If Julian Assange is extradited to the United States, he could die. If he does, his blood will be on the hands of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. On Tuesday, March 26, the High Court of London granted Assange limited right to appeal his extradition with a concern for the journalist’s life as the grounds for this most recent decision.
The Trump administration, which plotted Assange’s assassination under CIA Director Mike Pompeo, ordered the imprisonment and extradition of the journalist in 2019, as reported by Yahoo. Now, five years later, Biden shows no signs of ending Trump’s prosecution of Assange, specifically, and the criminalization of journalism, more broadly. To end this charade, which has been condemned by a bipartisan coalition of journalists, politicians, and human rights organizations, as investigated by Honest Media, all Biden has to do is order Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice to drop the charges. But Biden, whose feelings about Assange are no secret (Biden once called Assange a “hi-tech terrorist”), has refused to intervene.
The March 26 verdict, which many had hoped would bring this tragic matter to a close, is viewed by some as a partial victory for the Assange team, but not by those closest to the case, as reported by the BBC. The Divisional Court evaluated the American argument and decided that Assange has a real prospect of success on three of the nine appellate grounds. On grounds iv, v, and ix, the Court agreed with the Assange defense and has now given the Biden administration the opportunity to offer assurances that they would address these grounds of appeal. But even if Assange wins these assurances, he remains in a limbo of motions and appeals, or death by a process that is entirely controlled by parties who despise him.
Standing outside the court after the verdict, Stella Assange, the journalist’s wife and the mother of his children, summarized the verdict.
“The courts recognize that Julian Assange is exposed to a flagrant denial of his freedom of expression rights, that he is being discriminated against on the basis of his nationality and that he remains exposed to the death penalty.”
Last month, at a two-day hearing, Assange asked the court for permission to appeal a 2022 UK verdict which granted approval for his extradition. With the 2024 election looming and Trump now beating Biden in many polls, the dynamics of this case have shifted. Trump stated publicly in 2010 that he believes Assange should receive the “death penalty or something,” as reported by CNN. If Trump wins the election, Assange’s life could certainly be in jeopardy, to say nothing of the First Amendment. While both Trump and Biden seem determined to silence Assange, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is now defeating both Trump and Biden among young voters, has promised to pardon and free Assange on day one.
“There is no America without a Free Press,” Kennedy wrote at the beginning of his campaign. “There is no Free Press without a free Julian Assange.”
The Biden administration has been given three weeks to provide assurances that Assange would receive First Amendment protections and, furthermore, that the journalist would not face the death penalty. Unlike most countries in the western world, the United States still imposes capital punishment on a wide range of offenses. If Biden fails to guarantee a protection of Assange’s life – a thing that would be very hard to do in light of Trump’s potential to defeat Biden in the fall election – Assange will be granted permission to appeal his extradition at a new hearing on May 20.
Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks and is famous for exposing American war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as releasing troves of leaked documents revealing corruption in the Democratic National Committee during the contest between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, as reported by ABC News. In 2019, the Trump administration, via lawyers in the Eastern District of Virginia (known as a flagrantly biased court in favor of the Security State due to its proximity to the heart of the Intelligence Community, according to LA Progressive), charged Assange with eighteen counts under the infamous 1917 Espionage Act, as well as one charge of conspiracy to hack government computers back in 2010 with the Air Force whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The government case claims that Assange instigated Manning’s dump of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.
Manning, for her part, refused to testify against WikiLeaks in 2019.
“What I did during my enlistment was part of a deep American tradition of rebellion, resistance and civil disobedience — a tradition we have long drawn upon to force progress and oppose tyranny,” Manning wrote in a 2022 op-ed for the New York Times.
That tradition of rebellion and civil disobedience – of good trouble – is ultimately what’s on trial in the case of Julian Assange. Barack Obama showed mercy and commuted Manning’s sentence in 2019. Will Biden do the same for Assange?
For more information on this case, follow the activism and journalism of Julian’s wife, Stella Assange, or call your congressman and ask them to sign House Resolution 934:
https://substack.com/@stellaassangesubstack
http://www.StellaAssange.com
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/934
Thanks for reading Honest Media! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
If Julian Assange is extradited to the United States, he could die. If he does, his blood will be on the hands of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. On Tuesday, March 26, the High Court of London granted Assange limited right to appeal his extradition with a concern for the journalist’s life as the grounds for this most recent decision.
Thanks for reading Honest Media! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The Trump administration, which plotted Assange’s assassination under CIA Director Mike Pompeo, ordered the imprisonment and extradition of the journalist in 2019, as reported by Yahoo. Now, five years later, Biden shows no signs of ending Trump’s prosecution of Assange, specifically, and the criminalization of journalism, more broadly. To end this charade, which has been condemned by a bipartisan coalition of journalists, politicians, and human rights organizations, as investigated by Honest Media, all Biden has to do is order Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice to drop the charges. But Biden, whose feelings about Assange are no secret (Biden once called Assange a “hi-tech terrorist”), has refused to intervene.
The March 26 verdict, which many had hoped would bring this tragic matter to a close, is viewed by some as a partial victory for the Assange team, but not by those closest to the case, as reported by the BBC. The Divisional Court evaluated the American argument and decided that Assange has a real prospect of success on three of the nine appellate grounds. On grounds iv, v, and ix, the Court agreed with the Assange defense and has now given the Biden administration the opportunity to offer assurances that they would address these grounds of appeal. But even if Assange wins these assurances, he remains in a limbo of motions and appeals, or death by a process that is entirely controlled by parties who despise him.
Standing outside the court after the verdict, Stella Assange, the journalist’s wife and the mother of his children, summarized the verdict.
“The courts recognize that Julian Assange is exposed to a flagrant denial of his freedom of expression rights, that he is being discriminated against on the basis of his nationality and that he remains exposed to the death penalty.”
Last month, at a two-day hearing, Assange asked the court for permission to appeal a 2022 UK verdict which granted approval for his extradition. With the 2024 election looming and Trump now beating Biden in many polls, the dynamics of this case have shifted. Trump stated publicly in 2010 that he believes Assange should receive the “death penalty or something,” as reported by CNN. If Trump wins the election, Assange’s life could certainly be in jeopardy, to say nothing of the First Amendment. While both Trump and Biden seem determined to silence Assange, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is now defeating both Trump and Biden among young voters, has promised to pardon and free Assange on day one.
“There is no America without a Free Press,” Kennedy wrote at the beginning of his campaign. “There is no Free Press without a free Julian Assange.”
The Biden administration has been given three weeks to provide assurances that Assange would receive First Amendment protections and, furthermore, that the journalist would not face the death penalty. Unlike most countries in the western world, the United States still imposes capital punishment on a wide range of offenses. If Biden fails to guarantee a protection of Assange’s life – a thing that would be very hard to do in light of Trump’s potential to defeat Biden in the fall election – Assange will be granted permission to appeal his extradition at a new hearing on May 20.
Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks and is famous for exposing American war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as releasing troves of leaked documents revealing corruption in the Democratic National Committee during the contest between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, as reported by ABC News. In 2019, the Trump administration, via lawyers in the Eastern District of Virginia (known as a flagrantly biased court in favor of the Security State due to its proximity to the heart of the Intelligence Community, according to LA Progressive), charged Assange with eighteen counts under the infamous 1917 Espionage Act, as well as one charge of conspiracy to hack government computers back in 2010 with the Air Force whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The government case claims that Assange instigated Manning’s dump of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.
Manning, for her part, refused to testify against WikiLeaks in 2019.
“What I did during my enlistment was part of a deep American tradition of rebellion, resistance and civil disobedience — a tradition we have long drawn upon to force progress and oppose tyranny,” Manning wrote in a 2022 op-ed for the New York Times.
That tradition of rebellion and civil disobedience – of good trouble – is ultimately what’s on trial in the case of Julian Assange. Barack Obama showed mercy and commuted Manning’s sentence in 2019. Will Biden do the same for Assange?
For more information on this case, follow the activism and journalism of Julian’s wife, Stella Assange, or call your congressman and ask them to sign House Resolution 934:
https://substack.com/@stellaassangesubstack
http://www.StellaAssange.com
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/934
Thanks for reading Honest Media! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
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