By Dave Putson
On 26 March, I went, at short notice, to the lobby of the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ), as this could be the last chance for Julian Assange. I felt I had to be there.
The notices on this went out to let all the supporters know on the afternoon of the 25th March. The hearing was to commence at 10.30am on 26th March. We were asked to be there by 10am. When I arrived at 9.45am, there was already a throng outside the RCJ, with masses of protesters and even more of the world’s media.
It was, to begin with, a pretty subdued affair by comparison to the previous events. However, some individuals did take it upon themselves to encourage us to commence some mass chanting of the various short and pithy comments.
I got chatting to several people who had come from various areas to show their support and their expectation that Assange should be freed. There was the usual group of people who have been working on the freeing of Assange for years, who came with their banners and megaphone.
I have been on many protests, including many in support of Assange, but yesterday there was a media scrum of huge proportions and of excessive behaviour. I provided interviews to TV stations from Japan, China, Malaysia and a person who said she was a trainee journalist on her second day. The Japanese TV reporter came across to talk about the media version of the decision, and then the BBC interpretation. He seemed shocked by my dismissing the BBC as virtually irrelevant.
Nonetheless, the decision, which seemed to state that matters would be deferred to allow the USA to provide “satisfactory assurances” that he would not be executed if extradited, seemed to imply that the USA could be relied upon to provide an honest response to this request.
Bizarre outcome
However, their major witness against Assange was eventually identified as having lied and his evidence was not dismissed. Also, the defence evidence of the CIA’s desire and organisation to have Assange assassinated seemed to have been held “not relevant” to whether he was to be held in the USA by their authorities. Consequently, the comments of Stella Assange that the outcome was “bizarre” with the court “tying itself in knots” is pretty much on point. But rather than making a legal decision, the courts have deferred to the USA to come back with a political assurance.
So the fudged decision means that Assange will be back to the court, set to be re considered on 20 May.
Other than the general public supporters, we managed to hear from Richard Burgon MP. Apsana Begum MP was there and the previously-vilified Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn MP, was absolutely mobbed by the media. Clearly, they have a very short memory of how they treated him, and suddenly his views were important for their work again. It’s similar to the hypocrisy shown by Alan Rusbridger, ex-Guardian editor, being at the last Assange RCJ protest, an ironic appearance given the Guardian’s shocking conduct over Assange.
Perhaps these journalists have suddenly realised what Stella Assange re iterated today that this case “criminalises journalism”. I agree with her that the USA should drop this case altogether. Alternatively, the British courts should throw this matter out in its entirety, especially as the claimants so-called witnesses have been completely discredited. However, our judges appear to have the same spineless attitudes as our politicians and rather than actually doing their job, cede responsibility to others.
13 years
It is 13 years since Assange had to obtain political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy, and now 5 years of that 13 has been spent in HMP Belmarsh without a charge. As the Amnesty International Legal advisor stated:
“In trying to imprison him, the US is sending an unambiguous warning to publishers and journalists everywhere that they too could be targeted and that it is not safe for them to receive and publish classified material — even if doing so is in the public interest.”
This is not just a chilling warning to journalists; it is to everyone. A previous attempt in the USA to shut down free speech and investigative journalism resulted in the New York Times and the Washington Post taking on the President Nixon administration in a Supreme Court freedom-of-the-press case (and winning!). Had they failed in their defence, the authoritarian and illegal administration would have had a free hand to conduct an ever-expanding suppression of citizens’ rights. The difference now is that the USA is threatening citizens of the world.
We have no choice; we must resist – and Assange must be freed!
