In the sad saga of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, a new page is written - alas, also sad. In May, the process of extradition of Julian, languishing in the terrible British top-secret prison "Belmarsh", to the United States, where he was already prepared for a cell in one of Guantanamo’s branches for life, was to continue. So the Anglo-American establishment is going to do away with it for revealing to the world the gloomy secrets of the Iraq war, preparing for the war in Syria and other secrets of the State Department.
Held on Monday, May 4, the hearing was conducted over the Internet due to a pandemic. Journalists could theoretically hear the progress of the discussion by dialing a specific phone number. But the problem is “due to a technical error” the journalists who dialed this number were able to hear only background music. The cynical priests of British justice in such a simple manner disrupted even the nominal publicity of the proceedings.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser postponed the continuation of the hearings to September, the exact date and place will be set additionally. Assange could not even attend the meeting remotely: he is ill. For more than a year he has been in this maximum security prison, bedridden by shackles for 23 and a half hours a day. Only for half an hour he is taken out for a walk in the courtyard along with 150 prisoners, mostly accused of terrorism. Recently, this prison, like other prisons in England, has turned into a breeding ground for the coronavirus. The authorities apparently hope that Assange will die in prison and save them from having to expel him.
Indeed, in defense of Assange there are continuous demonstrations of protest, but these demonstrations are virtual thanks to a convenient pandemic, which means that you can ignore them.
On May 3, International Press Freedom Day, unions of journalists from many countries, including England, protested and demanded the release of Julian, a brave journalist who did not violate laws in either England or America. His extradition in the United States is prohibited even by the Anglo-American extradition treaty, because they are not extradited from the UK for political "crimes". It would seem that the British could release Julian, especially since now the United States has refused to give the British a woman who killed a British teenager. But Judge Baraitser has already shown his hostility and partiality towards Assange - she rejects all defense requests, even when the American representatives agree.
Julian Assange must be released, and not kept for another four months in dangerous prison conditions. Journalism only makes sense if it is free.
Mandelstam divided all the works into authorized and written without permission. The first is scum, the second is stolen air. He spoke of prose, but in a sense, this also applies to her younger sister, journalism. If journalists are imprisoned for exposing secrets not entrusted to them, the press will become an obedient poodle, not a fighting protector of human rights. This is especially true today, when, under the pretext of a pandemic, the already limited rights of citizens are being cut everywhere. The fight for Assange's freedom continues!
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.