Assange - The Stain of Blood Is Upon Their Hands

SCROLL down for blog comment & further information LINK to transcript of VIDEO - here COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news report Julian Assange to RT: WikiLeaks gives 'most accurate picture of war' Uploaded on 24 Oct 2010 SOURCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsMK1eQ7A8 ⟴   We Expect A Counter-Attack RT News Reporter Last question.  The Pentagon have put their PR machine into operation after you released the Afghan War Diaries.  What are you expecting from them this time around? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, we expect a similar sort of counter-attack.  Every time you release something like this, we expect a counter-attack.  You're never quite sure what it is.  It tends to be a different thing, [that] each time is seized upon and then amplified [cough].  here ⟴ Sex Allegations Sweden ⟴ " ... Assange has previously suggested that the allegations are part of a smear campaign following his website's release of thousands of secret US Army documents relating to Afghanistan."  here ⟴ Stain of Blood On Their Hands ⟴ Well, it looks like America eventually found a less predictable and waaaaaay more creative solution, than mere propaganda as the follow-up, counter-response to WikiLeaks releases  ... ... or Sweden just happened to fortuitously and coincidentally oblige with: (a) a pretext to legally assault and decommission, WikiLeaks editor, Julian Assange (via Sweden police 'allegations', minus proper procedures, minus proper recording of prosecution witnesses, minus a key sworn statement, obtained as result of 'informal' interview between friends and police associates, police database tampering, dismissed by  Stockholm's chief prosecutor Eva Finne for lack of sufficient evidence, etc);  (b) arrest Julian Assange. Oddly, by proxy (UK authorities, on behalf of Sweden, on behalf of USA, rather than direct arrest by Sweden, on behalf of their acknowledged US masters - see links below), when Sweden had ample opportunity to interview and arrest, while Assange remained in Sweden, before asking Swedish authorities for permission to travel from Sweden). Allegations against Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, took an unexpected turn yesterday when Sweden's top prosecutor announced she was reopening a rape investigation. It is the second time the country's authorities have made a U-turn over whether the Australian-born journalist should face charges. The warrant was abruptly rescinded within 24 hours and last week Stockholm's chief prosecutor Eva Finne said all charges against the 39-year-old would be dropped. But Ms Finne's boss, Marianne Ny, Sweden's chief prosecutor, has overruled that decision after new information reportedly came to light on Tuesday.  [above, source - here] ⟴ It looks like the Stockholm prosecutor Finne has most likely been overruled from the top. And I'm not talking overruled merely by Ms Marianne Ny. Overruled by whoever Marianne Ny answers to in government, which has stake (and is lawfully entitled to intervene) in matters concerning the state and foreign diplomacy. ⟴ Perhaps arrest by proxy was chosen, in an attempt to mask this farce and to create an appearance of the assault on Julian Assange as a 'genuine' article, in a way that a direct Swedish arrest may not have conveyed. Delayed, proxy arrest (which included the spectacle of a EAW, Interpol Red Notice, Swedish leak to press, and a London arrest), was also possibly effected to get maximum PR mileage (propaganda, manufacture of consent, smear) out of staging a performance for all that fenzied (and expected) media coverage.  (c) de facto imprisonment of Julian Assange for almost 5 years in total now without charge, trapping WikiLeaks editor in the Ecuador embassy in London for 3 years now (where he has been granted political asylum), at the threat of arrest and extradition to Sweden (which would pave the way to subsequent extradition to USA). The arrest of Assange was executed to decommission Assange, while no doubt allowing the US time to build its 120-man taskforce case in America. Note:  Assange has committed no crime, so the US has to work towards creating such 'crime' - and that's heading in the direction of redefining journalism as 'terrorism').  I find it very hard to believe Assange has been detained for 5 years and is in grave danger of extradition to the US,  simply because of mere 'accident,' 'misunderstanding,' 'bad luck', or merely the result of jealousies which arose from obliging those Swedish women ... who were keen to bed Assange. I'm more inclined to believe  the events in Sweden were a set-up. ⟴ Breathtaking Hypocrisy & Flagrant Political Persecution British Foreign Office minister, Hugo Swire, hypocritically spoke of a 'stain' on Ecuador's reputation for (rightfully and lawfully) granting politically persecuted journalist, Julian Assange, political asylum:  British Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said in a statement Thursday that it would make a formal protest to Ecuador over its decision to provide asylum to Assange. "Ecuador must recognize that its decision to harbor Mr Assange more than three years ago has prevented the proper course of justice," said Swire in a statement. British police have guarded Ecuador's London Embassy around the clock at an estimated cost of more than US$15.6 million, which has placed pressure on the British government to resolve the long-standing issue. Swire alleged that the harboring of Assange constituted an abuse of diplomatic relations and was a “growing stain on the country’s reputation." This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuador-Says-UK-Criticism-Over-Julian-Assange-Unacceptable-20150817-0021.html ⟴ As witnessed by the British Foreign Office propaganda attack on Educator, instead of censure of Sweden's refusal to progress this matter and to interview Julian Assange in London, it's plain to see that Britain and Sweden have obviously colluded (and continue to collude) with US authorities to deprive Julian Assange of liberty, with a view to eventually handing up Julian Assange to USA.  ⟴ From where I stand, Sweden's politicians and public servants - along with their British and US counterparts - collectively have the stain of Julian Assange's blood on their corrupt hands. By that I mean, theirs is the guilt of taking life - the life of Julian Assange, presently detained 5 years without charge, at the threat of arrest and extradition to a country in which he will be entombed alive, for daring to expose American war crimes. ⟴ The footsoldiers of the powerful have stolen 5 years of Julian Assange's life by imposing a corruptly engineered, and politically motivated, de facto captivity that is in flagrant breach of international law, aimed at only one thing:  extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face life imprisonment or a death sentence, on trumped up 'espionage' charges or the like, that the US Dept of Justice team is probably banging out in some form or other, right now. (Hey, this contempt for international law and conventions, and the fondness for trumped up accusations, seems to be a recurring theme ... lol). The players also happen to be same footsoldiers of the powerful, who, in turn, are stained with the blood of tens of thousands of civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon them is the stain of actual blood of war crimes (exposed by Assange), and they and their public representatives are grimly determined in their aim to put Assange away. So, behind the recent public propaganda statement attack on Ecuador, behind the pending official complaint/attack on Assange,  and behind the 5 year de facto without-charge imprisonment of Julian Assange,  are the same powers that are responsible for the war crimes in Iraq & Aghanistan exposed by WikiLeaks.  In the case of Iraq:  from war waged following US manufacture of false pretext for invasion  (ie 'weapons of mass destruction'). How psychopathic does this get? Rightfully, British Foreign Office ought to be condemning Sweden for its inaction and failure to progress this undemocratic and baseless legal assault on journalist-publisher, Julian Assange. Despite ample opportunity, it is Sweden that has failed to act - over the space of 5 years.  And the world knows it. ⟴ Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the British role in the political persecution of  journalist, Julian Assange (who was excluded in 2014 from changes in British law to prevent exactly this kind of without-charge unjust detention), the British Foreign Office has slunk as low as to resort to publicly smearing and condemning Ecuador. Perverse conduct, in the form of attack on Ecuador by the British, is a 'tell' that patently shows the British hand in this injustice and ongoing political persecution. With straight faces, British officials call for 'justice' as a leverage and as media smear, in an attempt to impose injustice upon Julian Assange, based on the falsehood of Sweden police allegations and the farce of Sweden government's and Sweden prosecution's failure to take appropriate action (carefully sidestepping even interviewing Assange during the 5 years he has been a political prisoner in England). The same British authorities that assault the sovereignty of Ecuador insult the intelligence of the watching world. But the world knows that these same colluding authorities are behind the Sweden set-up, the politician persecution, and denial of justice - and denial of rightful, internationally recognised, protections - to whistleblower journalist Julian Assange. Naturally, Ecuador rejects this outrageous political smear ⟴  ⟴ Bring the Sick Bucket ⟴ USA Threatens Sovereign Nations ⟴ USA Seeks to Influence Foreign Court Cases ⟴ USA Even Targets United Nations ⟴ Sweden Could Not Say 'No' To USA (Even If It Wanted To) ⟴ source | slate | here ⟴ ⟴ Sweden's US-Anglo Alliance Ties Sweden US Subservience & Collaboration A troubling History  ⟴ Sweden Secret Mass Spying Agreement With USA & UK After 50 years of secret cooperation, in 2004, Sweden established formal and even closer ties between the Swedish FRA (National Defence Radio Establishment - more info here) and the Authority's signal scout colleagues in the US:  namely, NSA (world famous for mass surveillance of entire countries, allied heads of government and corporate spying), and the British GCHQ - in direct cooperation. [here] ⟴ ⟴ LINK  |  Sweden's secret mass spying agreement with the US & UK http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.svt.se%2Fnyheter%2Fsverige%2Fdokument-avslojar-fra-s-hemliga-avtal-med-usa Sweden | More http://wikileaks.org/IMG/html/Affidavit_of_Julian_Assange.html [source:  here] ⟴ Sweden Joins 'Five Eyes' US, UK & Allied Intelligence Cooperative British investigative journalist Duncan Campbell gave an indication of the scale of collaboration between Sweden, the US and Britain at a European Parliament hearing on state surveillance in early September. “A new organization has joined the “Five Eyes” and is seen as the largest cooperating partner to [the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters] GCHQ outside the English-speaking countries—and that is Sweden,” he said. [here]  ⟴ Interesting that, journalist, Duncan Campbell makes an 'appearance'. Cambell revealed the existence of the ECHELON surveillance program in 1988 (US-Anglo 'Five Eye' alliance satellite trunk communications sweeping intercepts). Campbell knows all about intelligence, security, and British political persecution from up close and personal - here. ⟴ Sweden Bows to US Pressure Copyright Infringement According to an unreleased US Embassy cable in possession of Swedish Television, the US pressure on Sweden to deal with file-sharing issues continued in the years that followed. In the cable, which dates back to 2008, the US Embassy presented a list of six items that they wanted to see addressed, all related to online copyright infringement. A year later, five of these six items were indeed turned into action, including the appointment of more copyright police and prosecutors, backed up by educational anti-piracy campaigns. Of course, the Pirate Bay wasn’t left unmentioned in this cable either. The cable writer mentions that it was hard for the Embassy to get openly involved in piracy related issues, because most of the press coverage was unfavorable towards the copyright industry. “The Pirate Bay raid was portrayed as the Government of Sweden caving in to United States Government pressure. This delicate situation made it difficult, if not counter-productive, for the Embassy to play a public role in IPR issues,” it adds.  [here] Bear in mind, that the above Sweden-US (& allies) collaboration history is not  an exhaustive study in Swedish-US collaboration.  Even so, the above is sufficient as an indication of where Sweden likely stands with regard to USA and its 'problem,' WikiLeaks and journalist-publisher, Julian Assange. If Sweden bends to American pressure and will do so on relatively insignificant matters (ie not designated as 'national security' issues) such as copyright, imagine the pressure the US would bring down to bear.  And imagine the Swedish (& other government) inclination to bend to such US pressure ... if we pretend for one moment that Sweden (or UK) were an 'unwilling' accomplices in the persecution and de facto imprisonment of Julian Assange, publisher-journalist who exposed US and allied war crimes.  Defence Secretary Robert Gates on the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 7 December 2010 "Gates said it sounded good to him." 91,000 Afghans killed (incl. civilians, soldiers & militants) Number who have died through indirect causes related to the war est. additional 360,000 people [here] coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents (ie concealment of civilian casualties) ⟴ 6 US soldiers killed [ Sec Def Robert Gates Video 7/12/2010 ]  while Gates refers to 'serious losses' before telling us how he's revived by visiting the scene of mass scale death visited upon Afghanistan by USA US War Casualties - Afghanistan Total US Dead:  2,316 as at June 2015 [here] For some perspective on what may count as 'serious losses,' maybe Gates ought to take a look at the Afghan dead figures (*) 2010     30     31     24     19     34     60     65     55     42     50     53     33     2010 TOTAL:  496 Considering this is an invasion of another country, just shy of 500 dead in 2010 isn't exactly big numbers, when you compare this to losses on the other side. The grand total of US dead for the entire Afghanistan operation is: 2,316 But the US figures don't look so good when it comes to injuries sustained:  massive number of US injured, which comes at an immediate & long-term cost to the taxpayer. Military US War Casualties - Iraq 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'  - page 22 Total US Dead:  4,412 mostly Army then abt. 1/4 Marines as at Dec 2014 MASSIVE number of wounded US Wounded Total:  31,949 as at Dec 2014 [here] US War Casualties - Afghanistan Total US Dead:  2,316 as at June 2015 (ie During 14 Years of US Occupation) [here] Further Confirmation US Deaths -  here ⟴ [Note:  Above Nations Complicit] ⟴ WikiLeaks Exposes War Crimes IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN [ Slate  |  here ] ⟴ Arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 7 December 2010 "Gates said it sounded good to him." ⟴  WikiLeaks Collateral Murder IRAQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0 Uploaded on 7 Dec 2010 Defence Secretary Robert Gates Afghanistan COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Robert Gates airforce |  recruited CIA 1966 Strategic Air Command as an intelligence officer intelligence briefings rejoined the CIA as an intelligence analyst left the CIA in 1974 > staff of National Security Council returned to the CIA in late 1979 [ Gates nominated as Director of CIA  1987 Withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran-Contra affair. ]  1991 -  nominated 2nd time by Pres George H. W. Bush confirmed & sworn Director of CIA (under President George H. W. Bush) "...former division chief Melvin Goodman testified that the agency was the most corrupt and slanted during the tenure of William Casey with Gates serving as Deputy. According to Goodman, Gates was part of an agency leadership that proliferated false information and ignored 'reality'. National Intelligence Council chairman Harold P. Ford testified that during his tenure, Gates had transgressed professional boundaries" close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran-Contra Affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. served for 26 years in CIA and the National Security Council MA history Indiana Uni 1966 PhD in Russian & Soviet history | Georgetown Uni in 1974 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates I'm going to hazard a guess and say that US Secretary of Defence & CIA man Robert Gates knew exactly what kind of predicament Julian Assange was in when he was arrested on those rather handy Sweden police 'sexual misconduct' allegations  on 7 Dec. 2010. Mood Music   COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Red Right Hand source:  https://youtu.be/RrxePKps87k ⟴  (I like the drama of this song & it fits in with vision I have of the entire across-borders psychopathic government alliance and political persecution of Assange. Mute Robert Gates & watch him while also listening to Nick Cave.)  ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- Other PLEASE SUPPORT Journalist, Julian Assange Under Siege Ecuador embassy, London (3 Years) Detained 5 Years No Charge FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/ Collateral Murder WikiLeaks Iraq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0 ⟴ While I may have encountered Afghanistan war death figures in the media before, I don't have a recall of what little I may have read.  So this is probably the first time I've given the figures any real thought. I'm yet to read articles relating to WikiLeaks and the Afghanistan War Logs (although by now I must have encountered some, since forgotten, mentions in the press).  ꕤ

Video - RT News - Transcript - Julian Assange - Iraq War Logs

TRANSCRIPT [For quotations, confirm audio] Final SOURCE - VIDEO Title YouTube Upload:  Julian Assange to RT:  WikiLeaks gives 'most accurate picture of war' Channel:  RTNews Duration:   [8:17] Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsMK1eQ7A8 RT News Reporter So these documents come from the US military, so lot of them are obviously about US involvement.  What about implications for the UK? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, it's 400,000 classified reports:  field reports by the US army, and some intelligence reports are by marines intelligence in there, as well. The US Army, of course, was the - was and *is* - the dominant military force in Iraq.  Its presence is everywhere.  So it intersects with the operations of the CIA; it intersects with the operations of US Special Forces; it intersects with the operations of the UK military and other coalition partners.  It intersects with Iraqi police and so on. But it is not reports by those other groups, they are reports through the eyes of the US army. RT News Reporter What have we learnt that's new from these documents, or is it just the sheer scale of that we're talking about? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, you know, when you increase the scale of something, it does become new.  So we have learnt that the - we have counted now, 122,000 civilian casualties in the war.  This material has revealed 15,000 previously unreported, undocumented, civilian casualties. That's an extraordinary number of people to have never have been spoken about before. That's the equivalent to five (5) 9-11s.  That is something that is very important. We also see the cover-up of torture by coalition forces, well after  Abu Ghraib; a concrete policy - secret policy - to not intervene with torture conducted by the fledgeling Iraqi government, and thousands of cases relating to that.  Some of them, to give an example, of how bad the situation is; some of them resulted in detainees in the custody of the Iraqi government deliberately confessing to being terrorists, in order to get transferred into US custody where the conditions were better. So, if you think about it, this is - you're retained by the Iraqi police and you stand up and say "I am Osama bin Laden" equivalent, in order to be treated better.  That's how severe their conditions were. Flagrant violations of the rules of law, such as the deliberate slaying of people in the act of surrender. RT News Reporter I mean, you've talked yourself before about the everyday squalor of war.  I mean, a war scenario is something extraordinary. We've done quite a lot of work with soldiers who have PTSD and other sort of combat related conditions.  I mean, it's just a different environment that we can't possibly imagine. Should our sort of - our kind of ... moral ... moral opinions be applied to that scenario? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, we should start imagining it or stop doing it.  Or stop supporting it. It's not good to support things that you do not understand, and this is the most accurate description of a war that has ever been released into the historic record.  There is nothing comparable. It is the details of the deaths of 109,000 people; the wounding of some 170,000 people; the detainment of nearly 200,000 people during a course of six (6) years. And, of course, that's only about half the military action that went on during that period, because it's only the US view on things.  But, even so, extraordinary. We see that there's nearly no street corner in Baghdad that didn't have a body found that had been killed through violence in one form or another.  This everyday squalor of war, of course, for the people in Baghdad and other cities in Iraq was *their* everyday life for years and years, and we need to understand what the reality of war is, if we're going to choose to engage in it. And it's clear that the reasons for getting into this war - the 'weapons of mass destruction' and so on - this is a clear lie.  There's no debate about this anymore. And the other - the second most stated reason that we would - 'we,' being the West - would clean up the government system of Iraq, introduce rule of law and prevent torture, has completely failed.  During that period of time lawlessness, absence of rule of law, and arbitrary killing, were much higher than they were under Saddam Hussein; and now we are left with an Iraqi government that commits torture. RT News Reporter Last question.  The Pentagon have put their PR machine into operation after you released the Afghan War Diaries.  What are you expecting from them this time around? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, we expect a similar sort of counter-attack.  Every time you release something like this, we expect a counter-attack.  You're never quite sure what it is.  It tends to be a different thing, [that] each time is seized upon and then amplified [cough].  Last it time it was names appearing in the material, which the Pentagon managed to successfully fool the press into believing was going to be a great big assassination list for the Taliban.  But, in fact, nearly all of those names were right to appear:  they were the names of governors who were taking bribes by the US military, or the names of radio stations that were taking bribes to put on propaganda content.  Not at all something that can lead to a proper, democratic state and, as recently as last week, NATO officials in Kabul said that they could not find a single person that needed protecting or moving. The Pentagon says that not a single person has been wounded or killed, and a letter has come out that was originally written on August 16th by Defence Secretary Gates to a US Senator, stating that no sensitive intelligence sources or methods - no sensitive intelligence sources or methods - were revealed in that material.  But, of course, that wasn't the public line. The public line was that, in fact, many had been revealed.  So we  this was just some kind of propaganda. I don't think - they've tried that in the - that was the first card that they played in the release of this material about Iraq.  We expected that it would be the first card that they would play, which is why we went through extra steps to make sure it couldn't be distracted from in that way.  But I also think that they have overstepped their previous position and the  press and the public knows this now, so they can't keep on trying the same old trick. People should understand that - not the Pentagon as a whole, because there are good people in it, but at the top - the Pentagon issues statements which are simply not credible.  It has done so for years.  It has been exposed by various members of the press (including us), and, you know, from our point of view, looking at these attacks on us, the Pentagon's public statements are about as credible as that of North Korea. ..............  8:17 end   .............. COMMENT Best line was: "Pentagon's public statements are about as credible as that of North Korea". Find it had to believe that there's any nice people at the Pentagon. Text checked against audio.  Couple of corrections made. OTHER Link to related blog post - here ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- Please support journalist, Julian Assange Under Siege Ecuador embassy, London (3 Years) Detained 5 Years No Charge FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/ ꕤ

UK–US Extradition Treaty of 2003 - Laurie Love Extradition to US - Preliminary Hearing Oct 2015

2007 - Ambassador Tuttle and Baroness Scotland ratifing the bilateral extradition treaty between the U.S. and the UK [source:  here] COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Home › News › Lauri Love discusses why he fears US extradition Lauri Love discusses why he fears US extradition After being re-arrested by British authorities, Lauri Love has spoken to the BBC about why he wants to be tried in the UK rather than be extradited to the US: I would say my prospects of due process in America are essentially zero, and the prospect of extradition is tantamount to a punishment worse than any punishment from the UK justice system. The BBC includes a brief video of Love talking about the toll his case has taken thus far, “My parents and me are quite stressed. I have had time to acclimatise. My dad has had a heart condition and my mum is a natural worrier.” Love has not been charged with a crime in the UK, even though that’s where the alleged offences occurred. “The charges should be heard here… where 12 of my peers should be found to try me,” Love said. See our extradition page to see why “the UK-USA extradition treaty, ratified by the US Senate in 2006 and implemented in 2007, is fundamentally skewed towards misuse by the US Department of Justice. Love has a preliminary hearing in October before the proper extradition hearing in December. Support his legal defence fund here. See the BBC’s full story here. SOURCE https://freelauri.com/2015/08/16/lauri-love-discusses-why-he-fears-us-extradition/ Support Laurie Love The Courage Foundation https://freelauri.com/donate ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- FURTHER US Persecution of Whistleblowers, Activists, Journalists Persecuted US whistleblowers, activists and journalists Jeremy Hammond Barrett Brown Aaron Swartz Chelsea Manning USA:  Over-Prosecution / Extremely Harsh Sentences US government: aggressively over-prosecuted  threatening extremely long prison sentences (producing intense pressure for deals and pleas) ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- SOLITARY CONFINEMENT / TORTURE extensive use of solitary confinement as punishment prolonged use of solitary confinement: deemed torture by every major human rights group USA solitary confinement / torture = routine form of punishment for even the smallest infractions without concern for prisoners’ mental health ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- UK-USA extradition treaty ratified by US Senate 2006 (implemented in 2007) fundamentally skewed towards misuse by the US Dept of Justice. designed for terrorism suspects allows the US to extradite British citizens for breaking US laws, even if the offence committed in the UK Reverse does not apply:  Britain may not extradite US citizens. ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- Low Burden of Proof *Therefore US extradition readily obtained, without sufficient proof to warrant extradition. Zero successful extraditions of American citizens committing a crime while on US soil (since 2007) versus 77 British citizens extradited to the US without the right to contest evidence without any legal aid to assist with trial in America ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- NOTE:  multiple areas of judicial imbalance ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- UK Home Affairs Select Committee = report calling for significant reform (2012) Conservative-led govt failed to respond "Lauri Love must be allowed to contest the allegations against him in the United Kingdom. To properly defend himself in court, he needs substantial support for his legal defense fund." SOURCE https://freelauri.com/fighting-extradition/ ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 *Opposition* Link (historical) - here ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- EXTRACT Press Release UK/U.S. Extradition Treaty Ratified 26 April 2007 The United Kingdom and United States have today ratified a bilateral extradition treaty to ensure more effective arrangements to bring offenders from either state to justice.  [ lol .. it's skewed] SOURCE:  http://london.usembassy.gov/ukpapress48.html UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK%E2%80%93US_extradition_treaty_of_2003 ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- Other Please support journalist, Julian Assange Under Siege Ecuador embassy, London (3 Years) Detained 5 Years No Charge FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/  ꕤ

Assange - Politically Motivated Persecution of a Journalist, the Passive Press & the British Foreign Office Pantomime

Sweden’s double standards on Julian Assange posted by Peter Tatchell ... on Mon, 10/08/2015 - 11:40 Prosecutors have interviewed 44 people in UK since 2010. Why not Assange? London, UK - 10 August 2015 "The Swedish prosecutors are guilty of double standards and victimisation. They’ve interviewed 44 people in the UK since 2010. Why not Assange? They are making an exception of him. He’s being singled out and treated differently. It is wrong to deny Assange the option to be interviewed in the UK, which has been extended to others and which he has been offering for five years”, said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. He was commenting on a Freedom of Information request revealing that Swedish prosecutors have interviewed 44 suspects in the UK since 2010, while for five years declining Julian Assange’s offer to be interviewed at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London. They have long insisted that he must go to Sweden to be interviewed about the sex allegations against him. Mr Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, has supported Julian Assange for the last five years, on civil liberties grounds and on the grounds that he is a legitimate whistleblower. “The Swedish authorities are not applying the law about overseas interviews consistently and fairly. They are acting in an exceptional and discriminatory way towards Assange,” added Mr Tatchell. “A few weeks ago, a prosecutor from Sweden confided to me that the Assange case has been handled badly by Marianne Ny. He said she should have come to London to interview him five years ago. It is not unusual for Swedish prosecutors to interview suspects overseas, he confirmed, so it doesn’t make sense for them to not interview Assange in London. “In November last year, the Swedish Court of Appeal found Ny in breach of her duty to proceed the case at maximum speed and efficiency. It took another seven months, until June this year, for Ny to request an interview with Assange in London. She then cancelled the interview at the last minute. The Swedish prosecutor is the main roadblock in the case. She is not only denying Assange the right to swift justice, she is hindering the legal process and should be taken off the case. “Julian Assange has been in various forms of detention for five years, without ever having been charged with any offence. This amounts to pre-trial punishment and is a gross abuse of his human rights and the legal system. “The Swedish prosecutor has still not made a decision on whether Assange should be charged, which makes his treatment all the more shocking. “Assange’s case is an important civil liberties and human rights issue,” said Mr Tatchell. SOURCE http://www.petertatchellfoundation.org/civil-liberties/sweden-s-double-standards-julian-assange ---------------------- ꕤ  ----------------------  COMMENT We should all be concerned that corrupt government can (and does) act with impunity (Britain, Sweden and US), while pontificating about 'American values,' 'Western values' or 'European values', democracy, and all the rest of the fanciful garbage they trot out, every time they seek to pull the wool over the public's eyes. Sweden and the UK have got away with making an exception of Assange, dragging this out for 5 years, apparently determined to get Assange onto Swedish soil.  And they're taking the worldwide public (and the British taxpayer) for fools:  because they can.  The mainstream press that's supposed to play a key role as vital check to ensure just and democratic government, has allowed these corrupt forces to ride roughshod over journalism, justice, international law, and human rights. Instead of fighting to put an end to the persecution of a fellow journalist, the corporate press just echoes the government narrative, without question. The press should be screaming that this is taking place: Twelve million pounds (ie US$18 million) spent to date by UK, trapping Assange in the Ecuador embassy; exclusion of Assange from the 2014 change in law that was intended to prevent precisely this sort of 'pre-charge' detention situation from happening in future; 5-year-long insistence that Assange to go Sweden and Sweden's refusal to interview Assange in London - over a five year stretch; Sweden having made an exception of Assange, by refusing to interview him in London (unlike the 44 others they've interviewed in London). All of the above show just how determined these people are to deny Assange justice, in order to despatch him to the US - as was their intention all along.  That speaks for itself:  this is political persecution, without any doubt. I wonder just how much of a hand these governments have had in the 2010 developments in Sweden that brought about this suspiciously convenient de facto imprisonment of Assange? UK is shamelessly making a performance of lodging a formal objection to Ecuador for granting political asylum to Assange (which, as a sovereign nation, it is entitled to grant). UK ought rightfully be censuring Sweden for failing to resolve this matter 5 years ago and failing to interview Assange in London in all the years it has had to do so. The only one that's been denied justice is the journalist that's been detained for nearly five years on flimsy Swedish police allegations.  The same police that did not follow procedures, did not properly record (audio / video) interviews (while taking care not to apply these same lax standards to defence witnesses), the police that tampered with the police database, and the same police that did not get a sworn statement.  And that's just for starters.   Although I've been following this for a while now, it has taken until now to really see this for what it is. I say that on the basis of seeing the pantomime they're putting on now, as well as how they have conducted themselves to this point. This is clearly politically motivated persecution. Dead dictators would be proud of these conniving fascists.   This is disgusting.  And it's unbelievable that this isn't a press and public uproar, particularly in Australia.   Journalist, Assange has been targeted because he and his organisation exposed war US crimes. The same people that brought you constitutional violation, general contempt for the law, mass surveillance, surveillance of entire countries, rendition, torture, invasions on false pretexts etc, are the same lying, hypocritical, corrupt, coalition that has denied Assange liberty without charge. What they're doing - and what the press permits them to do - is absolutely disgusting. Please help support Australian journalist, Julian Assange, in any way you can: FAQ & Support Justice4Assange https://justice4assange.com/ ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- 2012 - Notification to Sweden from Ecuardor:   Assange Available Sweden Refused To Interview Assange in London Sweden Lied - Claimed 'cannot' interview London Others Interviewed In London - 44 of them The various politicians and their legal puppets have absolutely no conscience. Politicians Lying Psychopaths in Suits ꕤ