The blatant and shameless authoritarian power of Government has just been publically played out across the world with no attempt to be subtle.
It is the Truth that is on trial here. Not Julian Assange. Just as it was and is with Tommy Robinson. When Journalists and Citizen Journalists are arrested for doing their job, one has to wonder who is wagging the dog.
Whoever the Master is, holds the life of Julian Assange and the Life of Truth in their hands. That is a chilling prospect.
To fully understand the intricacies of the Assange controversy, it is helpful to quickly revisit the past and start from what appears to be the beginning.
In early 2010, Julian Assange, head of Wikileaks, obtained hundreds of thousands of US documents leaked to his organisation. He published them on his site. These documents were and are sensitive in nature and led to the arrest of Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, an American Army Intelligence Analyst. Manning had leaked the documents to Wikileaks and was subsequently court martialed for violations of the Espionage Act. Manning was imprisoned in 2010 and remained incarcerated until 2017 when then President Obama commuted the sentence. Manning is now back in prison for failing to speak out about Assange.
In November 2010, Sweden issued an International arrest warrant for Assange in connection with allegations of sexual assault and rape. Assange denies the allegations and refused to go to Sweden to answer the allegations due to his belief that he would be arrested and extradited from to US to face charges in relation to the leaked documents.
Assange surrendered himself to UK Police and was released on bail. By June 2012, his attempts to challenge extradition proceedings had failed and he subsequently sought and was granted asylum by Ecuador. He remained in the Ecuadorian Embassy until recent events.
During the 2016 Presidential elections, Wikileaks published emails from Hillary Clinton’s private email server. These emails were from her time as Secretary of State. The Democrats maintained that these emails had been leaked by the Russians and Julian Assange has consistently denied that this is the case.
In August 2016, Assange implied that it was Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, who had provided the leaked information. Seth Rich had been murdered in July 2016, shot in the back by unidentified person or persons. He had been beaten and was badly bruised.
On 20 April 2018 a lawsuit was filed by the DNC in relation to the hacking of emails and named Assange as a defendant.
In May of 2017, Sweden dropped charges accusing Assange of rape. This left the charges in the UK in relation to breaching bail and the threat of extradition to US over the leaked documents.
Lenin Moreno seized power in Ecuador in May 2017, removing Correa from power. By December of 2017, Moreno had started voicing his irritation at the continued presence of Assange in the Embassy. Assange was granted Ecuadorian Citizenship in a move that still seems very strange, given the strained relationship. Was it an attempt to protect Assange and afford him diplomatic immunity; or, an attempt by Moreno to somehow save face? I doubt we will ever know what motivation existed.
In March 2018, Ecuador removes access to the internet for Assange and his life in the Embassy becomes increasingly policed and regulated.
On the 28th of June 2018, Vice President Mike Pence travels to Ecuador and a White House spokesperson states:
“The Vice President raised the issue of Mr Assange. It was a constructive conversation. They agreed to remain in close coordination on potential next steps going forward,”
On 16 October 2018, congressmen from the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs wrote an open letter to President Moreno which said that Assange was a dangerous criminal. He further stated that the US Aid mission to Ecuador depended on Assange being “handed over to the proper authorities”
By April 2019, Moreno said that Assange had violated terms of his asylum. He was subsequently removed from the Embassy in a highly public and dramatic arrest.
This case is a spider’s web of intrigue; plots and a cast of players that starts with the top shelf Big League of International Politics.
Australia has been conspicuous in its absence over the years; seemingly unconcerned at the treatment of one of its Citizens. Assange is still the holder of an Australian Passport.
My questions are essentially:
- Mr Assange is a Journalist who published information provided to him. Does his treatment mean that the freedom of the Press is dead?
- Who is wagging the dog?
- Who is next?
- Where does President Trump sit?
Truth travels to " justice " with Assange. To the gallows or to Freedom?
