71

All Pretence is Over in Persecution of Assange

by Craig Murray, February 14, 2018

The “judge” who dismissed Assange’s case yesterday was “Lady Arbuthnot of Edrom”, wife to Tory peer, former Tory junior Defence Minister and government whip Lord James Arbuthnot. Not to mention Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel. Arbuthnot was naturally Eton educated, the son of Major Sir John Sinclair Wemyss Arbuthnot. Of course Lady Arbuthnot’s children were all sent to Eton too.
At the first hearing, I was stunned by reports of completely inappropriate comments by Lady Arbuthnot, including responding to representations about Assange’s health by the comment that medical care is available in Wandsworth prison. As the official charade is that Assange is wanted for nothing but jumping bail, for which a custodial sentence is rare, that callous attempt at gallows humour was redolent of Arbuthnot’s Tory mindset. She also remarked – and repeats it in yesterday’s judgement – that Assange has access to fresh air through the Embassy’s balcony. That is simply untrue. The “balcony” floor is 3 feet by 20 inches and gives no opportunity to exercise. Julian does not have access to it. He is confined to a small area within the Embassy, which still has to function. The balcony is off the Ambassador’s office. He has been given access to it on average about twice a year. But Lady Arbuthnot showed a very selective attitude to getting at the truth.
The truth is that just last week the evidence was published which inarguably proves that the questioning for sexual allegations was only ever a charade to secure Assange in custody for deportation to the US, to face charges for publishing the USA’s dirty secrets. In 2013 Sweden wished to drop the investigation and the arrest warrant, and was subject to strong persuasion from the Crown Prosecution Service to maintain the warrant. This included emails from the CPS telling the Swedes “Don’t you dare” drop the case, and most tellingly of all “Please do not think this case is being dealt with as just another extradition.” That last exposes the entire pretence in just one sentence.
It is worth noting it was not the servile UK corporate media, but the Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi and the Italian newspaper Le Repubblica which obtained these emails through dogged freedom of information requests and High Court proceedings. These revealed the quite stunning truth that the CPS had systematically destroyed most of the highly incriminating correspondence, with only accidental copies of a few emails surviving to be produced in response to the FOI request.
The CPS emails devastate the official charade, which is precisely that this is just a normal extradition case. Furthermore it is admitted at para 43 of Lady Arbuthnot’s judgement that the Crown Prosecution Service actively referred the Swedish authorities to Wikileaks activities in the United States as a reason not to drop the arrest warrant, a fact which the UK mainstream media has still never reported and which obviates Lady Arbuthnot’s trite observation that there is no evidence that Sweden would have extradited Assange to the USA.
Perhaps most stunning of all Lady Arbuthnot opines at para 44 that “I cannot determine from the extracts of correspondence whether the lawyer in the extradition unit acted inappropriately” in preventing the Swedes from dropping the case and referring them to Wikileaks activities vis a vis the USA. Whereas in fact:
a) It provides irrefutable proof that this was never about the frankly unbelievable Swedish sexual allegations, which were always just a pretext for getting Assange into custody over Wikileaks’ publications
b) The reason she only has “extracts” of the correspondence is that the Crown Prosecution Service, as openly admitted in the High Court, tried to destroy all this correspondence, itself an illegal act. Arbuthnot gives them the benefit of their illegality, against all legal principle.
Lady Arbuthnot takes it upon herself to contradict the judgement of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, every one of whose members is a much more eminent lawyer than Lady Arbuthnot. The UK had of course every opportunity to raise the points made by Lady Arbuthnot in its appeal to the UN, which appeal also failed.  Lady Arbuthnot’s attempt to undermine a judgement by going back and disputing the actual facts of the case, with no opportunity to answer, is, to say the least, a creative piece of judicial process. But as with her failure to pursue the CPS’ destruction of evidence, it is just an example of her most obvious bias.
“Lady” Arbuthnot set out with one clear and evident purpose, to assist the Crown.
Lady Arbuthnot has perhaps performed an unwitting public service by the brazen nature of her partiality, which exposes beyond refutation the charade of legal process behind the effort to arrest Assange, in reality over the publication of USA secrets. The second half of Para 57 of the judgement sets out how, following his arrest for “jumping bail”, the American extradition request on espionage charges will be handled.
I should like to conclude that “Lady” Arbuthnot is a disgrace to the English justice system, but I fear she is rather typical of it. This intellectually corrupt, openly biased, callous Tory shill is rather a disgrace to humanity itself.


Assange Judge’s Husband Runs Security Firm With Ex Head of MI6

“Security Intelligence Consultancy” SC Strategy Ltd has only three directors. One is the husband of the judge in yesterday’s Assange ruling. One is the former Head of MI6, Sir John Scarlett, who is synonymous with crooked security operations and personally wrote the notorious dossier of lies on Iraqi WMD, thus causing the subsequent deaths of millions of people. One is Lord Carlile, who was notably close to protected Establishment paedophiles Greville Janner and Cyril Smith. Is the British Establishment not endlessly fascinating?
The corporate media has published no information about Lady Arbuthnot’s background and sinister links at all, despite the fact it is uniformly carrying her jibes at Assange as a major story. There can be no clearer example of the fact that it is the corporate media which, deliberately and systematically, spreads fake news, while bloggers get out the actual facts via social media.
Directors of SC Strategy Ltd from Companies House Register
SC Strategy Ltd
To anyone to whom British corruption is not axiomatic, it appears pretty rum that the judge in the Assange case is married to a government parliamentarian and close to the security services.
Lady Arbuthnot’s Husband
MP-James-Arbuthnot-in-Israel
There is some interesting background in the Mirror here. The taxpayer paid £1,200 in restaurant bills for Lady Arbuthnot and her husband in one long weekend jaunt to Turkey alone.


Craig Murray is UK’s former ambassador to Uzbekistan.  A historian by training, he’s now a human rights activist.
 

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Jen
Jen
Feb 19, 2018 9:34 PM

I looked up this Vaughan Smith (on Wikipedia) that some commenter here has raved on about and discovered that while Smith indeed lives on a large estate (Ellingham Hall), he uses it to run a farm on sustainable management principles that supplies a restaurant he also runs and to host wedding receptions (for which he or his restaurant can cater). Smith also used to work as a freelance video journalist. He gave refuge to Assange at Ellingham Hall on the basis of:
“Having watched him [Assange] give himself up last week to the British justice system, I took the decision that I would do whatever else it took to ensure that he is not denied his basic rights as a result of the anger of the powerful forces he has enraged … It was about standing up to the bully and the question of whether our country, in these historic times really was the tolerant, independent and open place I had been brought up to believe it was and feel that it needs to be.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8202800/Vaughan-Smith-why-WikiLeaks-founder-Julian-Assange-can-stay-with-me.html

MichaelK
MichaelK
Feb 19, 2018 3:39 PM

The Guardian’s coverage of the Assange Affair, has been, from the very beginning… a shameful disgrace, though a pivotal event. It illustrates how willingly the Guardian follows the State when it defines an organization or individual as an enemy of ‘our values’, which of course can be twisted out of all recognition in wartime to crush any dissent than might rear its’ head and challenge western ‘interests.’
The Guardian’s journalists have shown extraordinary levels of credulity, ignorance and abject cowardice in relation to the role of the Swedish, UK and US state’s hounding of Assange. The coverage has been shocking in its ineptitude and willingness to accept the state’s narrative about events in Sweden and the UK, which don’t stand up to a moments critical analysis and are, frankly, absurd.

Fliedlice
Fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 7:06 PM
Reply to  MichaelK

Completely agree. A complete charade from start to finish.
Makes you wonder……………..
I should have also added to my list below of true whistleblowers who deserve our utmost attention, respect and support. The men and particularly (two fearless) women (who appear on here from time to time) leading the way in exposing the ‘Nusra Helmets’ in Syria.
Keep up the great work.

Alan
Alan
Feb 19, 2018 1:11 PM

Increasingly the establishment drops the pretence of representing what we’ve been fooled into believing is their purpose.

fliedlice
fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 1:58 PM
Reply to  Alan

To protect and uphold laws written by extremely wealthy and elitist individuals? Come on, they do a fine job.

intergenerationaltrauma
intergenerationaltrauma
Feb 19, 2018 10:01 AM

When I see “The 4 D’s” in action over and over in a someone’s post I can’t help but think “government troll.” The 4 D’s” are a trolling strategy are from the secret intelligence documents released out of those provided by Edward Snowden.
“The 4 D’s: Deny, Disrupt, Degrade, Deceive.”
When you see someone posting using these common techniques one knows you’re either dealing with a government troll or a simple idiot. Either way, no point in paying them any attention.
The link below is to some of the Snowden material on government trolling strategy and techniques:
https://theintercept.com/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/

intergenerationaltrauma
intergenerationaltrauma
Feb 19, 2018 9:53 AM

Every time one thinks the corruption of Western institutions could not be more blatant or more profound, the new day dawns and provides yet more evidence of our complete and absolute corruption. There really aren’t words.

Deborah Harris
Deborah Harris
Feb 19, 2018 9:13 AM

Why aren’t they after John Young and his wife? Cryptome is a CIA honeypot.

rtj1211
rtj1211
Feb 19, 2018 8:52 AM

There was a famous case in the 1980s of leaking MOD civil servant, Clive Ponting, when the DPP was heard opining that he hoped ‘that a suitably severe member of the judiciary would be on hand to hear the case’.
Indeed one was, but the Establishment overplayed its hand and 12 jurors wilfully disobeyed a judicial direction to convict…..
One wonders whether American jurors have sufficient disrespect for corrupt authority ever to do likewise?

Big B
Big B
Feb 19, 2018 10:02 AM
Reply to  rtj1211

No jurors at Gitmo!

rtj1211
rtj1211
Feb 19, 2018 11:26 AM
Reply to  Big B

No, unlikely to be justice there, either….

Paul
Paul
Feb 19, 2018 2:10 PM
Reply to  Big B

Clive Ponting’s case was exceptional because it is very hard for a jury to disobey the Judge’s instructions to find a defendant guilty as a matter of law. I saw one case in the mid 80’s when the Judge ordered the jury to find the Defendant guilty of manslaughter once they’d acquitted him of murder. 6 times he called them back but they shouted “you can keep us here for as long as you like but we won’t do it”. It was an emotional reaction because a brother had accidentally killed his own brother. In the 17thC jurors had been imprisoned for failing to arrive at the “right” verdict. When the jury system was briefly introduced in Russia they were soon abandoned when juries disregarded overwhelming evidence to acquit political cases including high profile assisinations. In Ponting’s case he was head of the Direct Rule of Northern Ireland and released information that suggested murky goings on by Government. It was a prosecution of a whistle blower and ordinary jurors didn’t like it.

leruscino
leruscino
Feb 19, 2018 2:00 PM
Reply to  rtj1211

If Assange stands trial & is duly acquitted which is likely one can bet the US will have the extradition warrant readied & executed prior to any release !
Every which way US will get Assange unless a future Corbyn Govt has the balls to release him ?

Fair dinkum
Fair dinkum
Feb 19, 2018 7:27 AM

Just prior to his imprisonment Assange and Wikileaks were about to release documents on some multi national corporations.
As far as the One Per Cent are concerned, corporations are far more sacrosanct and beyond reproach than any government anywhere.
Hence his plight.

vexarb
vexarb
Feb 19, 2018 6:43 AM

Quis custodiet ipsos custodiens? With honest diplomats like Craig Murray on the outside, and venal judges like Lord Hutton and Lady Wotsit on the inside, it is no wonder that honest Dr.John Kelly lies dead and Mr.Leaky Wick languishes under house arrest. I think a dose of elementary morality is in order for the population at large as well as for their leaders. Lies trickle up as readily as down, while truth hides in corners hard to find. Far too many British judges in high places are merely a “safe pair of hands” — a venal individual appointed by the powerful to protect the interests of the powerful.
Deuteronomy 16:18-20 – You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 3:13 AM

Assange’s detention now exceeds the average time spent in prison by Americans convicted of manslaughter. And The pant-suited unelectable Butcher of Libya of Libya, who chortled when Gaddafi was sodomised and murdered, and cheered when bin Laden was assassinated wants Snowden home to “face the music”. Lemme guess, you think he should go. Seems like a harsh penalty for embarrassing the US government.

rtj1211
rtj1211
Feb 19, 2018 8:49 AM
Reply to  George Cornell

Well you could emulate the Establishment and bump off the Butcher of Libya.
Being ethical is slow, tortuous and follows a path where many injustices ensue…..

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 11:39 AM
Reply to  rtj1211

The Butcher was exposed with her fleshy thumbs pressing down on the scales of justice. She has zero influence anymore with the Dems who cannot abide a candidate losing a match, up by 3 goals heading into extra time. So she has effectively bumped herself off. But there will others.

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 6:14 PM
Reply to  George Cornell

http://www.iapsonline.com/sites/default/files/Prison%20Sentences%20and%20Time%20Served%20for%20Violence_0.PDF
Here is a link re various types of murder. The Ns are of course very large, after all it is the US.

Jim Scott
Jim Scott
Feb 21, 2018 9:40 PM
Reply to  George Cornell

If the US justice system is looking to punish someone for embarrassing the US Government surely they could jail that election cheat Hillary Clinton or the Clown Prince Donald Trump.

Dominic Pukallus
Dominic Pukallus
Feb 18, 2018 10:56 PM

No cucumber sandwiches for you, Craig, I’m afraid!

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 18, 2018 10:36 PM

Wikileaks is a fraud – John Young in the Guardian before they published Wikileaks material.
“But the group ran in to problems even before WikiLeaks was launched. The organisers approached John Young, who ran another website that posted leaked documents, Cryptome, and asked him to register the WikiLeaks website in his name. Young obliged and was initially an enthusiastic supporter but when the organisers announced their intention to try and raise $5m he questioned their motives, saying that kind of money could only come from the CIA or George Soros. Then he walked away.
“WikiLeaks is a fraud,” he wrote in an email when he quit. “Fuck your cute hustle and disinformation campaign against legitimate dissent. Same old shit, working for the enemy.” Young then leaked all of his email correspondence with WikiLeak’s founders, including the messages to Ellsberg.”

Seamus Padraig
Seamus Padraig
Feb 18, 2018 11:28 PM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Beware, people. ‘Eric McCoo’ here is typical of the disinformation campaign being waged against Assange–and Ed Snowden as well. Having failed to silence them, having failed (so far) to have them extradited, the only thing left for them to do is to try and convince the world that they’re really secretly working for the CIA.
Another source aggressively pushing this story is Veteran’s Today. Meanwhile, VT’s editor, Gordon Duff, has publicly admitted that about 40% of what they publish is disinformation. His story is that mixing genuine intelligence with crap is what keeps him safe from the deep state. To be sure, most of his disinfo is pretty inane: alien abductions, Israel dropping neutron bombs on Yemen, etc. It’s National Enquirer type stuff that no sane person would take seriously anyway. But some of it–like the smears against Assange and Snowden–is truly pernicious.
You have been warned.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 18, 2018 11:33 PM
Reply to  Seamus Padraig

WTF age are you ? It’s from the Guardian.

vexarb
vexarb
Feb 19, 2018 6:06 AM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

@The Short Sighted Mr. McCoo. If it’s from the Fraudian, that proves it’s disinformation.

Harry Stotle
Harry Stotle
Feb 19, 2018 10:58 AM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Lol, the Guardian, the MSM outlet that relies on digital culture commentators in San Francisco to explain war-propaganda in Syria.
Have a look at their egregious coverage on Russia before suggesting the Guardian has any other benefit beyond middle class toilet paper.
If you seriously believe Assange is an MI6 asset you have to do better than this.

MLS
MLS
Feb 18, 2018 11:51 PM
Reply to  Seamus Padraig

In fairness though there is reasonable evidence that Wikileaks started off as an intel conduit but then cut loose and evolved, as I say below. I don’t think this is an either/or, black/white type situation. I think it’s a lot of misty greys.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 19, 2018 12:00 AM
Reply to  MLS

Wikileaks was responsible for the CIA/NED’s Arab Spring operation. That was its crucial purpose. John Young, a highly credible encryption expert called them out. What has happened since Sweden I simply don’t understand.
“Amnesty International hails WikiLeaks and Guardian as Arab spring ‘catalysts’
The rights group singles out WikiLeaks and the newspapers that pored over its previously confidential government files, among them the Guardian, as a catalyst in a series of uprisings against repressive regimes, notably the overthrow of Tunisia’s long-serving president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/13/amnesty-international-wikileaks-arab-spring

bevin
bevin
Feb 18, 2018 11:37 PM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Talking of nasty smear jobs there is one in The Guardian today by one Matthew d’Ancona:
The worst view to take on Corbyn’s Czech connection is: ‘Who cares?’
Matthew d’Ancona.
We have to learn to take them and the other lies in our stride. As copious articles here and elsewhere have shown as the lies come faster the evidence gets thinner.
d’Ancona, for example has no more evidence to back his publication of the lie that Corbyn, Livingstone and a dosen other left wing Labour politicians were on the KGB payroll than brother McCoo has that Assange is an MI6 agent.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 18, 2018 10:36 PM

It has been my view from the start that Assange is an unwilling MI6 stooge sprung from an anticipated 10 year jail sentence in Australia. Wikileaks role for MI6/CIA was to incite the Arab Spring.The idea that a corporate newspaper like the Guardian or the New York Times would publish classified material is not credible to me.
I suspect the reason Manning is in jail and Seth Rich is dead is that they made the mistake of trusting Wikileaks. I believe the Swedish episode through a gigantic spanner in the works that I can’t fathom.

MLS
MLS
Feb 18, 2018 11:46 PM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

The first info dropped by Wikileaks does indeed have all the hallmarks of being intelligence agency stuff “leaked” in oder to give extra credence to their favourite narratives. There was nothing in it that wasn’t basically in line with the approved western storylines. But things have changed over time. Some stuff they have put out in the last few years ha been highly damaging to certain interest groups and suggests Wikileaks slipped its leash.
Assange could have been an unwitting conduit being used by the intel agencies who realised what was afoot and cut loose, or he could – as you say – have been a witting agent, but if so he must have gone rogue or discovered his conscience. Either way he’s clearly pissed off some very powerful people, and many of his early supporters are now calling him names and writing lies about him. So it’s probably a bit simplistic to see the entire thing from beginning to end as a straight con.

fliedlice
fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 11:16 AM
Reply to  MLS

MLS; ”Some stuff they have put out in the last few years ha been highly damaging to certain interest groups and suggests Wikileaks slipped its leash.”
If I recall correctly the Panama Papers were damaging to powerful people across the global business and political world expect Americans. Odd….
As for the ongoing American civil war; ”Slipped its leash” or is being utilized as a tool by both sides of the warring parties within US intelligence organisations and politics? Bare in mind the lengths partisan actors within these organisations will go for ‘a win’. See Mueller and his political allegiances and the Trump campaign. The US ruling class is not one united organ. They will do what ever needs to be done to fuk over the other side including leaking shit to ”whistleblowing’ sites.
Assange, like Snowden, is a US asset. Unwitting in some cases insofar as he does not appreciate or care for the ramification of what he is leaking (who stands to benefit; not his concern).
What ‘normal’ people with ‘normal upbringings’ need to appreciate about Assanges ‘imprisonment’ within the embassy is this; spending 5+ years ‘isolated’ is perfectly in keeping with his childhood and teen years. Its also perfectly in keeping with the lifestyle of a ‘world renowned’ hacker. Their whole life has conditioned them to be perfectly happy spending months/years at a time sitting in front of a monitor in a dark room. Its absolutely nothing to coders. They are arguably more comfortable in such a scenario than walking the streets with other people or sitting in a crowded pub. Particularly if they are on the autism spectrum which most of the best hackers and coders in the world are.
If Assange was given freedom tomorrow, I’d imagine it wouldn;t be long before he found himself back in a dark room months on end tapping away on a keyboard. Its what he is comfortable with. Its what he knows.
Obviously without having the freedom to choose to access the outside world can be interpreted/deemed as a negative to most ‘normal’ people, but keep in mind assets/agents/spies have had far worse assignments to fulfil while working for their masters. 5 years rent free in a London embassy with internet and take out 24/7. Where do I apply?
I’m still on the fence.

Admin
Admin
Feb 19, 2018 11:17 AM
Reply to  fliedlice

The Panama Papers were notably not very damaging at all, and certainly spared major western players almost completely.

fliedlice
fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 1:51 PM
Reply to  Admin

I would argue that the Panama Papers were in fact very damaging.
Not to people (like Cameron and co) but to actual countries who’s MO is facilitating tax avoidance/evasion and offering a haven for ill gotten gains. From Panama, Britain and its territories (Gibraltar, Caman etc) to Malta and Cyprus to name a few.
The only tax haven that went untouched and actually gained from the leak was Delaware, USA. Coincidentally an area the US has recently been aggressively trying to develop. Jobs a gud’un no?

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 19, 2018 1:56 PM
Reply to  fliedlice

Your handle is racist but I don’t suppose that concerns you too much.

Admin
Admin
Feb 19, 2018 2:55 PM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Stick to a discussion of the issues.

Harry Stotle
Harry Stotle
Feb 19, 2018 11:46 AM
Reply to  fliedlice

Your psychological analysis of Assange is a complete irrelevance (and probably very wrong) – people are not put on trial for being different.
So far, Assange has been jailed, electronically tagged, vilified in the media, and left fearing for his safety not knowing if he is about to be snatched then delivered to a country that no longer abides by international legal norms (see Guitmo).
Britain, for its part has played its cutomary role as facilitator of US abuse.
The Swedes have dropped the case, neither woman ever claimed rape (that was a politically motivated invention dreamt up by legal actors) so why has Britain defied the UN report which concluded Assanges’s detention was arbitrary?
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17012&LangID=E
I mean are you seriously suggesting that such heavy handed tactics are being being driven by a technicality over a European arrest warrant?

fliedlice
fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 1:33 PM
Reply to  Harry Stotle

Harry,
Your psychological analysis of Assange is a complete irrelevance (and probably very wrong) – people are not put on trial for being different.
Actually Harry his state of mind is quite relevant. Where you see somebody ‘imprisoned’, I see somebody perfectly settled/comfortable in his own isolation/company. I am not passing judgement on how he is ‘different’, there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ person. And I am not putting him on trial for how he has chosen to live his life. I am merely pointing out to those of you who find it hard to rationalize his ‘imprisonment’, that he himself is probably very comfortable with the position he finds himself in. Its what he knows. Its not new to him. Just like all those people who would rather go live in complete isolation in the wilderness of Alaska than an overcrowded city. I envy them.
As for
So far, Assange has been jailed
For a few days, big deal. And everything else that follows in your argument only holds water if you accept Assange is NOT a controlled asset/stooge. If you don’t buy into that narrative, then you can see everything he has been put through is a charade. For show. An act that he willingly participates in. Hence, you would not have much concern for his time spent ‘imprisoned’ within the embassy. Just as you would not have any concern for Snowdens exile in Russia (after the Chinese figured out what was happening an kicked him out of HK).
Until Assange ends up waterboarded at Gitmo I will hold my attention and concern with more pressing human rights issues of the day. As I said previous, government assets have had much shittier assigments than sitting in an embassy in London.
Which would you prefer Harry, 5 years in an embassy in London or a mud hut in Helmand?

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 1:53 PM
Reply to  fliedlice

Attitudes like yours explain why whistleblowers are so rare. You make a lot of presumptions about his happiness, denied a role in raising his children, or even seeing them. Shame on you.

Fliedlice
Fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 6:31 PM
Reply to  George Cornell

I beg your pardon George.
Assange is no ‘whistleblower’. He is merely a conduit and a stooge. A self serving narcissist who gained fame off the backs of honest, brave individuals. Chelsea Manning is a whistleblower (who Assange hung out to dry). Helen Evans (oxfam) is a whistleblower. Hervé Falciani (HSBC) is a whistleblower. Assange convinced a naive, confused young man to part with evidence Assange knew would result in prison time. So hungry for the information and knowing what it would do for HIMSELF he snatched it straight from said mans hands INSTEAD of devising a simple, secure, anonymous channel to protect the true whistleblower of the day. Shameful self serving behaviour.
As for my’ lot of presumptions’, you make one or two yourself with what follows regarding Assange, no?

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 20, 2018 4:06 AM
Reply to  Fliedlice

Conduit, stooge,self serving,narcissist?
That is your opinion but he surely threatened a group of evil villains who have reacted badly.
And what do you think WikiLeaks has done for him that is so self-serving? Stitched up on a ridiculous rape charge? Several years in detention? Abuse from people like you?
Self-serving? His reasons are known to him but he has done the world a huge service exposing the lies deceit and malevolence of those who should be the objects of your ire.

Harry Stotle
Harry Stotle
Feb 19, 2018 2:51 PM
Reply to  fliedlice

‘Until Assange ends up waterboarded at Gitmo I will hold my attention and concern with more pressing human rights issues of the day.’ – the British authorities are prepared to sacrifice legal credibility, ignore UN pronouncements about human rights abuses, and spend millions on non-stop surveillance to ensure this is exactly what happens.
In short those who expose war crimes, or who contemplate such a course of action, will made an example of – either by relentless persecution or by character assassination, via media conduits such as the Guardian.
Don’t you understand – this case is about far more than just Julian Assange or individuals personality traits, its about the way the deep state reveals itself once its interests have been sufficiently threatened.
Put another way judges will do their utmost to ensure Assange’s discomfiture while the likes of Blair, Obama and Hilary are offered a platform to regale us with endless lies about the latest existential threat despite clear evidence that they are responsible for countless deaths.

Fliedlice
Fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 6:47 PM
Reply to  Harry Stotle

Harry
the British authorities are prepared to sacrifice legal credibility, ignore UN pronouncements about human rights abuses, and spend millions on non-stop surveillance to ensure this is exactly what happens
Was it ever thus?
In short those who expose war crimes, or who contemplate such a course of action, will made an example of – either by relentless persecution or by character assassination, via media conduits such as the Guardian
Which is why my support and attention lies with people like Chelsea Manning (the actual whistleblowers) and not Mr Conduit. If a whistleblower exposed something through facebook – are we to thank the whistleblower or Mr Zuckerburg?
Put another way judges will do their utmost to ensure Assange’s discomfiture while the likes of Blair, Obama and Hilary are offered a platform to regale us with endless lies about the latest existential threat despite clear evidence that they are responsible for countless deaths
I agree with you Harry they are all scum that deserve to serve time. But as George called me out for presuming I call Assange supporters out for presuming he is in ”discomfiture’. He spent his whole free life existing in similar isolation. And again, that is also if you presume he is not a goverment stooge.
Which is debatable.

Fliedlice
Fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 7:33 PM
Reply to  Fliedlice

And one other thought Harry,
The phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is very relevant to Assanges ’embassy ordeal’.
”In short those who expose war crimes, or who contemplate such a course of action, will made an example of” and ” its about the way the deep state reveals itself once its interests have been sufficiently threatened.”
Is Assange making balcony appearances every 6 months in front of the global press for the past 5+ years not a more menacing, sinister scene to any potential future whistleblower than Assange in a prison cell out of sight? I would suggest it is.
I never ending ”reminder” for all to see.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
Feb 23, 2018 12:09 AM
Reply to  Harry Stotle

The UK is ignoring, and courtesy of Arbuthnot, abusing the UN Committee on Arbitrary Detention, because they simply adore the International Rules Based Order, the latest mantra that all loyal Imperial running-dogs must recite when abusing Russia, China or Iran etc.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 19, 2018 12:36 PM
Reply to  fliedlice

Yes, the idea that the evil British would allow hacker and alleged global trouble maker Julian Assange an internet connection to continue his campaign against the establishment is utterly ludicrous.

Admin
Admin
Feb 19, 2018 1:07 PM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Its the Ecuadorian Embassy’s internet connection, not Assange’s.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 19, 2018 1:13 PM
Reply to  Admin

They would cut it off or in other ways ensure nothing he writes is published.
BTW I noticed that 13 people downvoted me for quoting an article from the Independent revealing that Assange has higher social connections in Britain than the supposed socially privileged judge Truth hurts.

fliedlice
fliedlice
Feb 19, 2018 1:43 PM
Reply to  Admin

Just to be clear on my end, I disagree with Eric McCoo on two things.
His obsession with – ” Assange has higher social connections in Britain” –
as some sort of valid argument to what is written above by the author. I find it a nonsense argument like others on here.
And regarding the internet access – ”They would cut it off” – Another nonsense arguement. The connection and the communications (who, what, where and when) are a golden goose for his handlers. Why lose it?
Please separate my observations from McCoo. Cheers

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 19, 2018 1:52 PM
Reply to  fliedlice

The point of the social connections is that Captain Vaughn Smith looks very much like an intelligence asset. How did some two bit, low life Australian hacker like Assange get to stay in a stately home ? Assange’s personal behaviour is 100% low life. Not just the two Swedes in a bed fiasco.
“Paranoid, vain and jealous’ – the secret life of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange An excoriating profile by Julian Assange’s ghostwriter, Andrew O’Hagan, has lifted the lid on the strange world of the founder of WikiLeaks
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/10655638/Paranoid-vain-and-jealous-the-secret-life-of-WikiLeaks-founder-Julian-Assange.html

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 19, 2018 1:55 PM
Reply to  fliedlice

You 100% misunderstood what I wrote which was in agreement with you.
BTW
Learning to spell or using a spell checker might make other people take you more seriously. Not me.

C
C
Feb 19, 2018 7:43 AM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Another day on a planet seething with illiterates enslaved by ancient texts..

Mikalina
Mikalina
Feb 18, 2018 10:30 PM

Vaughan Smith is army, not aristocracy.
A gentleman’s club has a certain connotation in the UK – I don’t believe his club is one of these.
Two bit hacker? Assange had a solid reputation prior to this debacle.
Vaughan Smith would have had enough ‘clout’ with the establishment to enable Assange to stay with him post bail.
“When fleeing American authorities…..” Goodness, are the Americans after him?

Mikalina
Mikalina
Feb 18, 2018 10:32 PM
Reply to  Mikalina

In reply to Eric McCoo.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 18, 2018 10:43 PM
Reply to  Mikalina

Vaughan Smith is an aristocrat with a stately home (Ellingham Hall). I assume he is connected to British intelligence. As I said in my last post, the Swedish business was a criminal offence outside British jurisdiction and at least at the start, no one could protect him. The police went public. They couldn’t spring him from that.
Who knows what’s going on? Assange is still useful, he can still use the internet which is incredible to me.

Paul
Paul
Feb 18, 2018 10:15 PM

I was struck by her comment that he should have “the courage” to surrender himself. The courage required to submit to Life Imprisonment in America with torture thrown in, is not commonly seen. I can’t help thinking of ways Her Ladyship might show Mr A how it’s done.

Jen
Jen
Feb 19, 2018 9:10 PM
Reply to  Paul

What, you mean having the courage to declare having a conflict of interest over the Assange case (given her husband being a member of the Board of Directors of SC Strategy Limited) and recusing herself from presiding over the case?

Harry Stotle
Harry Stotle
Feb 18, 2018 10:09 PM

I hope the purile identity politics crowd at the Guardian (and elsewhere) are satisfied with the role they played in pushing the ‘sex-offender’ narrative; a ploy which became such an essential device to deflect awkward questions about the prolonged abuse of Assange by authorities in Sweden, Britain, and America.
From the get-go it was evident (to any reasonable observer) that this was an open and shut case of political persecution culminating in millions wasted on police time, loss of judicial independence, a pathological disregard for human rights, and a gutless MSM either too vindictive, or too scared to report the actual facts.
The next generation of whistle-blowers must keep in mind that Britain is a corrupt plutocracy, and the MSM will not come to their aid should they be brave enough to expose their flagrent disregard for decency or the democratic process.

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 3:22 AM
Reply to  Harry Stotle

It is a justice system that conducts much of its business at the local Masonic Lodge, turned a blind eye to Hillsborough, the child sex abuse by Saville, by Harris, by the Westminster pedophiles, by Lord Janner, to the sex trafficking of children in Rochdale, Oxford, Rotherham, all repeatedly reported to the police, and one which is generally incompetent and corrupt, and whose bottom-feeding ethos was exposed in the Stephen Lawrence case. So expectations (just as for deliverables) should be set very low.

Jen
Jen
Feb 18, 2018 10:05 PM

A justice system that acquits Saudi millionaire Ehsan Abdulaziz of rape because he claims to have tripped over and fallen on top of a teenage girl, thus accidentally penetrating her, would be expected to produce someone like Lady Arbuthnot: a system that worships money and the power and influence that go with it.
To think that this system has been inherited by so many former British colonies as part of their justice systems.

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 3:24 AM
Reply to  Jen

The nominal system itself is not the problem, it is the staffing and their corrupt ethos. See above.

Jen
Jen
Feb 19, 2018 4:31 AM
Reply to  George Cornell

The system relies on precedent cases to serve as examples of authority in future cases that have similar characteristics. The more cases such as the case of Ehsan Abdulaziz that arise that can serve as precedents, the more the system itself becomes biased towards serving the interests of power and money, and itself requires overturning.

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 19, 2018 10:45 AM
Reply to  Jen

But Jen the core problem is not that democracy is fundamentally flawed, even though it is, of course, but no better alternatives. But that key flaw is human nature. Mencken said democracy is that system of government in which it is assumed the common man knows what he wants, and deserves to get it good and hard.
So to improve things, a start would be to legislate against its failings. Zero tolerance for bribes, influence peddling, lobbying for a start. Eliminating lobbyists is feasible. Two party government demonstrably doesn’t work. But judging by the Americans, it is hard to get decent people into politics.

Jen
Jen
Feb 19, 2018 9:19 PM
Reply to  George Cornell

No, I meant the British legal system being based on precedent case.
The political system is a different beast but as C (below) notes, it is also a major problem. Democracy, or rather “democracy” was tacked onto it. One good start would be to ditch the system altogether, starting with the monarchy, and stripping the various duchies (and their associated investments) from members of the British royal family and returning them to public ownership. A new system based on grassroots organisations and cooperation could be proposed and put forward for public approval.

George Cornell
George Cornell
Feb 20, 2018 1:23 PM
Reply to  Jen

That would be a tall order. I would prefer starting with a critical analysis of how democracy has been gamed in the US, and start to plug the holes bit by bit with legislation. Sorta like democracy.

C
C
Feb 19, 2018 7:51 AM
Reply to  George Cornell

How can the ‘nominal system’ not be the problem if it was shaped by the ruling class of one of the most toxic class societies on earth?

archie1954
archie1954
Feb 18, 2018 9:51 PM

The whole World knew that Assange’s prosecution and imprisonment were politically motivated and had nothing to do with alleged sexual encounters. How did it know? One just has to note the expenditures to keep Assange holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy at the cost of millions of pounds per year, to realize that no British government is going to waste taxpayers’ money like that, to keep track of a man who has never been charged with a crime but is only wanted for questioning.

Jen
Jen
Feb 18, 2018 10:09 PM
Reply to  archie1954

At least in that respect, Assange did something good even with little active effort on his own part (but at the cost of his own health): by wasting so much taxpayer money which could have gone instead into lining politicians’ and corporation pockets … oops, I mean wasteful defence spending on warships that leak, fighter jets that drop out of the sky and submarines that sink straight to the bottom of the sea and stay there.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 18, 2018 9:35 PM

So Assange’s buddy, an ex British army officer is an aristocrat who owns a stately home and a gentleman’s club in London. He was an EMBEDDED journalist in Afghanistan. Stranger than fiction.
Channel Four
Journalist Vaughan Smith has spent a month with the British army in Afghanistan ahead of Operation Moshtarak.
He went on patrol in Helmand province with a group of soldiers tasked with keeping the Taliban out of the village of Kushal Kalay, so that another group could go in and clear the area of the Taliban’s Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs. Vaughan Smith’s report gives a remarkable insider’s view of their three and a half-hour patrol.British forces and their allies have prepared for the biggest battle of the eight-year war in Afghanistan, under Operation Moshtarak

Dave Hansell
Dave Hansell
Feb 19, 2018 8:51 AM
Reply to  Eric McCoo

Your not from around these parts are you Eric.
Otherwise you’d have a much better handle on the hierarchical distinctions of the British/English class system.
A minor aristo who is a mere Captain having better connections and more clout than people like Baron Arbuthnot, Sir John Scarlett et Al. Yeah, right.
You must think we’ve all just fell off the bloody Christmas tree. Go tell it to he marines and be better briefed next time.

Eric McCoo
Eric McCoo
Feb 18, 2018 9:26 PM

Assange, who entered this process as a two bit Australian hacker has higher social connections in Britain than judge Lady Arbuthnot of Edrom. When fleeing American authorities he gave a press conference to the world’s media in London. You literally couldn’t make any of this up.
The Independent.
The 39-year-old Australian will be the subject of an atypical form of house arrest. Ellingham Hall, close to the village of Bungay, is the ancestral home of Captain Vaughan Smith, the former British Army officer and journalist who is a key supporter of the WikiLeaks editor-in-chief.
It has emerged that while journalists and, presumably the US government, sought to establish Mr Assange’s whereabouts as WikiLeaks began to publish diplomatic cables two weeks ago, he had been at the Frontline Club, the central London haunt for reporters, which is owned by Captain Smith.