Assange to Remain in UK Prison Beyond Release Date

By Stephen Lendman

Source

On orders from Washington, Julian Assange is being slowly killed — by UK and US dark forces in cahoots with each other.

Facing 18 bogus charges under the long ago outdated 1917 Espionage Act, a WW I relic, he’s been judged guilty by accusation for the “high crime” of truth-telling journalism — what Western media long ago abandoned, serving instead as press agents for powerful interests.

Earlier, Assange justifiably explained that WikiLeaks “publish(es) newsworthy content,” its legal right, adding: 

“Consistent with the US Constitution, we publish material (from reliable sources) that we can confirm to be true…”

In the US, UK, and elsewhere in the West, censorship is the new normal — speech, independent media, and academic freedoms gravely threatened, especially online, the last frontier of free and open expression dark forces want eliminated.

Social media, Google, and other tech giants are complicit in a campaign to suppress content conflicting with the official narrative.

What’s happening in plain sight is the hallmark of totalitarian rule – controlling the message, eliminating alternative news, information and analysis, notably on major geopolitical issues.

When truth-telling and dissent are considered threats to national security, free and open societies no longer exist – the slippery slope where the US and other Western societies are heading.

Will Assange be extradited to the US or will he expire behind bars in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, Britain’s Gitmo? 

The latter is most likely. Denied rights afforded murders and other hardened criminals, his mental and physical health deteriorated markedly from months of mind-numbing solitary confinement.

Perhaps he won’t live long enough to face extradition hearing proceedings, scheduled for late February 2020 — or if still alive, maybe to be zombie-like at the time from his cruel and inhumane mistreatment.

Last April, UK authorities arrested and detained him solely for extradition to the US.

Department of Justice spokeswoman Nicole Oxman acknowledged it, saying “I can confirm that Julian Assange was arrested in relation to a provisional extradition request from the United States of America.”

His arrest, imprisonment, and mistreatment are all about wanting truth-telling on major issues silenced — US charges against him fabricated.

According to UK media, he’ll remain in prison beyond his scheduled September 22 release date (half way through his 50-week sentence), the Trump and Boris Johnson regimes colluding to keep him behind bars.

On Friday, Westminster Magistrates Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser ordered him to remain imprisoned at least through his February 2020 extradition hearing, saying the following:

“You have been produced today (by video link from Belmarsh prison) because your sentence of imprisonment is about to come to an end,” adding:

“When that happens, your remand status changes from a serving prisoner to a person facing extradition.”

“Therefore I have given your lawyer an opportunity to make an application for bail on your behalf and she has declined to do so. Perhaps not surprisingly in light of your history of absconding in these proceedings.”

“In my view, I have substantial ground for believing if I release you, you will abscond again.”

No absconding occurred. In August 2012, Assange was granted political asylum by Ecuador in its London embassy — his legal right under international law, fearing extradition to Sweden over fabricated rape charges, a ruse to extradite him to the US.

An extradition administrative hearing will be held on October 11, followed by a case management hearing on October 21 — ahead of a final extradition hearing in late February.

After Friday’s ruling, WikiLeaks said the following:

“This morning’s hearing was not a bail hearing, it was a technical hearing. Despite this, the magistrate preemptively refused bail before the defense requested it,” adding:

“Magistrate says Assange to remain in prison indefinitely. He has been in increasing forms of deprivation of liberty since his arrest 9 years ago, one week after he started publishing Cablegate” — referring to US crimes of war, against humanity, and other international law breaches revealed from US diplomatic cables.

A Final Comment

Last April, establishment media cheered Assange’s unjustifiable arrest.

The NYT, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and other US major media called him no free-press hero.

WaPo said his arrest was “long overdue.” The Wall Street Journal  falsely accused him of targeting “democratic institutions or governments.”

The NYT said “(h)e deserves his fate,” calling him “an odious person,” falsely accusing him of “act(ing) as a conduit for Russian intelligence services…and help(ing) (to) spread the conspiracy theory (sic) that the leaked (Dem) email’s” weren’t hacked. 

Following Friday’s London hearing, the Times was at it again, falsely claiming WikiLeaks “release(d) thousands of (Dem) party emails stolen by Russian hackers (sic).”

Material was leaked, nothing hacked by Russia or anyone else.

Publishing it is what investigative journalism the way it should be is all about — what the Times and other establishment media long ago abandoned.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!