'I Chose Freedom Over Justice' Julian Assange Tells Lawmakers in STRASBOURG - Page 2 - DreamTeamDownloads1, FTP Help, Movies, Bollywood, Applications, etc. & Mature Sex Forum, Rapidshare, Filefactory, Freakshare, Rapidgator, Turbobit, & More MULTI Filehosts

Ladybbird · 16-02-23, 02:43

Julian Assange Protesters Hold a Night Carnival

BBC 16 FEB 2023

Campaigners have staged a “night carnival” in London to call for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange .

Around 2,000 supporters from the Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign met at Lincoln’s Inn Fields near Holborn before marching past Parliament Square at 6pm.

One protester, interviewed here said they were here to fight for Julian Assange's human rights, and that his case affects "every individual".

Ladybbird · 13-02-24, 10:45

Artist Claims He Will Use Acid to DESTROY Picasso, Rembrandt and Warhol Masterpieces If Julian Assange Dies in Prison

Andrei Molodkin says he has gathered 16 works of art - which he estimates are collectively worth more than $45m - in a 29-tonne safe with an "extremely corrosive" substance.

MailOnline 13 FEB 2024

Artist Andrei Molodkin

The safe includes acid that can be triggered to destroy the artwork, Andrei Molodkin says.

Molodkins' sketches for the Dead Mans' Switch project.

An artist has defended plans to destroy masterpieces by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt and Andy Warhol with acid if Julian Assange dies in prison.

Andrei Molodkin says he has gathered 16 works of art - which he estimates are collectively worth more than $45m (£42.77m) - in a 29-tonne safe with an "extremely corrosive" substance.

Inside the vault are boxes containing the art and a pneumatic pump connecting two white barrels - one with acid powder and the other with an accelerator that could cause a chemical reaction strong enough to turn the safe's contents to debris, Molodkin claims.

The project - called "Dead Man's Switch" - is being backed by Assange's wife Stella, whose husband is awaiting his final appeal against being extradited to the US, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act.

The Wikileaks founder is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The 52-year-old denies any wrongdoing.

He has been held in London's Belmarsh prison for almost five years and will have his final appeal heard at the High Court in London on February 20 and 21.

Assange's supporters say he faces 175 years in prison if he is extradited. His lawyer claims the Australian's life "is at risk" if the appeal fails.

Molodkin told Sky News: "In our catastrophic time - when we have so many wars - to destroy art is much more taboo than to destroy the life of a person.

"Since Julian Assange has been in prison... freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of information has started to be more and more repressed. I have this feeling very strongly now."

The Russian dissident has refused to reveal which pieces of art are inside the safe but says it includes works by Picasso, Rembrandt, Warhol, Jasper Johns, Jannis Kounellis, Robert Rauschenberg, Sarah Lucas, Santiago Sierra, Jake Chapman, and Molodkin himself, among others.

"I believe if something happened and we erased some masterpiece, it will be erased from history - nobody will know which kind of piece it was," he says.

"We have all the documentation and we photographed all of them."

The safe will be locked on Friday and it is being kept at Molodkin's studio in the south of France, the artist says, but he plans for it to be moved to a museum.

Explaining how the "Dead Man's Switch" works, he says a 24-hour countdown timer must be reset before it reaches zero to prevent the corrosive material from being released.

He says this will be done by "someone close" to Assange confirming he is still alive in prison each day - which will mean the timer can be reactivated.

If Assange is released from prison, the works of art will be returned to their owners, Molodkin adds.

He admits "many collectors are really scared" about the acid going off accidentally but insists the work has been done "very professionally".

Molodkin says he would feel "no emotion" if the art was destroyed because "freedom is much more important".

Giampaolo Abbondio, who owns an art gallery in Milan, says he has provided the Picasso artwork for the safe and has signed a non-disclosure agreement preventing him from revealing which one.

He said his first response when he was asked to take part was: "No way", but he was convinced by Molodkin, who he has known since 2008.

"It got me round to the idea that it's more relevant for the world to have one Assange than an extra Picasso, so I decided to accept," Mr Abbondio told Sky News.

"Let's say I'm an optimist and I've lent it. If Assange goes free, I can have it back.

"Picasso can vary from 10,000 to 100 million but I don't think it's the number of zeros that makes it more relevant when we're talking about a human life."

Stella Assange, the wife of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is supporting Andrei Molodkin's 'Dead Man's Switch' project.

Australia High Commissioner Stephen Smith Visits Julian Assange in Prison

Ladybbird · 20-02-24, 05:52

Julian Assange: Court Considers Last-Ditch Bid to Fight US Extradition

Two-day hearing will weigh up whether WikiLeaks founder can be granted leave to appeal against 2022 decision

The Guardian 20 FEB 2024

Julian Assanges’ moment of truth has arrived – and the stakes are high

Lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will begin a last-ditch attempt on Tuesday to fight his extradition to the US where he could face life in prison if convicted of spying charges.

A two-day hearing in the high court will consider whether Australian-born Assange, who has been held in Belmarsh prison for almost five years, can be granted leave to appeal against an extradition decision made in 2022 by the then home secretary, Priti Patel.

Assange’s supporters say that if the court refuses, it would clear the way for him to be flown to US amid fears for his deteriorating health.

Assange has requested to appear in court in person but is expected to appear via video link from Belmarsh.

His wife, Stella Assange, said: “His life is at risk every single day he stays in prison. If he’s extradited, he will die.”

Speaking at a briefing on the appeal last week, she added: “It is the final hearing, if it does not got Julian’s way, there’s no possibility to appeal to the supreme court or anywhere in this jurisdiction.”

Under US proceedings revived during Donald Trump’s presidency, Assange faces 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse for his alleged role in obtaining and disclosing classified material.

Assange’s lawyers will argue that his extradition would amount to punishment for political opinions. They are also expected to claim that the decision would violate the European convention on human rights, including his right to free speech.

Disclosures by WikiLeaks exposed details of US activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and included video footage of a helicopter attack by US forces that killed 11 people including two Reuters journalists.

His lawyers say that if convicted of the US charges he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years. Earlier this month, in a separate case, Joshua Schulte, a former CIA officer, was imprisoned for 40 years for passing classified material to WikiLeaks.

Assange is accused of conspiring with the US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and of releasing secret diplomatic cables and military files.

Manning had her sentence commuted by Barack Obama and was released after seven years in prison.

In 2012, Assange was granted political asylum by Ecuador after the courts ruled he should be extradited to Sweden as part of a rape investigation that was later dropped.

He was arrested in 2019 when Ecuador’s government withdrew his asylum status. He was then jailed for skipping bail when he first took shelter inside the embassy.

He has been held in Belmarsh while the extradition battle with the US continues.

A judge in London initially blocked Assange’s transfer to the US on the grounds that he was likely to kill himself if held in harsh American prison conditions. A subsequent court cleared the way for the move after the US authorities provided assurances over his treatment.

Ladybbird · 10-04-24, 21:47

Biden Says He is Considering Australian Call to Drop Julian Assange Charges

US 'considering' dropping Julian Assange prosecution, Joe Biden says...

The Guardian 10 APR 2024

Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long US push to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.

For years, Australia has called on the US to drop its prosecution against Assange, an Australian citizen who has fought American extradition efforts from prison in the UK. Asked about the request on Wednesday, as he hosted the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, for an official visit, Biden said: “We’re considering it.”

Biden’s comment is the latest indication that his administration may have cooled on the idea of putting Assange on trial, which could prove politically toxic in an election year. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration was exploring the possibility of allowing the WikiLeaks founder to cut a plea deal that would see him admit to a misdemeanor offense of mishandling classified documents in return for an early release.

The latest flurry falls on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Assange’s incarceration in Belmarsh prison in London. Pressure has been mounting on the US government in recent weeks from Australia and around the world.

Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse, exposing him to a maximum 175 years in prison, over his website’s publication of a trove of classified US documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange, 52, encouraged and helped the US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published, putting lives at risk.

Australia argues there is a disconnect between the US treatment of Assange and Manning. President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.

In February, the Australian parliament passed a motion that called on the US and UK governments to allow Assange to return to his native country. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, joined the vote.

Assange’s supporters say he is a journalist protected by the first amendment who exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest.

Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, has said the WikiLeaks founder “is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives”. She has said his health continues to deteriorate in prison and she fears he will die behind bars.
Critics from around the world, including major media outlets such as the Guardian, New York Times and Le Monde which all participated in the original 2010 publication of Manning’s revelations, have warned that a high-profile trial of Assange could put a chill on public interest journalism.

Caitlin Vogus of the non-profit Freedom of the Press Foundation this week wrote that “under the government’s theory in the Assange case, even just publishing government secrets – something journalists do all the time – would violate the espionage act”.
A British court ruled last month that Assange cannot be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless US authorities guarantee he will not get the death penalty.

Assange had come within hours of being extradited to the US to face the espionage charges, but was granted a temporary reprieve when judges ruled that he could have a final appeal hearing should the US government fail to satisfy the demand.

Ladybbird · 21-05-24, 07:09

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Wins Right to Challenge US Extradition

Julian Assange wins right to appeal against extradition to US

The Guardian 21 MAY 2024

Julian Assange has been granted leave to mount a fresh appeal against his extradition to the US on charges of leaking military secrets and will be able to challenge assurances from American officials on how a trial there would be conducted.

Two judges had deferred a decision in March on whether Assange, who is trying to avoid being prosecuted in the US on espionage charges relating to the publication of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents, could take his case to another appeal hearing.

On that occasion, President of the Queens’ Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson ruled he would be able to bring an appeal against extradition on three grounds, unless “satisfactory” assurances were given by the US.

The assurances requested were that he would be permitted to rely on the first amendment of the US constitution, which protects freedom of speech; that he would not be “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality; and that the death penalty would not be imposed.

There were gasps of relief from his wife and supporters at the high court in London on Monday as judges granted him leave to challenge his extradition on the grounds of whether removal would be compatible with the right to freedom of expression under the European convention on human rights, regarded as having the functional equivalent of the US first amendment, and on the grounds that he might be prejudiced at his trial or punished by reason of his nationality.

The judges accepted that there was an arguable case that he could be discriminated against, after being told that an US prosecutor has said the first amendment may not apply to foreigners when it came to national security issues.

Assanges team did not contest an assurance by the US that the death penalty would not be sought, accepting it was an “unambiguous executive promise”. But they argued that the situation was different in relation to any assurance that the Australian-born publisher could seek the same first amendment protections on free speech as a US citizen.

Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, said problems surrounding the assurances by the US were “multifold” and they did not rule out the possibility of a US court ruling that the WikiLeaks founder, as a foreigner, was not entitled to first amendment rights.

The assurance was not that Assange could “rely” on first amendment rights but “merely that he can seek to raise” them, Fitzgerald said.

Assanges barrister also pointed to what he described as the “deafening silence” from US prosecutors including Gordon Kromberg, an assistant US attorney in the eastern district of Virginia, where Assange would stand trial.

“Specific promises from prosecutors are pretty common,” said Fitzgerald. “We will not object to bail. We will not seek the death penalty as in this case. No such specific assurance has been given here.”

James Lewis KC, representing the US, said the judges should “not be beguiled by the attractive and simplistic approach” taken by Assange’s legal team.

Assanges’ nationality would not prejudice a fair hearing in the US, he said, but the conduct of which he was accused was not protected under the first amendment.

“The position of the US prosecutor is that no one, neither US citizens nor foreign citizens, are entitled to rely on the first amendment in relation to publication of illegally obtained national defence information giving the names of innocent sources to their grave and imminent risk of harm,” he added in written submissions.

“This principle applies equally to US citizens and non-US citizens irrespective of their nationality, or place of birth, and irrespective of where the conduct took place, though it is ultimately a question of law for the US courts.

The conduct in question is simply unprotected by the first amendment.”

Julian Assanges' Lawyer Speaks On Winning UK High Court Appeal

Biden Had Previously Said He is Considering Dropping Julian Assanges' Charges

Ladybbird · 25-06-24, 09:08

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange FREED After Five Years in Prison..

Julian Assange leaves UK after being freed in US plea deal

BBC 25 JUN 2024

WikiLeaks has published a video of Julian Assange boarding a flight. According to a tweet, Assange boarded a flight at London airport at 5PM on Monday.

After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free.

Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files - which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - endangered lives.

Assange spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US.

According to the BBC, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.

After the ruling, his wife Stella told reporters and supporters that the Biden administration "should distance itself from this shameful prosecution".

US prosecutors had originally wanted to try the Wikileaks founder on 18 counts - mostly under the Espionage Act - over the release of confidential US military records and diplomatic messages related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Wikileaks, which Assange founded in 2006, claims to have published over 10 million documents in what the US government later described as "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States".

In 2010, the website published a video from a US military helicopter which showed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians, including two Reuters news reporters, being killed in Baghdad.

One of Assange's most well-known collaborators, US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison before then-president Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.

Assange will return to Australia, according to a letter from the justice department.

Ladybbird · 26-06-24, 05:14

From a 2am Prison Call: How Julian Assange Finally Gained Freedom

Assange is scheduled to appear Wednesday morning in federal court in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific, to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information.

He will return to his home country of Australia after his plea and sentencing..He had NOT been permitted to fly commercially...

The Guardian 26 JUN 2024

A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder

At 2am on Monday, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs.

It was the beginning of the end of Assange’s incarceration in Britain but it was going to be on his jailers’ terms.

“He was brought into a transport vehicle and put in a tiny box there, where he basically sat for three hours,” said Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, of his friend’s delivery to Stansted airport in Essex, 40 miles (65km) north-east of the capital.

“There were up to 40 policemen guarding the outside,” Hrafnsson said. “There was a helicopter hovering overhead, six police vehicles in a convoy to the airport, when they knew they were driving him basically out of the country in accordance to the agreement that has been drawn up.

“It begs the question: why on earth? What on earth did they envision? That he will abscond on his way to freedom?”

After seven years hiding away in a small room of the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, and a further five in Belmarsh, Assange, now 52, is expected to walk out of a hearing at a US district court on the Pacific island of Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, as a free man.

He will plead guilty to a single criminal charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, at which point US prosecutors will play their part in the plea deal by seeking a 62-month sentence. This will take into account the time Assange has spent in jail, allowing him to immediately return to his native Australia.

The final moments of the Assange saga had been tightly choreographed. A social media-friendly video of Assange’s release into the hands of his British lawyer, Gareth Pierce,

A crowdfunding appeal was started to cover the $520,000 (£410,000/$A783,000) cost of the Bombardier Global 6000 jet that took him to Saipan.

He had not been permitted to fly commercially.

Right until the end, there was jeopardy for a man once named an “enemy of the US state” for his role in the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

His wife, Stella, said: “We weren’t really sure until the last 24 hours that it was actually happening.”

The genesis of Assange’s release had been in a plea deal proposed by his lawyers to the US justice department in March.

The US had been pursuing Assange for extradition over 18 charges, exposing him to up to 175 years in prison. Assange’s lawyers suggested their client, who had physical and mental health problems, could instead plead guilty to one count remotely from London. With time served, he could then be released.

The US justice department was not convinced. Hrafnsson, who was the last person to see Assange in his cell in Belmarsh when he visited on Saturday, said the real turning point had been a high court ruling in May.

At last, Julian Assange is free. But it may have come at a high price for press freedom

Flight tracker showing plane carrying Julian Assange - departing from Bangkok

Judge Wishes Julian Assange ‘Happy Birthday’ Before Freeing Him After 12 Years

Ladybbird · 03-10-24, 05:42

I Chose Freedom Over Justice, Julian Assange Says in First Comments After Detention

STRASBOURG (France) -Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower media group WikiLeaks, told European lawmakers on Tuesday his guilty plea to U.S. espionage accusations was necessary because legal and political efforts to protect his freedom were not sufficient.

AP 3 OCT 2024

"I eventually chose freedom over an unrealisable justice," Assange said, in his first public comments since his release from prison, addressing a committee at the Council of Europe, the international body best known for its human rights convention.

Assange, 53, returned to his home country Australia in June after a deal was struck for his release which saw him plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law, ending a 14-year British legal odyssey.

"I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism, pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source, I pleaded guilty to obtaining information from a source and I pleaded guilty to informing the public what that information was," he said.

WikiLeaks in 2010 released hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history - along with swaths of diplomatic cables.

Assange was indicted years later under the Espionage Act.

A report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded Assange was a political prisoner and called for Britain to hold an inquiry into whether he had been exposed to inhuman treatment.

"I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured," he said, adding: "Isolation has taken its toll which I am trying to unwind."

His wife, whom he married while in a London jail, said last month he would need time to regain his health and sanity after his long incarceration.

Asked about his plans, Assange said the Strasbourg hearing, aimed at raising awareness of the need to protect whistleblowers and informers was "a first step".

16-02-23, 02:43	#51
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	re: Artist Will DESTROY Picasso/Rembrandt & More Masterpieces If Assange Dies in Prison Julian Assange Protesters Hold a Night Carnival BBC 16 FEB 2023 Campaigners have staged a “night carnival” in London to call for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange . Around 2,000 supporters from the Don’t Extradite Assange Campaign met at Lincoln’s Inn Fields near Holborn before marching past Parliament Square at 6pm. One protester, interviewed here said they were here to fight for Julian Assange's human rights, and that his case affects "every individual". __________________ *6000 PLUS* Cases-He's LOST ALL Heard So Far: TRUMPs Onslaught of Lawyers are 'Hitting a Wall' -Judges & Cases Lining Up Against TRUMP France To Ask For Statue of Liberty Back -No Longer Fits 'Freedom' Under TRUMP.. AND Starmers REVOLTING Betrayal of Britain Will NEVER Be Forgiven TRUMPs' REVENGE -Clear & Present Danger -People Who Worship at The Altar of Trump Will KNEEL, NOT STAND Up to Him PLEASE Click DONATE & Thanks to ALL Members of ...** 1..

13-02-24, 10:45	#52
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Re: Artist Will DESTROY Picasso/Rembrandt & More Masterpieces If Assange Dies in Pris Artist Claims He Will Use Acid to DESTROY Picasso, Rembrandt and Warhol Masterpieces If Julian Assange Dies in Prison Andrei Molodkin says he has gathered 16 works of art - which he estimates are collectively worth more than $45m - in a 29-tonne safe with an "extremely corrosive" substance. MailOnline 13 FEB 2024 Artist Andrei Molodkin The safe includes acid that can be triggered to destroy the artwork, Andrei Molodkin says. Molodkins' sketches for the Dead Mans' Switch project. An artist has defended plans to destroy masterpieces by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt and Andy Warhol with acid if Julian Assange dies in prison. Andrei Molodkin says he has gathered 16 works of art - which he estimates are collectively worth more than $45m (£42.77m) - in a 29-tonne safe with an "extremely corrosive" substance. Inside the vault are boxes containing the art and a pneumatic pump connecting two white barrels - one with acid powder and the other with an accelerator that could cause a chemical reaction strong enough to turn the safe's contents to debris, Molodkin claims. The project - called "Dead Man's Switch" - is being backed by Assange's wife Stella, whose husband is awaiting his final appeal against being extradited to the US, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act. The Wikileaks founder is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The 52-year-old denies any wrongdoing. He has been held in London's Belmarsh prison for almost five years and will have his final appeal heard at the High Court in London on February 20 and 21. Assange's supporters say he faces 175 years in prison if he is extradited. His lawyer claims the Australian's life "is at risk" if the appeal fails. Molodkin told Sky News: "In our catastrophic time - when we have so many wars - to destroy art is much more taboo than to destroy the life of a person. "Since Julian Assange has been in prison... freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of information has started to be more and more repressed. I have this feeling very strongly now." The Russian dissident has refused to reveal which pieces of art are inside the safe but says it includes works by Picasso, Rembrandt, Warhol, Jasper Johns, Jannis Kounellis, Robert Rauschenberg, Sarah Lucas, Santiago Sierra, Jake Chapman, and Molodkin himself, among others. "I believe if something happened and we erased some masterpiece, it will be erased from history - nobody will know which kind of piece it was," he says. "We have all the documentation and we photographed all of them." The safe will be locked on Friday and it is being kept at Molodkin's studio in the south of France, the artist says, but he plans for it to be moved to a museum. Explaining how the "Dead Man's Switch" works, he says a 24-hour countdown timer must be reset before it reaches zero to prevent the corrosive material from being released. He says this will be done by "someone close" to Assange confirming he is still alive in prison each day - which will mean the timer can be reactivated. If Assange is released from prison, the works of art will be returned to their owners, Molodkin adds. He admits "many collectors are really scared" about the acid going off accidentally but insists the work has been done "very professionally". Molodkin says he would feel "no emotion" if the art was destroyed because "freedom is much more important". Giampaolo Abbondio, who owns an art gallery in Milan, says he has provided the Picasso artwork for the safe and has signed a non-disclosure agreement preventing him from revealing which one. He said his first response when he was asked to take part was: "No way", but he was convinced by Molodkin, who he has known since 2008. "It got me round to the idea that it's more relevant for the world to have one Assange than an extra Picasso, so I decided to accept," Mr Abbondio told Sky News. "Let's say I'm an optimist and I've lent it. If Assange goes free, I can have it back. "Picasso can vary from 10,000 to 100 million but I don't think it's the number of zeros that makes it more relevant when we're talking about a human life." Stella Assange, the wife of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is supporting Andrei Molodkin's 'Dead Man's Switch' project. Australia High Commissioner Stephen Smith Visits Julian Assange in Prison

20-02-24, 05:52	#53
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	re: Julian Assange Wins Right to Challenge & Appeal US Extradition Julian Assange: Court Considers Last-Ditch Bid to Fight US Extradition Two-day hearing will weigh up whether WikiLeaks founder can be granted leave to appeal against 2022 decision The Guardian 20 FEB 2024 Julian Assanges’ moment of truth has arrived – and the stakes are high Lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will begin a last-ditch attempt on Tuesday to fight his extradition to the US where he could face life in prison if convicted of spying charges. A two-day hearing in the high court will consider whether Australian-born Assange, who has been held in Belmarsh prison for almost five years, can be granted leave to appeal against an extradition decision made in 2022 by the then home secretary, Priti Patel. Assange’s supporters say that if the court refuses, it would clear the way for him to be flown to US amid fears for his deteriorating health. Assange has requested to appear in court in person but is expected to appear via video link from Belmarsh. His wife, Stella Assange, said: “His life is at risk every single day he stays in prison. If he’s extradited, he will die.” Speaking at a briefing on the appeal last week, she added: “It is the final hearing, if it does not got Julian’s way, there’s no possibility to appeal to the supreme court or anywhere in this jurisdiction.” Under US proceedings revived during Donald Trump’s presidency, Assange faces 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse for his alleged role in obtaining and disclosing classified material. Assange’s lawyers will argue that his extradition would amount to punishment for political opinions. They are also expected to claim that the decision would violate the European convention on human rights, including his right to free speech. Disclosures by WikiLeaks exposed details of US activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and included video footage of a helicopter attack by US forces that killed 11 people including two Reuters journalists. His lawyers say that if convicted of the US charges he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years. Earlier this month, in a separate case, Joshua Schulte, a former CIA officer, was imprisoned for 40 years for passing classified material to WikiLeaks. Assange is accused of conspiring with the US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and of releasing secret diplomatic cables and military files. Manning had her sentence commuted by Barack Obama and was released after seven years in prison. In 2012, Assange was granted political asylum by Ecuador after the courts ruled he should be extradited to Sweden as part of a rape investigation that was later dropped. He was arrested in 2019 when Ecuador’s government withdrew his asylum status. He was then jailed for skipping bail when he first took shelter inside the embassy. He has been held in Belmarsh while the extradition battle with the US continues. A judge in London initially blocked Assange’s transfer to the US on the grounds that he was likely to kill himself if held in harsh American prison conditions. A subsequent court cleared the way for the move after the US authorities provided assurances over his treatment. __________________ *6000 PLUS* Cases-He's LOST ALL Heard So Far: TRUMPs Onslaught of Lawyers are 'Hitting a Wall' -Judges & Cases Lining Up Against TRUMP France To Ask For Statue of Liberty Back -No Longer Fits 'Freedom' Under TRUMP.. AND Starmers REVOLTING Betrayal of Britain Will NEVER Be Forgiven TRUMPs' REVENGE -Clear & Present Danger -People Who Worship at The Altar of Trump Will KNEEL, NOT STAND Up to Him PLEASE Click DONATE & Thanks to ALL Members of ...** 1..

10-04-24, 21:47	#54
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Julian Assange; Biden Considering Dropping Charges After Australian Call Biden Says He is Considering Australian Call to Drop Julian Assange Charges US 'considering' dropping Julian Assange prosecution, Joe Biden says... The Guardian 10 APR 2024 Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long US push to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents. For years, Australia has called on the US to drop its prosecution against Assange, an Australian citizen who has fought American extradition efforts from prison in the UK. Asked about the request on Wednesday, as he hosted the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, for an official visit, Biden said: “We’re considering it.” Biden’s comment is the latest indication that his administration may have cooled on the idea of putting Assange on trial, which could prove politically toxic in an election year. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration was exploring the possibility of allowing the WikiLeaks founder to cut a plea deal that would see him admit to a misdemeanor offense of mishandling classified documents in return for an early release. The latest flurry falls on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Assange’s incarceration in Belmarsh prison in London. Pressure has been mounting on the US government in recent weeks from Australia and around the world. Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse, exposing him to a maximum 175 years in prison, over his website’s publication of a trove of classified US documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange, 52, encouraged and helped the US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published, putting lives at risk. Australia argues there is a disconnect between the US treatment of Assange and Manning. President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017. In February, the Australian parliament passed a motion that called on the US and UK governments to allow Assange to return to his native country. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, joined the vote. Assange’s supporters say he is a journalist protected by the first amendment who exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest. Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, has said the WikiLeaks founder “is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives”. She has said his health continues to deteriorate in prison and she fears he will die behind bars. Critics from around the world, including major media outlets such as the Guardian, New York Times and Le Monde which all participated in the original 2010 publication of Manning’s revelations, have warned that a high-profile trial of Assange could put a chill on public interest journalism. Caitlin Vogus of the non-profit Freedom of the Press Foundation this week wrote that “under the government’s theory in the Assange case, even just publishing government secrets – something journalists do all the time – would violate the espionage act”. A British court ruled last month that Assange cannot be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless US authorities guarantee he will not get the death penalty. Assange had come within hours of being extradited to the US to face the espionage charges, but was granted a temporary reprieve when judges ruled that he could have a final appeal hearing should the US government fail to satisfy the demand.

21-05-24, 07:09	#55
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Julian Assange Wins Right to Challenge & Appeal US Extradition Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Wins Right to Challenge US Extradition Julian Assange wins right to appeal against extradition to US The Guardian 21 MAY 2024 Julian Assange has been granted leave to mount a fresh appeal against his extradition to the US on charges of leaking military secrets and will be able to challenge assurances from American officials on how a trial there would be conducted. Two judges had deferred a decision in March on whether Assange, who is trying to avoid being prosecuted in the US on espionage charges relating to the publication of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents, could take his case to another appeal hearing. On that occasion, President of the Queens’ Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson ruled he would be able to bring an appeal against extradition on three grounds, unless “satisfactory” assurances were given by the US. The assurances requested were that he would be permitted to rely on the first amendment of the US constitution, which protects freedom of speech; that he would not be “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality; and that the death penalty would not be imposed. There were gasps of relief from his wife and supporters at the high court in London on Monday as judges granted him leave to challenge his extradition on the grounds of whether removal would be compatible with the right to freedom of expression under the European convention on human rights, regarded as having the functional equivalent of the US first amendment, and on the grounds that he might be prejudiced at his trial or punished by reason of his nationality. The judges accepted that there was an arguable case that he could be discriminated against, after being told that an US prosecutor has said the first amendment may not apply to foreigners when it came to national security issues. Assanges team did not contest an assurance by the US that the death penalty would not be sought, accepting it was an “unambiguous executive promise”. But they argued that the situation was different in relation to any assurance that the Australian-born publisher could seek the same first amendment protections on free speech as a US citizen. Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, said problems surrounding the assurances by the US were “multifold” and they did not rule out the possibility of a US court ruling that the WikiLeaks founder, as a foreigner, was not entitled to first amendment rights. The assurance was not that Assange could “rely” on first amendment rights but “merely that he can seek to raise” them, Fitzgerald said. Assanges barrister also pointed to what he described as the “deafening silence” from US prosecutors including Gordon Kromberg, an assistant US attorney in the eastern district of Virginia, where Assange would stand trial. “Specific promises from prosecutors are pretty common,” said Fitzgerald. “We will not object to bail. We will not seek the death penalty as in this case. No such specific assurance has been given here.” James Lewis KC, representing the US, said the judges should “not be beguiled by the attractive and simplistic approach” taken by Assange’s legal team. Assanges’ nationality would not prejudice a fair hearing in the US, he said, but the conduct of which he was accused was not protected under the first amendment. “The position of the US prosecutor is that no one, neither US citizens nor foreign citizens, are entitled to rely on the first amendment in relation to publication of illegally obtained national defence information giving the names of innocent sources to their grave and imminent risk of harm,” he added in written submissions. “This principle applies equally to US citizens and non-US citizens irrespective of their nationality, or place of birth, and irrespective of where the conduct took place, though it is ultimately a question of law for the US courts. *The conduct in question is simply unprotected by the first amendment.”* Julian Assanges' Lawyer Speaks On Winning UK High Court Appeal Biden Had Previously Said He is Considering Dropping Julian Assanges' Charges

25-06-24, 09:08	#56
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Julian Assange FREED After Years in Prison -Returns to Australia Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange FREED After Five Years in Prison.. Julian Assange leaves UK after being freed in US plea deal BBC 25 JUN 2024 WikiLeaks has published a video of Julian Assange boarding a flight. According to a tweet, Assange boarded a flight at London airport at 5PM on Monday. After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free. Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files - which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - endangered lives. Assange spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US. According to the BBC, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK. After the ruling, his wife Stella told reporters and supporters that the Biden administration "should distance itself from this shameful prosecution". US prosecutors had originally wanted to try the Wikileaks founder on 18 counts - mostly under the Espionage Act - over the release of confidential US military records and diplomatic messages related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wikileaks, which Assange founded in 2006, claims to have published over 10 million documents in what the US government later described as "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States". In 2010, the website published a video from a US military helicopter which showed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians, including two Reuters news reporters, being killed in Baghdad. One of Assange's most well-known collaborators, US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison before then-president Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017. *Assange will return to Australia, according to a letter from the justice department.*

26-06-24, 05:14	#57
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Julian Assange Had to PAY For Hired Flight to US FED Court in Mariana Islands From a 2am Prison Call: How Julian Assange Finally Gained Freedom Assange is scheduled to appear Wednesday morning in federal court in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific, to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information. He will return to his home country of Australia after his plea and sentencing..He had NOT been permitted to fly commercially... The Guardian 26 JUN 2024 A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder At 2am on Monday, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs. It was the beginning of the end of Assange’s incarceration in Britain but it was going to be on his jailers’ terms. “He was brought into a transport vehicle and put in a tiny box there, where he basically sat for three hours,” said Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, of his friend’s delivery to Stansted airport in Essex, 40 miles (65km) north-east of the capital. “There were up to 40 policemen guarding the outside,” Hrafnsson said. “There was a helicopter hovering overhead, six police vehicles in a convoy to the airport, when they knew they were driving him basically out of the country in accordance to the agreement that has been drawn up. “It begs the question: why on earth? What on earth did they envision? That he will abscond on his way to freedom?” After seven years hiding away in a small room of the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, and a further five in Belmarsh, Assange, now 52, is expected to walk out of a hearing at a US district court on the Pacific island of Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, as a free man. He will plead guilty to a single criminal charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, at which point US prosecutors will play their part in the plea deal by seeking a 62-month sentence. This will take into account the time Assange has spent in jail, allowing him to immediately return to his native Australia. The final moments of the Assange saga had been tightly choreographed. A social media-friendly video of Assange’s release into the hands of his British lawyer, Gareth Pierce, A crowdfunding appeal was started to cover the $520,000 (£410,000/$A783,000) cost of the Bombardier Global 6000 jet that took him to Saipan. He had not been permitted to fly commercially. Right until the end, there was jeopardy for a man once named an “enemy of the US state” for his role in the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. His wife, Stella, said: “We weren’t really sure until the last 24 hours that it was actually happening.” The genesis of Assange’s release had been in a plea deal proposed by his lawyers to the US justice department in March. The US had been pursuing Assange for extradition over 18 charges, exposing him to up to 175 years in prison. Assange’s lawyers suggested their client, who had physical and mental health problems, could instead plead guilty to one count remotely from London. With time served, he could then be released. The US justice department was not convinced. Hrafnsson, who was the last person to see Assange in his cell in Belmarsh when he visited on Saturday, said the real turning point had been a high court ruling in May. At last, Julian Assange is free. But it may have come at a high price for press freedom Flight tracker showing plane carrying Julian Assange - departing from Bangkok Judge Wishes Julian Assange ‘Happy Birthday’ Before Freeing Him After 12 Years

03-10-24, 05:42	#58
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 50,504 Thanks: 28,767 Thanked 14,428 Times in 10,234 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	'I Chose Freedom Over Justice' Julian Assange Tells Lawmakers in STRASBOURG I Chose Freedom Over Justice, Julian Assange Says in First Comments After Detention STRASBOURG (France) -Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower media group WikiLeaks, told European lawmakers on Tuesday his guilty plea to U.S. espionage accusations was necessary because legal and political efforts to protect his freedom were not sufficient. AP 3 OCT 2024 "I eventually chose freedom over an unrealisable justice," Assange said, in his first public comments since his release from prison, addressing a committee at the Council of Europe, the international body best known for its human rights convention. Assange, 53, returned to his home country Australia in June after a deal was struck for his release which saw him plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law, ending a 14-year British legal odyssey. "I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism, pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source, I pleaded guilty to obtaining information from a source and I pleaded guilty to informing the public what that information was," he said. WikiLeaks in 2010 released hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history - along with swaths of diplomatic cables. Assange was indicted years later under the Espionage Act. A report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded Assange was a political prisoner and called for Britain to hold an inquiry into whether he had been exposed to inhuman treatment. "I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured," he said, adding: "Isolation has taken its toll which I am trying to unwind." His wife, whom he married while in a London jail, said last month he would need time to regain his health and sanity after his long incarceration. Asked about his plans, Assange said the Strasbourg hearing, aimed at raising awareness of the need to protect whistleblowers and informers was "a first step".

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)