WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested and taken into custody by the London's Metropolitan police, just as WikiLeaks warned days ago was about to happen. Assange's lawyer Jen Robinson reports that his arrest is related to an extradition request from the United States, which the British government has until now refused to admit exists.
"Just confirmed: #Assange has been arrested not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request," tweeted Robinson.
"From #Assange: The US warrant was issued in December 2017 and is for conspiracy with Chelsea Manning in early 2010," Robinson added.
So there you have it. Extradited for journalism. In a blur, everything that Assange and WikiLeaks have been warning about for years has been proven correct, contrary to mountains of claims to the contrary by establishment loyalists everywhere. The same government which tortured Chelsea Manning is in the process of extraditing her publisher so that they can silence him forever. Everyone who has ever denied that this was happening needs to hang their heads in shame for scoffing at a very real threat to press freedoms everywhere when they could have been opposing this obscene agenda. It's time for some serious soul searching.
The time to act is now. It's too late to prevent Assange from losing his asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy, so the goal now is to fight extradition. Activist groups are swiftly organizing as I type this, so it will be easy for people around the world to find rallies to attend and online movements to help boost. I encourage everyone in the US, the UK and Australia to contact their elected representatives and politely but urgently inform them that the agenda to extradite Assange to the US must be fought at all costs. Educate yourself as best as you can on Assange's case, and inform everyone you know about what's going on.
This is seriously gut wrenching news. Here are ten thoughts on the matter in no particular order:
1 - The Metropolitan police were let into the embassy by the Ecuadorian ambassador, his political asylum revoked under entirely false pretenses in gross violation of international law. Shame on Ecuador.
2 - Assange is an Australian citizen. As of this writing, the Australian government has still not interceded to protect its citizen. Shame on Australia.
3 - The US government is setting a precedent which, if carried out, will constitute a grave threat to press freedoms the world over and a greater leap in the direction of Orwellian dystopia than the Patriot Act. Shame on America.
4 - The UK government is collaborating with the US government's efforts to imprison a journalist for publishing evidence of US war crimes, just as it has collaborated with the US government in perpetrating war crimes. Shame on the UK.
5 - This arrest warrant was issued under the Trump administration, in full alignment with what the Trump administration has openly been saying about its agenda to silence WikiLeaks. Shame on Trump, and shame on anyone who continues to support him.
6 - This arrest is a Trump administration action, and has nothing to do with the 2016 Russia nonsense that Democrats have been shrieking about, yet these same Democrats who claim to oppose Trump and oppose his war on the press are currently cheerleading for Trump's prosecution of a journalist who told the truth. Shame on Democrats.
7 - I am going to have a zero tolerance policy for QAnon cultists who try to tell me that this is actually 5-D chess by Trump to overthrow the Deep State. Stay out of my comments, stay out of my social media notifications, stay the hell away from me, and please rethink your worldview.
8 - The precedent set by imprisoning a foreign journalist under the Espionage Act will enable the US government to arrest leak publishers anywhere in the world who expose its crimes. This will cripple our ability to hold the most powerful institution on the planet to account in any way. There is no excuse for any journalist anywhere not to oppose this tooth and claw. If you see anyone calling themselves a journalist but failing to oppose Assange's extradition, you should call them out for the frauds that they are.
9 - And yes, like it or not, Assange is a journalist. There is no legitimate argument to the contrary.
10 - This is it, folks. This is where we find out what we're made of as a species. This is where we find out if humanity gets to survive, and if it deserves to. If we can't stop the empire from imprisoning a journalist for publishing facts right in front of our eyes, we might as well roll over and tap out right now, because if we lose this one it's never going to get any better from there. If we can't pass this test, the oligarchs and the opaque government agencies which are allied with them will march us into extinction or Orwellian dystopia, and there'll be no tool in our toolbox to stop them. We need to seriously dig deep on this one.
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Like wrecking him with this years-long 'house arrest' wasn't enough; an example has to be stated on top of this torture! This is a stupid revenge game!
Good
Contact your representatives? It is because of the false belief that you need permission to be free that this is happening in the first place. Fuck governments. Stop voting, don’t trust politicians and main stream media, and spread the tenants of liberty everywhere.
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I made a donation to the wikileaks defense fund as soon as I saw the news on twitter this morning. https://defend.wikileaks.org/donate/
My heart hurts.
Good article resteemed. To be clear, this is not just a Trump administration issue. Hillary wanted to drone strike Assange. Obama wanted him arrested. To be clear. The decision to cave was on Ecuador, and the UK, but it has been something the pressure has been on to do since the beginning. It just happens to have culminated during the Trump administration.
If Trump was on the ball here he'd pardon Assange, as the only people threatened by Assange are the Swamp Creatures that Trump promised to get rid of by draining the swamp. The problem is when you wade into the swamp, if you don't act quick you risk becoming part of it.
Many politicians have talked about Assange and Treason for years and saying he should be killed. In both parties.
The problem is Assange as you stated is NOT a U.S. Citizen and therefore it is impossible for him to commit treason against the U.S.
Not to mention that he did nothing more than any other Journalist with access to that information would do. In fact he had far more integrity than most of them these days.
The phrase they are saying is him encouraging Manning with is flimsy. It isn't even asking for an act. It is an observation. It basically is saying that once you've seen the things hidden in the corner, it is hard not to notice what is in other corners. That is not encouragement. It is an observation.
Let's also be clear that there are still people in the Trump administration that were also part of the Obama administration, and other administrations. The true establishment in D.C. is all of those people that have no term limits.
we got it. you like trump.
And just to chime in.. there are plenty of actions from Trump I don't like. Particularly related to Syria.
Depending upon how he handles this Assange situation I may be pretty pissed off too. Yet, it is too early to say as this is something that has been in the works since 2010. Trump was elected in 2016. Do the math, it's pretty simple. Also consider Assange has been in the Ecuadorian embassy for 7 years. He certainly could not have been hiding from Trump before Trump was president. I am against the media pulling their typical bullshit and lying about it being Trump until Trump actually does something. Which so far, all we can do is guess.
And... no I don't blame climate change on white people. I don't blame climate change on teaching mathematics in school. I tend to look for actual evidence before I get pissed off. I very well could end up being quite pissed off about this Assange situation. Yet that still remains to be seen. I am no prophet. Neither are you.
If that is all you get from it. Read it again without filters.
Even if Assange committed a crime, it does not justify the US and UK ignoring international law and treaties, which protect political prisoners like Assange.
Given the US history, I personally expect Assange to end up in Gitmo.
IF they give him a fair trial, Assange will win...so clearly there will be no fair trial.
And yes, they are all in on it...all the evil bastards, like Trump, Obama, HRC, Kissinger, Cheney, Madeline Albright, Pelosi, Feinstein, and the evil neo-cons that aren't coming to my mind at the moment.
You buried the lead though...the Deep State or Permanent State are the ones out for Assange.
Assange has clearly made a fool out of them.
I agree. Yet I also say he committed no crime. No more than any other journalist. Have you noticed they not once have ever stated the information he released is a lie. He reveals the truth about crimes, and they attack him. I think that speaks volumes.
Wikileaks has never had to issue a retraction.
Name ONE other publisher that can make that claim!
I urge everyone to join me in the silent online protest .. change your profile picture and make the statement
#JeSuisAssange
https://steemit.com/informationwar/@elektropunkz/julian-assange-arrested
lol
Something tells me that reports that Manning was twice driven to suicide are false.
One of the attempts was on her Twitter feed, live...I suppose someone could have hacked Twitter?
Almost anyone who "attempts" suicide and does not succeed was not really trying, they don't want to kill themselves, they want attention. Anyone who "attempts" twice and does not succeed is just trying to get attention. Anyone who "attempts" suicide live on twitter is just a total attention whore.
Are you a mental health professional?
I would love to see the research that verifies your assertions.
Are you trying to dox me?
You should look it up, the search terms will have to do with "attempted" and "completed" suicides. you should also look up how downvotes/flags work on steemit and reconsider your actions. If someone wants to die they will choose a means like a gun or jumping in front of a train, if someone wants attention they will take some pills.
Why do you take a shit upon Chelsea Manning, while also degrading the experience of people experiencing such a crisis in their life that they consider to, attempt to, or actually do take their life.
People in this type of mental health crisis need professional help. They don't need a fuckwad like you pissing and shitting upon the dark hole their life has left them in.
for starters that dude is a traitor. I see you have not yet fixed the flag of my comment, I am going to give you 24 hours to do so before I take a big shit on you Karl.
I am sure people who "attempt suicide" in twitter have loads of mental health issues, people who do take their lives and those who cry for attention on twitter are not the same. Poor traitor, don't commit treason if you don't want to be shit on.
Committing suicide is not that hard, if you 'attempt" twice and fail then you were not really trying. If you get revived from your "suicide attempt" and don't get a DNR when you try again then you don't really want to die, you just want attention. Why is that fact upsetting to you?
How long have you thought of yourself as a "hack fucktard idiot "? who first called you that?
When were you first called an "idiot"? Do prisoners have access to twitter, idiot?
Are you spamming the same comment with 4 replies? Seems desperate for attention. Do you respond to "idiot", idiot?
Aw, must have struck a nerve, did your suicide attempt fail?