Julian Assange/How it began......
JULIAN ASSANGE ARRESTED/ATTACK ON THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
WIKILEAKS HOPE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE POWER POLICY OF SUPERPOWER USA AND THEIR ALLIES
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND PRESS/
FIRST AMENDMENT UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - Wikipedia
In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win''
Rupert Murdoch
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
~George Orwell
This world is full of injustice.
Julian Assange is in jail, while top American and allies war-criminals are free to go
Wise woman
What was feared by many adherents of whistleblower site Wikileaks has come to reality.
Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, has been arrested by the British police, after he voluntarily surrendered [1]
O fficially this arrest was on behalf of the Swedish Justice, which had issued an European Arrest Warrant agianst him with charges of alleged rape and molestation of two Swedish women[2]
On request of the Swedish police Interpol also issued an International Arrest Warrant against him [3]
However it is clear, that this arrest is motivated by the political interests of the USA and their allies, considering the spectacular revealings of Wikileaks and the American political hysteria, from extreme right wing death treaths and hunting Assange down ''like a terrorist'', [4] till governmental plans to prosecute him [5]
Also State Secretary of Defense mr Gates called the arrest of Assange ''good news'' [6]
Releasement on bail :
Initially it seemed, that Swedish Justice appealed against the decision of the UK Court [dd 14th december] to grant bail to Assange. [7]
Mr Stephens, solicitor of Assange, spoke of the ''continuing vendetta by the Swedes'' [8]
Later however rumour spread, that the British prosecution had appealed
However, Assange is released on bail now [9]
IN DEFENSE OF THE POWERLESS :
Wikileaks, which has been founded by Assange, is an international new media with a whistlerblower function, revealing otherwise unavailable documents and thus exposing injustice, committed by States, especially Superpower the USA and their allies [10]
As a new medium, Wikileaks has won several prices, as in 2009, Amnesty International's UK Media Award [in the category ''New Media''] for the 2008 publication of "Kenya: The Cry of Blood – Extra Judicial Killings and Disappearances" [11]
RELEASED DOCUMENTS
What has infuriated the US and allies are the released documents about US and alles warcrimes and scandals about secret diplomacy
This happened in close cooperation with The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel, which publicized them
And although Assange has been arrested, the releasements go on
An overview:
Video in US killings in Iraq:
''Exposing warcrimes is not a crime!''
Bradley Manning Support Network
In April 2010, Wikileaks posted video from an American airstrike on Badghdad [2007] [12] in which Iraqi civilians and journalists were killed by US forces, including a Reuters journalist and his driver, on a website called Collateral Murder [13]
A courageous American soldier with a conscience, Sgt Bradley Manning, is supposed to have leaked it
He now possibly faces a trial and a yearlong prison sentence [14]
Afghan war-logs
In July the same year, Wikileaks released Afghan War Diary , a compilation of more than 76,900 documents about the War
in Afghanistan [15], not previously available for public review.
Iraq war-logs
In October, Wikileaks released a package of almost 400,000 documents called the Iraq War [16] in coordination with major
commercial media organisations [17]
As well as the Afghan as Iraq war-logs documents showed shocking details about American and allied warcrimes as torture practices
The moat horrifying however is the total American indifference for Afghan and Iraqi civilian lives
US Embassy Cables
In November, Wikileaks began releasing US State Department diplomatic cables [18]
Those are the most important revelations, internationally known
However, already in 2007 Wikileaks disclosed the ''Standard Operation Procedure for Camp Delta'', a guideline for the American military, how to handle prisoners in Guantanamo Bay [19]
Shocking details were the detention [by arrival] of prisoners in an isolation cell [in the Manual called '' the'Brhaviour Managment Plan''] 'to make them more ''cooperative'' for interrigations
Placing in isolation was litterary meant to ''ENHANCE AND EXPLOIT THE DISORIENTATION AND DISORGANISATION BY A NEWLY ARRIVED DETAINEE'' [20]
In other words: Cruel and inhumane treatment
Lack of access to the Red Cross:
The manual also revealed, that some of the prisoners were denied access to the Red Cross
Also on arrival, the prisoners were denied basics and access to a Qu'ran [21]
CREDIBILITY:
REACTIONS OF STATES AND HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Although it is impossible for the common civilian to control the hundred and thousands of document on their credibility, a clear confirmation is been showed in the website ''Collateral Murder, where the video proof of the US attack in Iraq, where 13 civiilians were killed, is clear [22]
Besides, this Iraq document and thousands of others have been controlled by a team of journalists, who work with Wikileaks
Also the close cooperation with quality papers like the New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian, which have their own investigative journalists, confirms the credibility
The Guardian has since then published all Wikileaks documents in her paper [23]
Credibility is also shown by the aggressive and hostile reactiions of several States, especially the USA, which seek to prosecute Assange on the ground of an old ''Espionage Act'' , which is ridiculous, since a native Australian and not in American government service, he can't be a ''spy''
This American use of the Espionage Act to silence critics is not new:
Many critical intellectuals, journalists, film producers and pacifist religious figures were prosecuted. [24]
Human Rights Watch has emphasized her concern about the planned US prosecution in a letter to president Obama, that prosecitung Assange is a violation of the freedom of press and expression [25]
But despite the furious reactions of governing States, no charge on the ground of defamatiion or slander [the socalled libel suit] has followed
THE ''RAPE'' CASE
''There's something rotten in the State of Denmark''
Hamlet, Shakespeare
Let's make this clear: Nobody is above the Law
When there is really substantial and hard evidence, that Assange should have raped this women, he should be prosecuted and, by enough proof, condemned after a fair trial
However, there are clear indications, that this whole case is politically motivated
That would not be the first or the last time:
Using rape and sexual contact as a political or personal means is as old as Mankind
In the Old Testimony the wife of Potiphar accused Joseph, son of Patriarch Jacob, than slave in Egypt, of rape, when he refused to be intimate with her [26]
Whistleblower Vanunu, who exposed Israel's nuclear power, was trapped by a gallgirl and so was abducted by Israel, which led to a yearlong imprisonment [27]
From the very start, this real or alleged ''rape case'' had some strange and clumsy aspects, which make the whole case look fishy
After two Swedish women, in press called ''Miss A'' and ''Miss W'' went to the police with accusations about rape and molestation, at 21 august Swedish police opened an investigation against Assange [28]
Within hours, Stockholm's chief prosecutor Eva Finne, reviewed the case and dropped the rape investigation, saying there was insufficient evidence to suggest rape [the charge on molestation, a far lesser crime, had been maintained] [29]
However, despite the dropping of the case, at 1 september, Swedish Justice reopened the rape case again [30]
At least that sounds very strange
But there were more fishy elements on this case
Accompanied with the European Arrest Warrant, Interpol issued an International Arrest Warrant against Assange [30 november], which is highly out of proportion, seen the charges against him
Then, on request of the British Serious and Organised Crime Agency, Sweden issued a new Arrest Warrant because of incorrectness of the earlier one [31]
Allegations of the women:
Without going into details, at least some of the allegations of the women were dubious
For example:''Miss A''
Despite her accusations ''Miss A'' organised a party for the same man whe accused of rape and molestation
And moreover:
Even after her alleged ''rape'' or ''molestation'' she let him stay in her appartment [32]
Timing
Not long after the revelations of Wikileaks Afghan war logs, the rape accusations of Miss A and W followed
What is a better moment for slander against Wikileaks and his founder, seen American hysterical reactions?
Assange himself commented on Twitter
''The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing." [33]
Of course there is no proof for a political set-up, but overviewing the strang behaviour of Swedish Justice, the out of propiortion Interpol Arrest Warrant, the initially ''wrong'' Swedish Arrest Warrant, the contradictional story of the women involved and the ''timing'' of the charges, raise a serious doubt and show political intrigue.
OPERATION PAYBACK
CYBERATTACKS ON LARGE CORPORATIONS, CUTTING OFF WIKILEAKS OF FINANCIAL MEANS
PAMPHLET OF ANONYMOUS
WE ARE ANONYMOUS. WE ARE LEGION
Several corporations now have been involved in the censoring of Wikileaks
The censoring of free speech and free information
The censoring of a free world
Amongst these corporatiions are MasterCard, VISA, PayPal, Amazon- some of the largest corporations in the world
We, the people, will make a stand, no matter how large these corporations are
We, the people, won't budge for government pressure
We, the people, won't fall for bribery and corruption
We, the people, won't submit to this attempt by our so-called leaders to protect their own interests and powerWe, the people, will fight back. We will not forgive. We will not forget
Expect us
Source: INDYMEDIA.NL [www.
http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/
Apparently due to American political pressure, large corporations like Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, Amazon and the Swiss Bank cutt of the financial means of Wikileaks [34]
Later the Bank of America joined [35]
Due to this cutting off of financial means, Assange was obliged to sell the rights of his autobiography for his legal fight in Sweden and to keep the website afloat [36]
As a reaction, a group of hackers [socalled ''hacktivists''] of the Group ''Anonymous'' systematically attacked and attacks large corporations like Mastercard, Visa, Paypal and Swiss Bank,to protect the right to free information [37]
Also the office of Mr Borgstrom, the laywer of the two women who accused Assange of socalled ''rape'' has been under attack [38]
Dutch authorities arrested and later released a Dutch 16 year old, in connection with the Cyberattacks
Also a Dutch man [19 year old] had been arrested [and later released] in connection with an attack on the Dutch public prosecution office, in connection with the arrest of the 16 year old [39]
Cyberattacks:
Attacks on the laywer of the two Swedish women are unacceptable, since any person has a right to a laywer, however controversial his or her case
However, although somewhat extreme, the Cyberattacks on the financial corporations which cut off Wikileaks, are legitimate resistance, since Mastercard and co are supporting American government policy against Wikileaks, violating freedom of press
In this respect and given the American hatred policy against Wikileaks, also attacks on American governmental organisations is legitimate.
Anonymous is an important weapon in the struggle for Wikileaks freedom of press
Also the Also UN Commissioner of Human Rights, mrs Pilay, has criticized websites, that have refused to host Wikileaks, as an attack on the freedom of expression of Wikileaks [40]
EPILOGUE
The arrest of Assange is directly connected with the American political interest to stop the revelations of Wikileaks at all costs
Therefore it is an attack on the freedom of press and the freedom of expression
Journalism feels that, by working together with Wikileaks and saving material, as The Guardian and other papers do
But there's more at stake:
Whole Internetjournalism may be treathed
When Assange is to be extradited to Sweden and in the horrorscenario, that Sweden extradites him to the USA [41], after British consent [42], there is more to it than a probably unfair US trial
From that moment all critical Internetjournalists, who write unpleasant truths about the US and human rights violating allies, can be prosecuted, persecuted and intimidated
The freedom of press and speech, consolidated in the first Amendment of the American Constitution, will be a dead letter.
However, most bizarre point:
Real or alleged American warcriminals are free to go, while the messengers are shooted at [42]
BUT US AND ALLIES, MAKE NO MISTAKE
Their dirty secrets will always be unmasked and Wikileaks, or a successor, will go on
To defend the victims of US power policy
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
SEE FOR NOTES
https://www.astridessed.nl/
OR