For years, journalists cheered Assange’s abuse. Now they’ve paved his path to a US gulag
JVL Introduction
Jonathan Cook writes with measured rage and fury about the unending confinement of Julian Assange – his arbitrary detention and torture through intense physical confinement and endless psychological pressure.
He rages, too, against the capitulation of most journalists who abandoned him and now stand silently by if not actively colluding in his extradition.
Assange has been made to suffer by western governments to deter other journalists from following in his Wikileaks footsteps.
And, says Cook, they have been successful. We have endured eight years of misdirection by the corporate media and its willing complicity in his character assassination, which has laid the ground for the current public indifference to Assange’s extradition and widespread ignorance of its horrendous implications.
“The only conclusion to be drawn is that corporate journalists care less about the truth than they do about their careers, their salaries, their status, and their access to the rich and powerful.”
This article was originally published by Jonathan Cook Blog on Wed 2 Sep 2020. Read the original here.
For years, journalists cheered Assange’s abuse. Now they’ve paved his path to a US gulag
Loading article text…
Another great article by Jonathan. Thank you. I shall be down at the Old Bailey on Monday. Shame on the Corporate media and their hacks. I am appalled at their cruelty. Outside the BBC the other day with my placard quoting Julian from Belmarsh
” Truth ultimately is all we have” a Security guard told me most people there are in the know but they have their mortgages and jobs. Such is journalism today.
It also needs to be said that the Guardian, which benefitted most from Assange’s and Wikileaks scoops has been the worst. And if you want to single out the worst of the Guardian pack then the prize must go to Suzanne Moore’s tweet:’I bet Assange is stuffing himself full of flattened guinea pigs. He really is the most massive turd.’
John Pilger described Moore’s behaviour as ‘slow-witted viciousness’… See my
How the Guardian’s deferential mediocrities behaved like a pack of wolves in defence of the special relationship & the British state
Jonathan Cooke’s article is a superb example of self-contained fury
Thankyou for this well researched account of the Assange case.
I wish every mainstream newspaper and TV news editor would read it today and consider their primary journalistic responsibility for holding power to account and telling the truth in the public interest.
This is such a huge subject that it is difficult to know where to start fighting this. The left members in our constituency have formed a group and discussed this last Thursday. As we are in the North it is not practical to join the picket at the court. Is there any national campaign on this we can actively support.
Under the UK/US Extradition Treaty Article 4.
Extradition shall not be granted if the offense for which extradition is requested is a political offense.
Common political crimes include bribery, treason, sedition, espionage, theft, perjury, human rights violations, and whistle blowing.
In criminology, a political crime is an act or omission prejudicial to the interests of the state or government like espionage, sedition and treason. Political crimes generally arise from political disturbances. It includes offenses arising from attack on the political order.
All the above are included in the US indictments against Julian Assange https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1153486/download
They are Political offences and therefore NON EXTRADITABLE.
The MSM approach to the disgraceful treatment of Julian Assange is sadly just one of the many current examples of massive loss of integrity of a once respectable profession.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/media-freedom-show-me-the-msm-journalist-opposing-the-torture-of-assange/amp/