Julian Assange

"hacktivist, whistleblower"  Julian Assange      (Publisher, spook?)
Born	Julian Paul Hawkins 1971-07-03 Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	Central Queensland University, University of Melbourne
Parents	• Christine Assange • John Shipton
Children	4
Spouse	Teresa Doe
Founder of	Wikileaks
Member of	Sam Adams Award
Interest of	Polona Florijančič, Sarah Harrison, Taylor Hudak, John Jones (lawyer), Gordon Kromberg, Joe Lauria, Richard Medhurst, Yanis Varoufakis, Elizabeth Vos
Party	Independent, (since 2015), WikiLeaks, (2012—2015)
Subpage	•Julian Assange/Imprisonment
A "hacktivist" of mysterious background, whose website, Wikileaks, has been the conduit for a lot of whistleblowing. His pronounced disinterest in 9/11 is particularly notable.  Editor-in-Chief In office 2006 - 26 September 2018 Employer WikiLeaks Succeeded by Kristinn Hrafnsson  Chairman of the WikiLeaks Party In office 2 July 2013 - 23 July 2015

Julian Assange, né Julian Paul Hawkins, is an Australian programmer. In 2006 he founded Wikileaks.

On 28 November 2016, Julian Assange said:

“Today, marking the six-year anniversary of Cablegate, WikiLeaks expands its Public Library of US Diplomacy (PLUSD) with more than half a million (531,525) diplomatic cables from 1979. If any year could be said to be the ‘year zero’ of our modern era, 1979 is it. (…) In 1979 it seemed as if the blood would never stop. Dozens of countries saw assassinations, coups, revolts, bombings, political kidnappings and wars of liberation.”

This, in turn, he said led to the 9/11 terror strikes, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US, and the creation of ISIS.

Federal criminal charges

On 16 November 2018, various corporate media revealed that US prosecutors were preparing to pursue a criminal case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Most experts believe that the notion that federal criminal charges could be brought based on the publication of truthful information is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set.

On Thursday 11th April 2019, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed a March 6, 2018 indictment charging Julian Assange, the founder head of WikiLeaks, for conspiring to commit computer intrusions by assisting Chelsea Manning with breaking a US government password. The Grand Jury charged violations of U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 371, 1030(a)(1), 1030(a)(2) and 1030(c)(2)(B)(ii), and if convicted "each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

A US Justice Department statement confirmed press reports that Assange was arrested in the United Kingdom on Thursday morning under the US/UK extradition agreement. The full indictment is here.

17 additional charges

Facing up to 175 years in prison?

On 23 May 2019, the US Justice Department unveiled a further 17 criminal charges against Julian Assange, saying he contravened the Espionage Act of 1917 by publishing the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. Each charge carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

He now faces a total of 18 criminal counts, which could result in up to 175 years in prison if convicted:

“These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government,” said Barry Pollack, an American attorney for Assange.

The Justice Department’s quick turnaround with the filing of a more substantial indictment against Assange is not surprising. Under extradition rules, the United States had only a 60-day window from the date of Assange’s arrest in London to add more charges. After that, foreign governments do not generally accept superseding charges.

"I told you so"

Kristinn Hrafnsson tweeted:

"I find no satisfaction in saying ‘I told you so’ to those who for 9 years have scorned us for warning this moment would come. I care for journalism. If you share my feeling you take a stand NOW. Either you are a worthless coward or you defend Assange, WikiLeaks and Journalism."

Background

Julian Assange was born in Australia to Christine Ann Hawkins, a visual artist, and John Shipton, an anti-war activist and builder, who separated before their son was born. His mother married Richard Brett Assange when Julian was a year old. Assange had a nomadic childhood, and had lived in over thirty Australian towns and cities by the time he reached his mid-teens, when he settled with his mother and half-brother in Melbourne, Victoria. His mother "became involved with Leif Meynell, also known as Leif Hamilton, a member of Australian cult The Family, with whom she had a son before the couple broke up in 1982." Assange’s hacker alias, which he used from the age of 16, was Mendax, (Latin for "lying").

Hacking

Assange was arrested for hacking in 1991, in 1996 he plead guilty and was sentenced leniently in light of his disrupted childhood

Ecuadorian embassy siege

In June 2012 Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex assault claims, which he denies. Assange was effectively imprisoned in the Ecuadorian embassy as a result of establishment allegations of sexual offences. He is under a siege by the Metropolitan Police which has cost over £10million. On 13 March 2015, it was reported that Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny had asked for Julian Assange to be interviewed in London about the rape and sexual assault allegations, despite previously insisting talks should be held in Stockholm. Assange's lawyer Per Samuelsson said:

"I have spoken to him early this morning - I think I even woke him up - and he said 'this is a great victory for me' in the case. But simultaneously he was irritated that it took so long for the prosecutor to do her job properly...there is a mixture of feelings."

In 2014, Julian Assange complained to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) that he was being "arbitrarily detained" as he could not leave the embassy without being arrested. The panel of legal experts, which has taken evidence from the UK and Sweden, was due to announce the findings of its investigation into the case on 5 February 2016 but the BBC leaked the result a day early under the headline "UN panel 'rules in Julian Assange's favour'". Commenting for the first time on the UNWGAD panel's ruling, Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny said on 9 February 2016 she was "currently working on a renewed request to interview Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in London".

Tweets

On 4 February 2016, Julian Assange tweeted:

"Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal. However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me. Julian Assange, Embassy of Ecuador, London (https://justice4assange.com/)."

On 6 October 2017, Assange tweeted:

"The Nobel Peace Prize has finally been awarded to a group that fits the criteria: the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

On 12 February 2018, he tweeted:

My arrest warrant judgment is tomorrow 2pm (Feb 13), Westminster Magistrates Court, London.

And on 13 February 2018, he tweeted:

Judge refuses to withdraw Julian Assange arrest warrant.

"Free Julian Assange"

On 1 March 2016, Britain and Sweden were called upon to respect the UNWGAD decision and free Julian Assange. The following statement, signed by more than 500 high profile signatories from more than 60 countries including William Blum, Noam Chomsky, John Goss, Craig Murray and John Pilger, was delivered to the Swedish and UK Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva:

“We the undersigned, including legal and human rights organisations, academics, and policymakers condemn the reactions of the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to the finding by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Julian Assange is arbitrarily detained.

"The governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom are setting a dangerous precedent that undermines the United Nations Human Rights system as a whole. We urge Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the binding nature of the human rights covenants on which the decision is based, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; as well as the independence, integrity and authority of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

"We therefore call on the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to comply without further delay with the Working Group’s findings and 'ensure the right of free movement of Mr. Assange and accord him an enforceable right to compensation, in accordance with article 9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights'.”

Metropolitan Police arrest Julian Assange

Assange arrested

On 11 April 2019, Craig Murray tweeted:

"Have to head back to London to help in light of Ecuadorian betrayal and Julian's sad arrest. The fight is now on whether a journalist should be imprisoned for publishing documents from a whistleblower on war crimes."

Wikileaks tweeted:

"Ecuador has illegally terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law. He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago."

Publishing a video of the arrest, RT reported:

"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange."

Banged up in Belmarsh

On the day of his arrest, Assange appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court where District Judge Michael Snow remanded him to Belmarsh Prison until 2 May 2019, when he was sentenced by Judge Deborah Taylor at Southwark Crown Court to 50 weeks in jail for breaching his bail conditions in 2012.

Journalist Gordon Dimmack receives letter from Belmarsh Prison

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) said it was deeply concerned by the “disproportionate sentence” imposed on Assange for violating the terms of his bail, which it described as a “minor violation”:

“The working group is further concerned that Mr Assange has been detained since 11 April 2019 in Belmarsh Prison, a high-security prison, as if he were convicted for a serious criminal offence. This treatment appears to contravene the principles of necessity and proportionality envisaged by the human rights standards.

“UNWGAD reiterates its recommendation to the government of the United Kingdom, as expressed in its opinion 54/2015, and its 21 December 2018 statement, that the right of Mr Assange to personal liberty should be restored.”

In May 2019 allegations surfaced that he was being chemically lobotomized, this is cited in this document Document:Julian Assange Tortured with Psychotropic Drug.

On 25 May 2019, Assange addressed a letter to journalist Gordon Dimmack describing the conditions in prison:

"I have been isolated from all ability to prepare to defend myself, no laptop, no internet, no computer, no library so far, but even if I do get access it will be just for half an hour with everyone else once a week. Just two visits a month and it takes weeks to get someone on the call list and the Catch-22 in getting their details to be security screened. Then all calls except lawyer are recorded and are a maximum 10 minutes and in a limited 30 minutes each day in which all prisoners compete for the phone."

Views On September 11th

"Following 9/11, the CIA paved the way for the creation of ISIS"

Webster Tarpley is highly critical of Julian Assange, describing Wikileaks as a "modified limited hangout". Perhaps the most convincing single piece of evidence of this is his public support for the US government's official narrative as regards the September 11th attacks.

"I'm constantly annoyed that people are distracted by false conspiracies such as 9/11, when all around we provide evidence of real conspiracies, for war or mass financial fraud."
Julian Assange

It is an open question whether this is his sincere belief.

More leaks to come

WikiLeaks is planning new releases of secret documents on controversial negotiations and intelligence agency operations, according to the anti-secrecy organisation's Australian founder, Julian Assange.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Assange said that while he does not expect to leave Ecuador's London embassy any time soon, WikiLeaks very much remains in the business of publishing the secrets of diplomats and spies:

"There'll be more publications – about large international so-called free trade deals, and about an intelligence agency," Mr Assange said.

Whacking Megrahi

Diagnosed with terminal cancer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi arriving at Tripoli airport, 20 August 2009

Julian Assange and Wikileaks have been pilloried by many as traitorous to Western interests. Yet those who maintain that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing due to false evidence, concealed police diaries and other misrepresented evidence have cause to be grateful to Assange and those who support and assist him. In December 2011, six weeks after the end of the Libyan maelstrom of war and bloody death, with its brutal killing of Muammar Gaddafi, Jim Swire secretly travelled to Tripoli for his final meeting with al-Megrahi, a man shortly to die of cancer. The NATO bombing campaign was over, and the conflict had reduced to sporadic outbreaks of firing and killing in several outlying parts of the country. Tripoli seemed at peace and the quiet streets offered no hint of the evil that had rampaged across the nation over the previous ten months.

Unknown to Jim Swire, American intelligence and some within the American administration had three months previously been discussing the illegal rendition and assassination of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Stratfor is a Texas headquartered global intelligence supplier to large corporations such as the Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The company’s Vice President is Fred Burton, a man much respected by those who see all foreigners as inferior to Americans. A contributor to US chat shows and Fox News, Burton has written several books and is a welcome speaker at Republican and right-wing gatherings.

On 19 August 2011, in a widely circulated email, Fred Burton of Stratfor wrote:

"I would like to kill the terrorist al-Megrahi myself. I'm hunting for him on my own thru a few channels. If he can be found, I'll have him whacked."

We can be sure that if Burton and friends had carried out an assassination they would have killed any witnesses including members of the Megrahi family who were continually at Baset’s bedside. Five days later on 24 August 2011, Chief Security Officer Fred Burton added a further statement:

“While the world is focusing on the chaos in Libya counterterrorism agents could take advantage of this window of opportunity to capture al-Megrahi. The symbolism of grabbing and bringing him back to stand trial in a US court would resonate around the world.”

The Burton emails were revealed solely through the brave actions of Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Those who believe in the freedoms of an informed democracy should have cause to be grateful.

 

Documents by Julian Assange

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
Document:Assange Statement on the start of Bradley Manning trial	statement	4 June 2013	Chelsea Manning
Document:Freedom and the Future of the Internet	book introduction	1 October 2012	Surveillance State Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet
Document:Google and the NSA	article	24 August 2013	National Security Agency Mass surveillance Google
Document:Guantanamo SOP Confirms Psychological Torture	article	17 November 2007	Torture Guantanamo Bay detention camp	Standard operating procedures for military personnel running the Guatanamo Bay military prison confirm that the rules governing the treatment of its inmates amounts to systematic torture
Document:Julian Assange at Moment of Truth	Video transcript	15 September 2014	UKUSA Mass surveillance	Speech by Julian Assange to the Moment of Truth event in New Zealand on 15 September 2014

 

Quotes by Julian Assange

Page	Quote	Date	Source
Australia	“We should understand, Australia is part of the United States. It is part of this English-speaking empire, the center of gravity of which is the United States, the second center of which is the United Kingdom”...“Australia is a suburb in that arrangement. Our capital is Washington. The capital of Australia is DC. That’s the reality...That’s where the decisions are made.”
Mobile phone	“A mobile phone is a tracking device that also makes calls”		Cypherpunk Ethics: Radical Ethics for the Digital Age (2022) by Patrick D. Anderson
Donald Trump	“My analysis is that Trump would not be permitted to win. Why do I say that? Because he has had every establishment off his side. Trump does not have one establishment, maybe with the exception of the Evangelicals, if you can call them an establishment. Banks, intelligence, arms companies, foreign money, etc. are all united behind Hillary Clinton. And the media as well. Media owners, and the journalists themselves.”	November 2016	Julian Assange

 

Related Quotations

Page	Quote	Author	Date
"COVID-19/Response"	“To minimize COVID-19] infection the UK is granting early release to all non-violent, non-Julian Assange prisoners.”	Caitlin Johnstone	4 April 2020
Ilham Aliyev	“How do you assess what happened to Mr Assange? Is it a reflection of free media in your country?”	Ilham Aliyev	15 November 2020
Prison	“Should Assange die in a UK prison, as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has warned, he will effectively have been tortured to death. Much of that torture will have taken place in a prison medical ward, on doctors' watch. The medical profession cannot afford to stand silently by, on the wrong side of torture and the wrong side of history, while such a travesty unfolds. In the interests of defending medical ethics, medical authority, and the human right to health, and taking a stand against torture, together we can challenge and raise awareness of the abuses detailed in our letters. Our appeals are simple: we are calling upon governments to end the torture of Assange and ensure his access to the best available health care before it is too late. Our request to others is this: please join us...”	117 doctors	February 2020
Yanis Varoufakis	“The establishment, the Deep State, call it whatever you want, the oligarchy, they’ve become much, much better at character assassination than they used to be. Because back in the 1960s and 1970s, you know, they would accuse you of being a Communist. They would accuse me of being a Marxist. Well, I am a Marxist. I’m really not going to suffer that much if you accuse me of being a left-winger. I am a left-winger! Now what they do is something far worse. They accuse you of something that really hurts you. Calling somebody like us a racist, a bigot, an antisemite, a rapist. This is what really hurts because if anybody calls me a rapist today, right, even if it’s complete baloney, I feel as a feminist I have the need to give the woman, implied or involved somehow in this accusation, the opportunity to speak against me. Because that is what we left-wingers do.”	Yanis Varoufakis	6 January 2021

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Assange Final Appeal Day 2 – Your Man in the Public Gallery	blog post	29 February 2024	Craig Murray	Initially US authorities were keen to downplay the possible sentence, but have radically changed tack and now emphasise 30 to 40 years as the norm, which is in effect a rest of life sentence. That shift, together with the refusal so far to rule out the death penalty, gives a measure of the ruthlessness with which the CIA is pursuing the extradition of Julian Assange.
Document:Assange Final Appeal – Your Man in the Public Gallery	blog post	21 February 2024	Craig Murray	The indictment describes Wikileaks as a “non-state hostile intelligence agency”. That was plainly an accusation of espionage. This is self-evidently a politically motivated prosecution for a political offence.
Document:Assange Judge is 40-year "good friend" of Minister who orchestrated his arrest	Article	2 December 2021	Mark Curtis Matt Kennard	Julian Assange’s fate lies in the hands of an Appeal Judge who is a close friend of Sir Alan Duncan - the former Foreign Office minister who called Assange a “miserable little worm” in Parliament
Document:Beyond Words	blog post	8 April 2020	Craig Murray	Nobody cultivates her own anonymity more than Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser who has her existence carefully removed from the Internet almost entirely. Yet she seeks to destroy the peace and young lives of Julian Assange’s family.
Document:Chelsea Manning released, faces new imprisonment for refusing to testify against Assange	Article	10 May 2019	Niles Niemuth	“The idea I hold the keys to my own cell is an absurd one, as I face the prospect of suffering either way due to this unnecessary and punitive subpoena: I can either go to jail or betray my principles,” Manning explained. “The latter exists as a much worse prison than the government can construct.”
Document:Chelsea and Julian are in Jail. History Trembles.	blog post	12 April 2019	Craig Murray	Julian Assange said nothing during the whole brief proceedings, other than to say “Not guilty” twice, and to ask a one sentence question about why the charges were changed midway through this sham “trial”. Yet Judge Michael Snow condemned Assange as “narcissistic”.
Document:Civil Liberty Vanishes	blog post	6 May 2020	Craig Murray	"Serious questions have to be asked about why the UK government has developed its own unique app, universally criticised for its permanent central data collection and ability to identify individuals from their unique codes. That this is overseen by NHSX CEO Matthew Gould who held all those secret meetings with Liam Fox and Adam Werritty, including with Mossad, frankly stinks."
Document:Council of Europe sides with Julian Assange	Article		Sara Chessa	The attitude of European institutions is changing after years of silence which seemed to authorise or support the US and the United Kingdom’s behaviour in relation to an individual who is apparently deprived of the right to prepare his defence and deprived as well of his right to dignified psychophysical conditions. Now, the Council of Europe has decided to speak up on behalf of Julian Assange.
Document:Craig Murray’s jailing is the latest move in a battle to snuff out independent journalism	blog post	30 July 2021	Jonathan Cook	Assange and Murray are not only telling us troubling truths we are not supposed to hear. The fact that they are being denied solidarity by those who are their colleagues, those who may be next in the firing line, tells us everything we need to know about the so-called mainstream media: that the role of corporate journalists is to serve establishment interests, not challenge them.
Document:Diane Abbott – 2019 Speech on Julian Assange	Speech	11 April 2019	Diane Abbott	We only have to look at the treatment of Chelsea Manning to see what awaits Julian Assange if he is extradited to the US
Document:Eye Witness to the Agony of Julian Assange	Article	2 October 2020	John Pilger	In the Assange trial, the defendant was caged behind thick glass, and had to crawl on his knees to a slit in the glass, overseen by his guard, to make contact with his lawyers. His message, whispered barely audibly through face masks, was then passed by post-it the length of the court to where his barristers were arguing the case against his extradition to an American hellhole.
Document:FBI Fabrication Against Assange Falls Apart	blog post	29 June 2021	Craig Murray	The revelation that Sigi Thordarson’s allegations are fabricated – which everyone knew already, Vanessa Baraitser just pretended she didn’t – is just one more illegality that the Establishment will shimmy over in its continued persecution of Julian Assange.
Document:Five questions for new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about his UK and US national security establishment links	Article	5 June 2020	Matt Kennard	Keir Starmer did not become leader to help Labour win, but to restore establishment control over the party and vanquish the heretics that dared defy its agenda. For the forces he truly represents, the project has been a smashing success.
Document:Former ambassador and Assange advocate Craig Murray detained under UK terror laws	Article	17 October 2023	Kit Klarenberg	When probed by counter-terror cops about the contents of his laptop, Craig Murray says he openly disclosed that the device contained copies of leaked private emails of Stewart McDonald, a hawkish, deep state-connected Scottish National Party MP: “I told the officers I pitied whichever poor bastard has to wade through McDonald’s emails,” he joked.
Document:Framing Russian meddling in the Catalan question	report	October 2017	Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Spain	An example of Projection by the Integrity Initiative. The Moncloa operation shows that the group itself has been involved in subverting the Spanish political process. This document accuses Russia of involvment in the Catalonia independence question.
Document:Julian Assange Must be Freed, Not Betrayed	Article	18 February 2020	John Pilger	Sarah Ferguson's interview made no mention of a leaked document, revealed by WikiLeaks, called 'Libya Tick Tock', prepared for Hillary Clinton, which described her as the central figure driving the destruction of the Libyan state in 2011. This resulted in 40,000 deaths, the arrival of ISIS in North Africa and the European refugee and migrant crisis.
Document:Julian Assange Tortured with Psychotropic Drug	Article	8 May 2019	Kurt Nimmo	The FBI, Pentagon, and CIA are “interviewing” Julian Assange in Belmarsh Prison. The CIA Director Gina Haspel (aka Chemical Gina) has her hands in this one, and we are being told that Assange is being “treated” with BZ (a powerful drug that produces hallucinations).
Document:Julian Assange exposed the crimes of powerful actors, including Israel	blog post	19 April 2019	Alison Weir	Julian Assange has recently been honoured with the 2019 Award for Journalists, Whistleblowers & Defenders of the Right to Information and Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire has nominated him for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
Document:Julian Assange is a suspected Russian intelligence asset	Article	24 February 2020	Susie Boniface	"If Assange was interested in avoiding extradition to the US, he'd have gone to Sweden to answer the charges that were unlikely to see a conviction, and where he had far less chance of being extradited. But if he really WERE a Russian intelligence asset... well, then it all makes sense." - except that what it really makes is nonsense.
Document:Julian Assange makes first public statement since prison release	blog post	1 October 2024	Andy Worthington	"Freedom of expression and all that flows from it is at a dark crossroad. I fear that unless norm-setting institutions like PACE wake up to the gravity of the situation it will be too late. Let us all commit to doing our part to ensure that the light of freedom never dims, that the pursuit of truth will live on, and that the voices of the many are not silenced by the interests of the few."
Document:Julian Assange to make final appeal in extradition case	Article	9 June 2023	Mark Lowe	According to RSF, the upcoming appeal represents Assange’s final opportunity to contest extradition within the UK, unless he decides to bring his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Document:Keir Starmer is a Long-Time Servant of the British Security State	Article	2 March 2021	Oliver Eagleton	Keir Starmer is sometimes praised for being an outsider in the world of politics (or mocked as too lawyerly and insufficiently political). But in reality, much of his work as Director of Public Prosecutions blurred the boundaries between prosecutor and politician – following the dictates of the Cameron coalition, negotiating with foreign officials on its behalf, and dropping or pursuing cases according to its interests.
Document:Media Freedom? Show me the MSM Journalist Opposing the Torture of Assange	blog post	7 September 2020	Craig Murray	At a time when the government is mooting designating Extinction Rebellion as Serious Organised Crime, right wing bequiffed muppet Keir Starmer was piously condemning the group, stating: “The free press is the cornerstone of democracy and we must do all we can to protect it.”
Document:Media silent on dismissal of DNC suit against Julian Assange	Article	2 August 2019	Oscar Grenfell	Judge Koeltl further undermined the claims of the Trump administration, the Democrats and the media that Julian Assange is a “hacker,” undeserving of First Amendment protections. In other words, the attempt to extradite Assange to the US and prosecute him is a frontal assault on the US Constitution and press freedom.
Document:Muellergate and the Discreet Lies of the Bourgeoisie	Blog post	1 April 2019	Craig Murray	The capacity of the mainstream media repeatedly to promote the myth that Russia caused Clinton’s defeat, while never mentioning what the information was that had been so damaging to Hillary, should be alarming to anybody under the illusion that we have a working “free media”.
Document:Murray Scottish Appeal Denied; Allowed to Try UK Court	Article	8 June 2021	Joe Lauria	Craig Murray may have been a Crown target for the contempt conviction because he was among few writers defending Alex Salmond and was vindicated by Salmond’s acquittal. Murray has been a fierce advocate for his friend Julian Assange, the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher, whom the United States is trying to extradite from Britain.
Document:No fair hearing for Assange at the Guardian	article	5 February 2016	Jonathan Cook	Demonstrates the Establishment-friendly double standards of the UK's flagship 'Left-wing' newspaper - The Guardian - through analysis of its coverage of a UN decision on the political asylum of Julian Assange
Document:On the Pavement with Wikileaks	blog post	7 April 2019	Craig Murray	Pretty well all of the Western media is going to want to focus on these false anti-Assange narratives, and they will be determined to give as little attention as possible to the fact he is a publisher facing trial for publishing leaked state documents which revealed state wrongdoing. It is a classic and fundamental issue of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Document:People Need to Reclaim the Internet	blog post	19 October 2020	Craig Murray	The development of social media gatekeeping of internet traffic is one of the key socio-political issues of our time. We need the original founders of the Internet to get together with figures like Richard Stallman and – vitally – Julian Assange – to find a way we break free from this.
Document:Publishing is not a Crime	Letter	28 November 2022	GNM press office	Belated crocodile tears spilt by elements of the corporate media over Julian Assange
Document:Revenge Is Mine Saith Washington	article	20 November 2018	Paul Craig Roberts	An abridged article about the persecution of Julian Assange. It illustrates the depths to which elementary notions of justice have sunk in the West - and especially in the UK and USA - where perceived threats to Deep State interests are involved.
Document:Sex, Lies and Julian Assange	Transcript	23 July 2012	Andrew Fowler	He humiliated the most powerful country in the world. But his relationship with two Swedish women, and their claims of sexual assault, may yet destroy Julian Assange.
Document:So Where is the Swedish Warrant?	blog post	27 April 2019	Craig Murray	All those Blairite MPs who seek to dodge the glaring issue of freedom of the media to publish whistleblower material revealing government crimes, by hiding behind trumped-up sexual allegations, are left looking pretty stupid.
Document:The 7 years of lies about Assange won’t stop now	Blog post	11 April 2019	Jonathan Cook	A brief resume of the lies and deceptions promoted by The Establishment about Julian Assange during his asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy.
Document:The Assange Arrest is a Warning From History	Article	12 April 2019	John Pilger	Leni Riefenstahl, close friend of Adolf Hitler, whose films helped cast the Nazi spell over Germany told me that the message in her films, the propaganda, was dependent not on “orders from above” but on what she called the “submissive void” of the public: "When people no longer ask serious questions, they are submissive and malleable. Anything can happen.”
Document:The Assange Case Invalidates US Criticisms Of Russia: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix	Article	14 April 2022	Caitlin Johnstone	Just the fact that the US and UK are imprisoning a journalist for exposing the war crimes of a war criminal president — just that one fact by itself — completely invalidates all criticisms of Russia from Washington and its allies.
Document:The Broader View Reveals the Ugliest of Prospects	blog post	17 June 2019	Craig Murray	I find it hard to believe that I live in times where Julian Assange suffers as he does for telling the truth, where a dedicated anti-racist like Jeremy Corbyn is subjected to daily false accusations of racism and to US and security service backed efforts to thwart his democratic prospects, where the most laughable false flag is paraded to move us towards war with Iran, and where there is no semblance of a genuinely independent media.
Document:The CIA plot to kidnap or kill Julian Assange in London is a story that is being mistakenly ignored	Article	1 October 2021	Patrick Cockburn	Julian Assange and Jamal Khashoggi were targeted because they fulfilled the primary duty of journalists – telling the public what governments want to keep secret
Document:The Happiest of Days	blog post	25 June 2024	Craig Murray	Craig Murray: "I should be plain I have always advised Julian and Stella to take a plea deal if offered and get out of jail. I have no doubt this was a life or death choice."
Document:The Unrelenting State	blog post	31 May 2019	Craig Murray	Julian Assange: That the most lucid man I know is now not capable of having a rational conversation is extremely alarming.
Document:The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights	Article	27 August 2024	Robert Stevens	Now, in a move that would have been agreed to by PM Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Labour has pioneered the use of an amendment to the Terrorism Act passed by the Tories to once again attempt to silence and criminalise a journalist and political activist. The same course is being pursued by governments throughout the world.
Document:Trump, Assange, Bannon, Farage… bound together in an unholy alliance	Op-ed	29 October 2017	Carole Cadwalladr	(You got this? Farage visited Trump, then Assange, then Rohrabacher. Rohrabacher met Don Trump’s Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. Then Assange. And is now trying to close the circle with Trump.)
Document:US Issues Assurances on Assange	Article	16 April 2024	Joe Lauria	Stella Assange: “The United States has issued a non-assurance in relation to the First Amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty. The Biden Administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late.”
Document:Whenever it truly matters, from Assange to Corbyn, George Monbiot cripples the left	Article	11 October 2022	Jonathan Cook	George Monbiot is treated by much of the left as a figurehead, one whose environmentalism earns him credibility and credit with the left on foreign policy issues, from Syria to Ukraine, in which he echoes the same talking points one hears from Keir Starmer to Liz Truss. While on matters at home, like Assange and Corbyn, he sucks the wind out of the left’s sails.
Document:Why I am Convinced that Anna Ardin is a Liar	blog post	11 September 2012	Craig Murray	To those useful idiots who claim that the way to test these matters is in court, I would say of course, you are right, we should trust the state always, fit-ups never happen, and we should absolutely condemn the disgraceful behaviour of those who campaigned for the Birmingham Six
Document:Wikileaks - Open Letter to the US Government	open letter	14 July 2011	RevolutionTruth

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.