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julian_assange_extradition_case_to_the_us [2020/02/26 14:41] editor113julian_assange_extradition_case_to_the_us [2021/09/18 19:14] (current) – [The Espionage Act] editor117
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 ====== Julian Assange Extradition Case to the US ====== ====== Julian Assange Extradition Case to the US ======
  
-Last April the US submitted a request to the UK to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is charged with 17 Espionage Act offenses, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit computer crime (for allegedly attempting to protect a source’s anonymity). He risks a possible 175 years prison sentence.+{{ :campaign_material:dont_extradite_assange-flag.png?300|}}
  
-**The extradition hearing began in London on 24th February 2020**+**In April 2019 the US submitted a request to the UK to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is charged with 17 Espionage Act offenses, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit computer crime (for allegedly attempting to protect a source’s anonymity). He risks a possible 175 years prison sentence.**
  
-This hearing will last for one week. The case is set to resume for three weeks on May 18th 2020.+**The extradition hearing took place in London in [[USA vs Julian Assange extradition hearing Part 1 24-28 Feb|February 2020]]and [[usa_uk_vs_julian_assange_-_extradition_hearing_part_2|September 2020]]**
  
-==== Court Hearings ====+**On January 4th 2021, district judge Vanessa Baraister rendered the [[https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/usa-v-julian-assange/|first instance verdict]]: she ruled Assange cannot be extradited to the US on the grounds //it would be unjust and oppressive to extradite him by reason of his medical condition//. However, she did not accept as valid the other important bars to extradition {{:eh2_court_documents:2020.11.06_assange_extradition_hearings_assange_defence_closing_submissions.pdf|the defense team had brought to her attention}}, that Assange is a journalist and the charges against him are political. The freedom of the press is still very much under threat. Assange was denied bail. The US has appealed**
  
-  * [[usa_vs_julian_assange_extradition_hearing_part_1_24-28_feb|Part 1 February 24 - 28]]  +===== Context =====
-  * [[usa_vs_julian_assange_extradition_hearing_part_2|Part 2 May 18 - June 5]]+
  
-====== Context ======+**See also [[Political persecution of Assange and WikiLeaks]]**
  
 Wikileaks founder and journalist Julian Assange is held at [[Belmarsh high-security prison]] in London, since April 2019 when Ecuador terminated the political asylum [[http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/330913 | granted to him in 2012]] under Correa's presidency, rendered him to the UK authorities and the USA officially requested to the UK his extradition for trial. Indeed after years of investigation by a secret grand jury in the USA, paralleled by [[https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24665 | multiparty political persecution which severely damaged his body and mind]], Julian Assange is now charged in the USA with 17 Espionage Act offenses,  and 1 count of conspiracy to commit computer crime for allegedly attempting to protect a source’s anonymity - totaling a possible 175 years prison sentence.  Wikileaks founder and journalist Julian Assange is held at [[Belmarsh high-security prison]] in London, since April 2019 when Ecuador terminated the political asylum [[http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/330913 | granted to him in 2012]] under Correa's presidency, rendered him to the UK authorities and the USA officially requested to the UK his extradition for trial. Indeed after years of investigation by a secret grand jury in the USA, paralleled by [[https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24665 | multiparty political persecution which severely damaged his body and mind]], Julian Assange is now charged in the USA with 17 Espionage Act offenses,  and 1 count of conspiracy to commit computer crime for allegedly attempting to protect a source’s anonymity - totaling a possible 175 years prison sentence. 
  
-The charges all relate to Wikileaks journalistic activities of publishing authentic information in the  interest of the public, many times in collaboration with other news outlets. Specifically in this case, the charges relate to the publishing by Wikileaks of documents transmitted by ex-army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, revealing US war crimes in Irak and Afghanistan. +The charges all relate to Wikileaks journalistic activities of publishing authentic information in the  interest of the public, many times in collaboration with other news outlets. Specifically in this case, the charges relate to the publishing by Wikileaks of documents transmitted by ex-army whistleblower [[https://challengepower.info/chelsea_manning|Chelsea Manning]], revealing US war crimes in Irak and Afghanistan. 
  
 **Hence the charges basically equate journalism and truthtelling to treason, when in fact the duty of journalists, whistleblowers, activists, citizens, is to the people, not to the power.**  **Hence the charges basically equate journalism and truthtelling to treason, when in fact the duty of journalists, whistleblowers, activists, citizens, is to the people, not to the power.** 
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 To let this extradition and prosecution happen would inaugurate an era darker than we know.  To let this extradition and prosecution happen would inaugurate an era darker than we know. 
  
-====== The indictment ====== 
  
-https://www.scribd.com/document/411275244/Assange-superseding-indictment#from_embed+===== The indictment =====
  
-====== Analysis of the indictment ======+{{ :us_vs_assange.png?nolink&600 |}}
  
-==== WikiLeaks' response to the indictment ====+==== First indictment ====
  
-https://wikileaks.org/WikiLeaks-response-espionage-act.html+{{ ::assange-indictment.pdf |PDF version of the March 6th 2018 indictment}}Also available as [[Indictment 06-03-2018 Full text|full-text]].
  
-==== Media analysis of the indictment, as compiled by WikiLeaks defence fund run by Courage foundation ====+==== The Superseding Indictment - 24-06-2020 ====
  
-https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/06/05/media-analysis-of-julian-assanges-superseding-indictment/ +{{ docs:superceding_indictment_p1.png?300|}}
  
-==== An attack on the press ====+On June 24th 2020, the US published a [[superseding_indictment_-_24-06-2020|new version of the indictment of Assange]], as a //new// base for requesting his US extradition. In a rather unusual move, the US are changing the nature of the accusations, while the extradition hearing (trial) is already going on. {{ ::06_24_20_returned_redacted_foreperson_name_0.pdf |Original PDF version}} and [[superseding_indictment_-_24-06-2020| full-text (OCR) version of the superseding indictment]], copy-pastable with table of content and links to sections, sub-sections, etc.
  
-Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg reacts to the indictment saying espionage charges against Assange are the most significant attack on the press since the Pentagon Papers+  * Accusing Assange of a broadened alleged "hacking conspiracy" involving "Anonymous", lulzsec, antisec, CCC, Snowden, etc.  
 +  * Attempting to qualify WikiLeaks as an intelligence agency "recruiting" sources. 
 +  * doesnt formally **add** charges (as it would be illegal according to extradition treaties), yet heavily **modifies and broadens** the existing ones. 
 +  * Criminalizing the helping of Edward Snowden out of Hong-Kong. 
 +  * A lot of the alleged conspiracy relies on the testimony of **Sigurdur Thordarson** as //"Teenager"//. Thordarson had served a three-year sentence for multiple counts of embezzlement and fraud, including against WikiLeaks and sex crimes against nine minors. Thordarsson stole tens of thousands of dollars from WikiLeaks, and impersonated Julian Assange in order to carry out the embezzlement. As part of the criminal prosecution of Thordarson in Iceland, he was examined by a forensic psychiatrist who diagnosed him as a sociopath suffering from a “severe anti-social personality disorder.”. ([[https://wikileaks.org/US-DoJ-Preparing-Additional-Indictment.html|source]])
  
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJuCNrRXxC4&feature=youtu.be+Redacted names in the indictment: 
 +  * WLA-2 = Daniel Domscheit-Berg 
 +  * WLA-3 = Jacob Appelbaum 
 +  * WLA-4 = Sarah Harrison 
 +  * "Teenager" = Sigurdur Thordarson 
 +  * “NATO Country-1” = Iceland 
 +  
 +US DoJ press release: 
 +https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-superseding-indictment
  
-See also [[In Defense of Julian Assange]] +[[https://shadowproof.com/2020/06/25/assange-indictment-wikileaks-staff-criminalized-help-snowden/|US Government Expands Assange Indictment To Criminalize Assistance Provided To Edward Snowden]] - ShadowProof 25/06/2020
  
-====== The UK-US extradition treaty ======+==== Analysis of the indictment ====
  
-==== Text of the treaty ====+=== WikiLeaks' response to the indictment ===
  
-Extradition treaty between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America+https://wikileaks.org/WikiLeaks-response-espionage-act.html
  
-https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/243246/7146.pdf+=== Media analysis of the indictment, as compiled by WikiLeaks defence fund run by Courage foundation ===
  
-==== Critics ====+https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/06/05/media-analysis-of-julian-assanges-superseding-indictment/ 
  
-=== Johnson: "Elements of extradition arrangements with the U.S. are imbalanced." ===+=== An attack on the press ===
  
-Jeremy Corbyn praises Julian Assange and calls for extradition to US to be halted. The prime minister Boris Johnson acknowledged“To be frank, I think Mr Corbyn has a point in his characterisation of our extradition arrangements with the United States and I do think there are elements of that relationship that are imbalanced. I certainly think it is worth looking at.+See [[The "Assange Precedent"]]how Assange's case impacts journalism worldwide.
  
-https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-julian-assange-extradition-us-wikileaks-war-crimes-a9331376.html+Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg reacts to the indictment saying espionage charges against Assange are the most significant attack on the press since the Pentagon Papers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJuCNrRXxC4&feature=youtu.be
  
-=== While demanding Assange, US refuses to extradite CIA agent who killed British teen ===+See also [[In Defense of Julian Assange]] 
  
-High-ranking CIA agent Anne Sacoolas is charged with killing a teenage British citizen. While the US demands Julian Assange’s extradition, it refuses to give up its spy. +==== The Espionage Act ====
  
-https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/18/assange-us-extradite-cia-killed-british-teen/+=== I am guilty of violating the Espionage Act ===
  
-=== Australian MPs call on UK to block US extradition ===+Opinion by filmmaker Laura Poitras, Dec. 21, 2020
  
-https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/18/julian-assange-australian-mps-uk-boris-johnson-block-us-extradition+https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/opinion/laura-poitras-assange-espionage-act.html 
  
-==== Bars to extradition in Assange's case ====+=== Assange and the Espionage Act ===
  
-=== Six legal arguments show why the US extradition of Julian Assange should be denied ===+https://consortiumnews.com/2021/07/07/the-espionage-act-julian-assange-2-the-espionage-acts-uk-origins/
  
-1. Client-lawyer confidentiality breached 
  
-2. The initial charge is flawed 
  
-3. Initial charge relies on co-operation from Manning+===== About Extradition =====
  
-4. Additional charges raised by the US are political+==== History of Extradition ====
  
-5. US legal precedent argues that Assange’s work is protected by the US Constitution+=== a John Stuart Mill quote ====
  
-6Threats of violence against Assange mean he’s unable to receive fair trial+//" Among other matters of importance in which I took an active part, but which excited little interest in the public, two deserve particular mentionI joined with several other independent Liberals in defeating an Extradition Bill introduced at the very end of the session of 1866, and by which, though surrender avowedly for political offences was not authorized, political refugees, if charged by foreign Government with acts which are necessarily incident to all attempts at insurrection, would have been surrendered to be dealt with by the criminal courts of the Governments against which they had rebelled : thus making the British Government an accomplice in the vengeance of foreign despotisms"//
  
-https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2020/01/25/six-legal-arguments-show-why-the-us-extradition-of-julian-assange-should-be-denied/+John Stuart Mill (Autobiography), quoted by Naomi Colvin in the 36C3 talk [[https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-11090-the_case_against_wikileaks_a_direct_threat_to_our_community#t=1979|The case against WikiLeaks]]
  
-==== About the Political Offense Exception ====+=== The practice of extradition from antiquity to modern France and the United States ===
  
-=== The Political Offense ExceptionPunishing whistleblowers abroad ===+https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1575&context=iclr 
  
-Mark Dell Kielsgard https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-political-offense-exception-punishing-whistleblowers-abroad/+=== Terrorism, Criminal law, and Politics ===
  
-=== Queen Elizabeth won’t get involved in Julian Assange case because it’s POLITICAL matter ===+"Recent  atrocities  have  ensured  that  terrorism  and  how  to  deal  with  terrorists  legally and politically has been the subject of much discussion and debate on the international stage. This book presents a study of changes in the legal treatment of those perpetrating crimes of a political character over several decades. It most centrally deals with the political offence exception and how it has changed. The book looks at this change from an international perspective with particular focus on the United States. Interdisciplinary in approach, it examines the fields of ter-rorism and political crime from legal, political science and criminological perspec-tives. It will be of interest to a broad range of academics and researchers, as well as to policymakers involved in creating new anti-terrorist policies."
  
-A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman has said the Queen will not intervene to release Julian Assange, vowing to remain “non-political.” The statement seemingly confirms that Assange’s detention is a political, not criminal, matter. +Julia Jansson
  
-https://www.rt.com/uk/480974-queen-elizabeth-julian-assange/+https://defend.wikileaks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1006908.pdf
  
- +==== European Convention on Extradition ====
-===== European Convention on Extradition =====+
  
 European Convention on Extradition https://rm.coe.int/1680064587 European Convention on Extradition https://rm.coe.int/1680064587
  
-===== History of Extradition =====+==== The UK-US extradition treaty ====
  
-//" Among other matters of importance in which I took an active part, but which excited little interest in the public, two deserve particular mention. I joined with several other independent Liberals in defeating an Extradition Bill introduced at the very end of the session of 1866, and by which, though surrender avowedly for political offences was not authorized, political refugees, if charged by a foreign Government with acts which are necessarily incident to all attempts at insurrection, would have been surrendered to be dealt with by the criminal courts of the Governments against which they had rebelled thus making the British Government an accomplice in the vengeance of foreign despotisms"//+Extradition treaty between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America:
  
-John Stuart Mill (Autobiography), quoted by Naomi Colvin in the 36C3 talk [[https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-11090-the_case_against_wikileaks_a_direct_threat_to_our_community#t=1979|The case against WikiLeaks]]+https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/243246/7146.pdf
  
 +=== Critics of UK-US extradition treaty ===
  
-====== Spying on Assange inside the Ecuadorian Embassy ======+**Johnson: "Elements of extradition arrangements with the U.S. are imbalanced."**
  
 +Jeremy Corbyn praises Julian Assange and calls for extradition to US to be halted. The prime minister Boris Johnson acknowledged: “To be frank, I think Mr Corbyn has a point in his characterisation of our extradition arrangements with the United States and I do think there are elements of that relationship that are imbalanced. I certainly think it is worth looking at.”
  
-==== CIA spied on Julian Assange 24/7 in Ecuadorian embassy ====+https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-julian-assange-extradition-us-wikileaks-war-crimes-a9331376.html
  
-https://thegrayzone.com/2019/10/10/cia-spied-on-julian-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy/+**While demanding Assange, US refuses to extradite CIA agent who killed British teen**
  
-==== Assange suspected Spanish security firm was spying on him in London ====+High-ranking CIA agent Anne Sacoolas is charged with killing teenage British citizen. While the US demands Julian Assange’s extradition, it refuses to give up its spy. 
  
-Judge De la Mata questioned Assange after sending a European Investigation Order (EIO) on September 25 requesting assistance from British authoritiesAs part of the request, the judge said that David Morales, owner of UC Global SL, “invaded the privacy of Assange and his lawyers by placing microphones inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London without consent from the affected parties.” The request also stated that the information thus collected was distributed to other people and institutions, including “authorities from Ecuador and agents from the United States.”+https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/18/assange-us-extradite-cia-killed-british-teen/
  
-https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/12/21/inenglish/1576950842_252812.html+==== Bars to extradition in Assange's case ====
  
-==== Three protected witnesses accuse Spanish ex-marine of spying on Julian Assange ====+{{ :campaign_material:toeornottoewrite.png?400 |}}
  
-According to the evidence provided by the witnesses – videos, audio tapes and dozens of emails the spying operation was intensive. Under Morales’s express orders, the security team photographed the passports of all of Assangevisitorstook apart their cellphonesdownloaded content from their iPadstook notes and put together reports on each meeting.+Legal arguments why the US extradition of Julian Assange should be denied include the nature of Assange'work as a journalist and publisher and that the charges against him are politicalas well as due process violations[[Spying on Assange inside the Ecuadorian Embassy|spying on Assange and his lawyers]], and [[https://challengepower.info/political_persecution_of_assange_and_wikileaks#damages_to_assange_s_healthaccess_to_healthcare_denied|his bad physical and mental health]]
  
-The three witness statements all spoke of the phrases Morales used with his most-trusted workers in reference to the alleged collaboration with the US secret service“We are playing in the first division,” “I have gone to the dark side,” “Those in control are the American friends,” “The American client,” “The American friends are asking me to confirm,” “The North American will get us a lot of contracts around the world,” and “US intelligence.” The obsession over any Russian visit or sign of a link between Assange and Russia was also reflected in the photographs that were taken of the passport visas of some visitors.+They are exposed in the {{:eh2_court_documents:2020.11.06_assange_extradition_hearings_assange_defence_closing_submissions.pdf| defence closing statement}}
  
-https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2020/01/21/inenglish/1579611351_198492.html+See also : https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2020/01/25/six-legal-arguments-show-why-the-us-extradition-of-julian-assange-should-be-denied/
  
-==== Will alleged CIA misbehavior set Julian Assange free? ====+=== About the Political Offense Exception ===
  
-A few days before Christmas, Julian Assange testified to a Spanish court that a Spanish security company, UC Global S.L., acting in coordination with the CIA, illegally recorded all his actions and conversations, including with his lawyers, and streamed them back in real time to the CIA. He will, at the end of February, make a similar complaint to a British extradition court about the CIA’s alleged misbehavior.+**The Political Offense Exception: Punishing whistleblowers abroad**
  
-Will such misbehavior, if proven, set Assange free?+Mark Dell Kielsgard https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-political-offense-exception-punishing-whistleblowers-abroad/
  
-The Daniel Ellsberg case may be instructive. You may recall that after the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in the “Pentagon Papers” case, Ellsberg was indicted under the Espionage Act for leaking Pentagon documents to The New York Times and The Washington Post.+**Queen Elizabeth wont get involved in Julian Assange case because it’s a POLITICAL matter**
  
-After the trial commenced in San Franciscoit was brought to the judge’s attention that the White House plumbers” broke into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. Based on that information and other complaints of government misbehavior, including the FBI’s interception of Ellsberg’s telephone conversations with government officialJudge William Matthew Byrne decided that the case should be dismissed with prejudice because the government acted outrageously.+A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman has said the Queen will not intervene to release Julian Assangevowing to remain non-political.” The statement seemingly confirms that Assange’s detention is politicalnot criminal, matter
  
-For similar reasons, the case against Assange should be dismissed, if it reaches the U.S. courts.+https://www.rt.com/uk/480974-queen-elizabeth-julian-assange/
  
-The usual remedy for warrantless surveillance is to exclude any illegally obtained information from the trial, but that remedy is inapplicable here. The government’s advantage in surveilling Assange is not the acquisition of tangible evidence but, rather, intangible insights into Assange’s legal strategy. There is no way, therefore, to give Assange a fair trial, since his opponents will know every move he will make. 
  
-When Assange begins his extradition hearing, this will be part of his argument — that the CIA’s misbehavior violates his human rights by depriving him of his right to a fair trial.+===== USA vs Assange Extradition Hearings =====
  
-https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/477939-will-cia-misbehavior-set-julian-assange-free +  * [[usa_vs_julian_assange_extradition_hearing_part_1_24-28_feb|Part 1 February 24 28, 2020]]  
- +  * [[usa_uk_vs_julian_assange_-_extradition_hearing_part_2|Part 2 September 7 October 1st 2020]] 
- +  * [[Extradition hearing first instance verdict No US extradition, but...]] 
-== The practice of extradition from antiquity to modern France and the United States == +
- +
-https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1575&context=iclr +
  
  
-====== Other related articles ====== 
  
  
-==== Targeting Assange Supporters: Results of my Personal FOIA request to the FBI ==== 
  
-https://angelof-truth.com/2020/02/15/targeting-assange-supporters-results-of-my-personal-foia-request-to-the-fbi/ 
  
-==== ‘Media Freedom’ Campaign Pushes Magnitsky Sanctions – But Ignores Case of Julian Assange ==== 
  
-https://21stcenturywire.com/2020/02/17/media-freedom-campaign-pushes-magnitsky-sanctions-while-ignoring-the-persecution-of-julian-assange/ 
  
-==== WikiLeaks demands answers as Twitter account LOCKED ahead of Assange extradition hearing ====  
  
-https://www.rt.com/news/481049-wikileaks-locked-twitter-extradition-assange/ 
  
  
  
  
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