Julian Assange is in prison for doing what journalists do, publish things.
Zero Hedge claims: “Assange published secret U.S. State documents and videos. Embarrassing yes, but surely not indictable in a country that protects freedom of speech in its constitution.”
Whoa up a minute. Freedom of speech does not protect people who publish secret government documents.
Zerohedge continues: “Never mind the fact that Assange is an Australian citizen, but far from protecting him against being tried for espionage in America, the Morrison government’s public statements have been limited to assurances that he is being treated like any other citizen with ongoing consular assistance.
“Are we being served by our “free media’ in its reportage of the Wikileaks expose and the subsequent treatment of Julian Assange?”
No, of course not. Instead the media has abandoned Assange.
“Instead of seeing the 2016/17 Democratic National Committee (DNC) email leaks as important data on presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the prevailing narrative by the mainstream media was that Wikileaks’ handed the presidency to Donald Trump. Although the voter count showed Clinton had the majority by just over 3M votes and that Trump’s win had more to do with the American Electoral College system, the focus remained on the now debunked “Russiagate.”
Face the fact that hundreds of years ago the Constitution identified the American Electoral System and defined the electoral college as the correct election system in the America…. Over two hundred years ago!!
Hillary lost because of the electoral system, not because Wikileaks had anything to do with handing Donald Trump the presidency..
“The case against Assange concerns the criminalisation of journalism at a time when media organisations in his own country are under siege. Federal Police raided the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in June for reporting alleged warcrimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan. This followed search warrants being executed at the home of Murdoch media journalist Annika Smethhurst over a leaked plan to allow government spying on its citizens. The coverage included detailed reporting of detectives rifling through her underwear drawer.
“Contrast this with the lack of reportage on some important aspects of the Assange case.
“In May, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer visited Assange in Belmarsh Prison producing a damning report which was widely circulated, but surprisingly had little impact.
“It was obvious that Mr. Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the extremely hostile and arbitrary environment he has been exposed to for many years. Most importantly, in addition to physical ailments, Mr Assange showed all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic anxiety and intense psychological trauma.
“Mr Melzer’s report included this extraordinary claim:
“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law. The collective persecution of Julian Assange must end here and now!”
“How could such a grave statement not have triggered further investigation and commentary other than by independent journalists? Melzer’s horrific diagnosis involves the life of a western journalist going to a western jail for doing his job.
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