disembodied voice.

Belmarsh prison, where Assange is incarcerated.

Another electronic door slid partly open; we hesitated wisely. It shuddered and shut and opened again. Another holding area, another desk, another chorus of, “Show your finger!”

Then we were in a long room with squares on the floor where we were told to stand, one at a time. Two men with sniffer dogs arrived and worked us, front and back.

The dogs sniffed our arses and slobbered on my hand. Then more doors opened, with a new order to “hold out your wrist!” 

A laser branding was our ticket into a large room, where the prisoners sat waiting in silence, opposite empty chairs. On the far side of the room was Julian, wearing a yellow arm band over his prison clothes.

Intervista a John Shipton, padre di Julian Assange

From Pamela to Australia -- Urgent Appeal to Bring Julian Assange Home

From Pamela to Australia

November 7, 2019

 

Urgent Appeal to Bring Julian Assange Home to:

Hon. Scott Morrison Prime Minister of Australia

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Women

All Parliamentarians of the Government of Australia,

I am pleased to be advised that Australian parliamentarians from across the political spectrum are now choosing to stand and work together to bring Julian Assange home to Australia.

The establishment of the “Bring Assange Home Parliamentary Group” is a great leap forward in upholding the human rights of this Australian citizen and journalist.

Julian Assange is hanging on like a super hero in Belmarsh super maximum security prison’s hospital in London and I will be visiting him again the day before my arrival to the Gold Coast this month.

Personally - I am extremely distressed at the thought of his declining state - though I know his mind is as sharp as they come - I am hopeful that he will even be able to recover from the traumatic psychological torture that he has been systematically subjected to, as declared by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Mr Nils Melzer.

Julian must be allowed to heal in a natural environment that he has been deprived of for so long. The natural beauty of his native country Australia, surrounded by his loving family is what he urgently needs.

Knowing Julian as I do - he can survive this -  he is strong, focused and willing to sacrifice even his life for all of us.

But for me, I’m just not willing to accept that or allow that to happen.

Now more than ever before Julian needs Australians to support him, so that he can continue to be the journalist Australians are proud to call their own, one of the most respected and awarded journalists of our time in fact. The best in the world, as so many say and that’s why everyone’s so upset.

When I visit Julian in a few weeks I am very much looking forward to be able to convey to him that the tide is shifting. Australian citizens on mass together with Australian parliamentarians are now standing up and together to declare they want the Australian Government to “Bring Assange Home”. I know this will be a crucial piece of great news that will lift Julian’s spirits.

I know he is able to hear his supporters cheering for him outside the confining walls of Belmarsh prison -

When I can give him a smile and he smiles back, when I can touch his hand and look into his gentle eyes, his spirits rise.

He is a great and honest man. A true and fantastic Aussie

You cannot let him be extradited. You must protect him and have his back. –

It’s a death trap.

It will go down in the history books as the weakest decision ever made by Australia.

It is evident now that citizens of western democracies are rapidly waking up to the reality that Julian Assange is being tortured for political reasons and nothing more.

I am also preparing to speak with President Trump on my return.

I know most people must think:

What does this girl think she is ?  I ask myself the same question, but here I am and I cannot deny my responsibility.

I have gotten to know Julian - he is worth fighting for. And he requires your intervention and all of our support.

I am going to do all I can. I’m not giving up.

I will make sure that his story remains public and that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are protected as these are without question the very foundations of democracy.

My friend and another mentor Hugh Hefner was also an activist.

Hef might have set me up for this. “Controversy creates change” he would say - and “artists are the freedom fighters of the world”.

Citizens of the world are also now becoming aware of the devastating legal precedent that will be established if Julian is extradited.

It is unconscionable that a citizen of Australia or any other western democracy may be extradited to the USA - a potential death sentence for simply publishing the facts -exposing systemic government criminality and war crimes.

I must also highlight that Julian Assange has and is being unfairly and inappropriately disadvantaged in the mounting of his defence.

He is unable to study for his defense and kept ill and tired with no access to library, no computer, he cannot access “his writings”, he has had not enough time with his lawyers - while he is left cruelly in solitary confinement.

Considering all that has happened to him, my heart breaks for him while a superpower has taken almost 10 years with the big shot lawyers and access to everything imaginable to take him down.

Noting if they succeed in taking him down, so they also in effect take all other investigative journalistsdown with him.

Where is the outcry of every journalist? Do they fear their employment that much?

It’s outrageous - as we have come to learn All the embassy meetings were apparently secretly recorded as well including discussion with his legal representatives.

His legal case files were seized following what appears to have been an illegal extraction of a political asylee from the Ecuadorian Embassy and those files were then handed over to the very nation he had been granted Asylum and protection from (the USA).

Given these circumstances, how can this be considered a normal and acceptably fair legal process?

The politically charged persecution of a fact publishing journalist and my friend Julian Assange is a modern day travesty of justice that frankly is breathtaking for any fair minded citizen regardless of political persuasion.

I make a heartfelt personal plea to every parliamentarian that is charged with the responsibility to uphold the protection of the citizens of Australia to now stand and protect Julian Assange by initiating contact with your counterparts in the USA and Britain and demand no extradition and allow Julian to walk free as a valuable teacher and Citizen of Australia.

Allowing him to return to his home and hug his mother,

father and his children.

This will inturn also uphold the sovereign rights of your citizens

which is the highest order of an elected parliamentarian.

With love and hope,

Pamela Anderson

“The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of press and you cannot have a free society if you do not have both.” -Hugh Hefner

 Don’t Railroad Julian Assange to Virginia

October 22, 2019 • 

The WikiLeaks legal team has a strong case to throw out Assange’s extradition request after the government that wants him extradited got hold of surveillance video of his privileged attorney-client conversations.

If this were a normal legal case, WikiLeaks’ lawyers would almost certainly be able to get the extradition request by the United States for their client Julian Assange thrown out on the grounds that his privileged conversations with his lawyers at Ecuador’s London embassy were secretly videotaped.

The  very nation that wants him extradited to stand trial in Virginia has obtained access to those videos. In a normal extradition case it would be hard to imagine Britain sending a suspect to a country whose government has already eavesdropped on that suspect’s defense preparations.

But this is not a normal legal case. 

Julian Assange Está a Ser Assassinado

Julian Assange Está a Ser Assassinado 

Junho 1, 2019

Julian Assange Está a Ser Assassinado

O governo britânico criminoso concordou  assassinar Julian Assange, a mando de Washington, o seu mentor perverso.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/06/no_author/the-unrelenting-state/ 

More from Guest Contributions ↓

O Estado implacável

Por Craig Murray
CraigMurray.org.uk

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/06/no_author/the-unrelenting-state/

Junho 1, 2019

Estamos seriamente preocupados com a condição de saúde de Julian Assange. Ontem, estava demasiado doente para poder comparecer perante o tribunal e o seu advogado sueco, Per Samuelson, encontrou-o num estado em que Julian estava incapaz de estabelecer uma conversa e dar instruções. Há sintomas físicos muito marcados, particularmente uma perda rápida de peso, e tememos que não estejam a ser efectuados esforços, genuínos e suficientes, para a obtenção de um diagnóstico, a fim de  determinar a verdadeira causa.

Durante o ano passado, Julian foi mantido na Embaixada do Equador em condições precárias, muito restritas e cada vez mais opressivas e a sua saúde já estava a deteriorar-se de forma alarmante, antes da sua expulsão e prisão. Uma série de condições, incluindo abcessos dentários, que pode ter consequências muito graves se não forem tratados durante muito tempo e a recusa contínua do governo britânico e, mais tarde, dos equatorianos, de permitir o acesso a cuidados de saúde adequados a um asilado político, foi uma negação cruel e deliberada de direitos humanos básicos.

Confesso que senti um certo alívio pessoal após a sua prisão, porque, pelo menos agora ele receberia tratamento médico adequado. No entanto, percebe-se agora, não haver qualquer intenção de fornecê-lo e, de facto, desde que ele esteve em Belmarsh, os problemas de saúde exacerbaram-se. Testemunhei a cumplicidade do Estado britânico em casos de tortura para saber que esta atitude pode significar mais do que somente uma consequência de negligência não intencional. É extremamente alarmante constatar que o homem mais lúcido que eu conheço, já não é capaz de manter, agora, uma conversa racional.

Não há nenhuma razão aceitável para que Assange precise ser mantido numa instalação de alta segurança destinada a terroristas e infractores violentos. Estamos a ver o motivo por trás da sua longa detenção sem precedentes, para esquivar-se à fiança da polícia quando pediu asilo político. Como prisioneiro condenado, Assange pode ser mantido num regime pior do que se estivesse apenas em prisão preventiva, devido aos procedimentos de extradição. Mesmo que ele estivesse saudável, o acesso aos seus advogados é extremamente restrito e, para um homem que enfrenta grandes processos legais no Reino Unido, nos EUA e na Suécia, é impossível que os seus advogados tenham tempo suficiente para preparar, juntamente com ele, os seus processos adequadamente. Assange está sob as mesmas restrições que são impostas a um condenado. Claro que sabemos, pelo facto de que, três horas após ter sido arrastado da Embaixada do Equador, ele ter sido condenado e sentenciado a uma longa pena de prisão, que o Estado não tem intenção de que os seus advogados se possam preparar.

Perguntei antes e faço-o, agora, novamente: Se fosse uma editora dissidente na Rússia, o que é que a classe política e a comunicação mediática do Reino Unido estariam a dizer sobre ele ter sido arrastado por polícias armados, condenado e sentenciado a prisão por um Juiz sem júri, três horas depois, após uma farsa de um "julgamento" durante o qual o Juiz o insultou e chamou de “narcisista” antes de Assange dizer qualquer coisa em sua defesa? A comunicação mediática ocidental estaria em pé de guerra, se esse caso acontecesse na Rússia. Aqui, eles congratulam-se com esses factos.

A seguir está uma foto de Julian na Embaixada em tempos mais felizes, durante a presidência de Correa, com um grupo de pessoas verdadeiramente surpreendente e forte, cada uma delas com histórias, as quais podemos seguir e com elas aprender:

Da esquerda para a direita: Thomas Drake, Coleen Rowley, Julian Assange Elizabeth Murray, Ray McGovern, Nadira, Ann Wright 

Devo acrescentar que,  juntamente com outros dois amigos íntimos,  estou pessoalmente, a tentar ver Julian Assange, mas, como é óbvio, o acesso é extremamente difícil.

Os objectos pessoais de Julian foram apreendidos pelos equatorianos para serem entregues ao governo dos EUA. Incluem não só os computadores, mas os seus documentos legais e médicos. Este é mais um exemplo de uma acção estatal completamente ilegal contra ele. Além do mais, qualquer transferência deve envolver o material roubado que transita fisicamente em Londres, e o governo britânico não está a tomar medidas para impedi-lo, o que é mais um dos múltiplos sinais do grau de coordenação governamental internacional por trás da frágil pretensão de uma acção judicial independente.

Julian está preso há, pelo menos, mais de cinco meses, mesmo com liberdade condicional (que provavelmente vão encontrar uma desculpa para não conceder). Depois, será mantido em prisão preventiva. Portanto, não há necessidade de pressa. A recusa do tribunal sueco, de atrasar uma audiência sobre um possível mandado de extradição, para permitir que Julian se recupere para poder instruir o advogado e o breve adiamento da audiência de extradição dos EUA em Londres, com a intimação que pode ser mantido dentro da prisão de Belmarsh, se Julian estiver demasiado doente para se deslocar, são exemplos de uma pressa totalmente desacostumada e desnecessária, na maneira como o caso está a prosseguir. Os moinhos de Deus moem devagar; os do Diabo parecem girar a alta velocidade.

Finalmente, para os que ainda acreditam que as acções judiciais contra Julian,  não só na Suécia, são de alguma forma motivadas por uma preocupação em que a justiça seja feita, particularmente os casos de justiça referente a mulheres violadas, peço-lhes que leiam este excelente relato de Jonathan Cook. Quanto ao resumo da série verdadeiramente impressionante de abusos legais por parte dos Estados contra Assange, que a comunicação mediática empresarial e estatal distorceu e escondeu deliberadamente durante uma década, o mesmo não pode ser melhorado.

Julian Assange Is Being Arbitrarily Held And Should Be Freed, U.N. Group Says

© AP Photo/Frank Augstein WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on a screen as he addresses the media from the London embassy of Ecuador Friday Feb. 5, 2016, where he has been holed up for some 3½ years to avoid extradition…

WikiLeaks' Assange calls on Sweden, Britain to allowhim freedom after UN panel report

Reuters

Costas Pitas and Andy Bruce

3 hrs ago

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called on Britain and Sweden on Friday to let him freely leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London after a U.N. panel ruled he had been arbitrarily detained and should be awarded compensation.

Assange, a computer hacker who enraged the United States by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012 to avoid a rape investigation in Sweden.

Both Britain and Sweden denied that Assange was being deprived of freedom, noting he had entered the embassy voluntarily. Britain said it could contest the decision and that Assange would be arrested if he left the embassy.

Assange, an Australian, appealed to the U.N. panel, whose decision is not binding, saying he was a political refugee whose rights had been infringed by being unable to take up asylum in Ecuador.

It ruled in his favour, although the decision was not unanimous. Three of the five members on the panel supported a decision in Assange's favour, with one dissenter and one recusing herself.

Speaking via video link from his cramped quarters at the embassy in the Knightsbridge area of London, Assange called on Britain and Sweden to implement the U.N. panel's decision.

"We have today a really significant victory that has brought a smile to my face," Assange said. "It is now the task of the states of Sweden and the United Kingdom ... to implement the (U.N.) verdict."

Assange, 44, denies allegations of a 2010 rape in Sweden, saying the accusation is a ploy that would eventually take him to the United States where a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks is still open.

"The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers that the various forms of deprivation of liberty to which Julian Assange has been subjected constitute a form of arbitrary detention," the group's head, Seong-Phil Hong, said in a statement.

"(It) maintains that the arbitrary detention of Mr Assange should be brought to an end, that his physical integrity and freedom of movement be respected, and that he should be entitled to an enforceable right to compensation."

Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, said Assange must be allowed to go free. "What more do they want to be accused of before they start to rectify their error?" he told South American broadcaster Telesur, in reference to Britain and Sweden. Patino said Ecuador was analysing its next steps.

NO CHANGE

The decision in his favour marks the latest twist in a tumultuous journey for Assange since he incensed Washington with leaks that laid bare often highly critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders from Vladimir Putin to the Saudi royal family.

In 2010, the group released over 90,000 secret documents on the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 U.S. military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.

The U.N. Working Group does not have the authority to order the release of a detainee - and Friday's ruling in unlikely to change the legal issues facing Assange - but it has considered many high-profile cases and its backing carries a moral weight that puts pressure on governments.

High-profile cases submitted to the U.N. panel include that of jailed former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed and of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American jailed in Iran until a prisoner swap last month.

But governments have frequently brushed aside its findings such as a ruling on Myanmar's house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2008, a call in 2006 for the Iraqi government not to hang former dictator Saddam Hussein, and frequent pleas for the closure of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

"Julian Assange is a fugitive from justice. He is hiding from justice in the Ecuadorian embassy," British foreign minister Philip Hammond said. "This is frankly a ridiculous finding by the working group and we reject it."

Swedish prosecutors said the U.N. decision had no formal impact on the rape investigation under Swedish law. A U.S. Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks is ongoing. (Additional reporting by Johan Ahlander and Simon Johnson in Stockholm, Tom Miles in Geneva, Alexandra Ulmer in Caracas; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, Editing by Alison Williams)