[WikiLeals] Julian Assange should undoubtedly be a free man
On 24 January this year, Julian Assange was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court after the High Court ruled in favour of the USA’s attempts to extradite him. The granting of this appeal is both a victory for him as an individual and a victory for anybody that values free press and accountability. If Assange is extradited to the USA, it would be a sad day for democracy and a sad day for Britain’s pride as a sovereign nation. Such an event would take away the ability of journalists to expose government secrecy without the fear of prosecution.
Between 2006 and 2009, Wikileaks, the non-profit organization set up by Assange, published numerous documents which revealed damning evidence of atrocities carried out by the United States’ army in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This top secret military intelligence highly embarrassed the western governments which actively engaged in those conflicts.
Amongst deeply conservative groups in America, Assange is seen as an associate of the Kremlin seeking to undermine the West. In reality though, his actions have been solely motivated by a desire to end injustice and cruelty. Some prominent political leaders in the USA have claimed that the First Amendment, granting freedom of the press, does not stretch to him as he is not an American citizen. This frankly is a pathetic legal attempt to paint Assange as a villain when in reality, the real villains walk free. They are strolling the corridors of power without a care in the world.
Perhaps the most shocking part of this whole saga was when Yahoo News reported that in 2017 Mike Pompeo and other CIA officials discussed potential assassination or kidnap options of Assange. One wouldn’t be at all surprised to see such gangster state activity in Moscow or Pyongyang but in the USA it is simply unacceptable. The fact that the CIA even contemplated such a move is both despicable and seriously undermines the rule of law. America must be kidding itself when it claims to be the land of the free. To co-opt a quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, all animals are free but some are more free than others.
One would have thought though that the inauguration of Joe Biden as President would perhaps bring about a shift in the stance held by Washington. Biden has on many occasions lauded the USA as a beacon of democracy, in a world constantly teetering on the age of authoritarianism and tyranny. Unfortunately, his self-proclaimed love of a free press clearly only goes so far as he has failed to halt attempts to extradite Assange. If this isn’t hypocrisy then I don’t know what is.
Assange’s treatment not only reflects badly on the government of the USA but also on that of the United Kingdom. Our government should stop acting in this weak and febrile manner when dealing with the USA. This so called ‘special relationship’ should be one of reciprocity, not one in which the UK has to bend over backwards to accommodate every whim and wish coming out of Washington. Whether it is because they genuinely think Assange is a criminal or whether they are too craven to do anything about it, the British government should pull its finger out and act. Imagine if the USA handed over one of their citizens who had been accused of leaking British secret intelligence. It just wouldn’t happen.
If the Supreme Court, being the highest court in the United Kingdom, were to reject Assange’s appeal then his only hope would be if the Home Secretary overruled this. I hope to god that Priti Patel has the backbone and the respect for democracy to stand up to the USA and say no. Lord Goldsmith, as Attorney General for England and Wales, initially deemed any potential invasion of Iraq to be unlawful without further action from the UN. Despite this, Goldsmith ultimately U-turned, his final advice to Tony Blair was that invading Iraq was lawful. Priti Patel should learn from his mistakes. Bending one’s principles and giving into the demands of the USA can have catastrophic consequences. Somehow though I reckon that if Lord Goldsmith crumbled when his country needed him the most, so too will Priti Patel.
That is purely a hypothetical. But, the reality at the moment is just as alarming. Following his arrest in April 2019, Assange has been kept in Belmarsh high security prison, suffering conditions which are deserving only to mass murderers and rapists. Here is a man who exposed information about a government which, without proper justification, launched the invasion of Iraq. As a consequence, the country has been destabilised, hundreds of thousands have died and terrorist forces have grown in strength. Assange is a champion of accountability and freedom, two qualities which are vital for any functioning democracy. If Assange is in prison, so too should be George W. Bush and the rest of the crooks who got us into this mess.
Wikileaks / Nouse