Ongoing Process of Julian Assange's Protracted Prosecution
In a significant development, the High Court in London has granted Julian Assange the right to appeal the order to extradite him to the United States. The extradition request is based on the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, leaked to the site by Chelsea Manning.
The publication of classified documents is not a crime in the United States, but if Julian is extradited and convicted, it could become one. He faces 175 years in a U.S. prison if found guilty on all of these charges.
The U.S. has charged Julian Assange with 17 acts under the Espionage Act and one count of computer misuse. The extradition request includes charges for an alleged conspiracy to take possession of and then publish national defense information.
Julian's physical and psychological health is in precarious condition. He has experienced a minor stroke, hallucinations, depression, and has been taking antidepressant medication and the antipsychotic quetiapine. His treatment in prison, including prolonged imprisonment, lack of sunlight and exercise, threats, pressure, prolonged isolation, anxiety, and constant stress, is considered a means to destroy him.
The court's decision does not mean Julian Assange will elude extradition. The deadline for Julian's attorneys and the U.S. government to submit a draft order for the appeal is May 24. The court did not rule that Julian Assange is a journalist whose only "crime" was providing evidence of war crimes and lies by the U.S. government to the public.
Editors and publishers of five international media outlets, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais, and DER SPIEGEL, have urged that the U.S. charges against Julian Assange be dropped and he be released. Various groups, including German parliamentarians and PEN Berlin, have actively opposed his extradition and advocated for his freedom.
The author compares Julian's treatment to that of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who led the Haitian independence movement, and was physically destroyed in a similar manner while in French custody. The author urges for Julian's freedom and for him to be kept out of the hands of the U.S. government.
The film Perpetual War, produced by Truth11 Films, contains the footage released by Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange. The film argues that the masses must rise up, unite, and demand world peace to end war. The film was released in 2011.
In March, the two High Court judges rejected most of Julian Assange's grounds of appeal, including his lawyers' contention that the UK-US extradition treaty bars extradition for political offenses. The judges asked the U.S. to provide written assurances that Julian Assange would be protected under the First Amendment and that he would be exempt from a death penalty verdict. The U.S. assured the court that Julian Assange would not be subjected to the death penalty, but was unable to provide an assurance that Julian Assange could mount a First Amendment defense in a U.S. court.
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