Starmer, the CPS and Assange’s mistreatment
JVL Introduction
We noted at the time of Julian Assange’s long overdue release, “Assange may be free but the Press is Not” . A new ruling shows great cause for concern, some of which could implicate the current Prime Minister, although as emails were destroyed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) while Starmer was its Head and by the Swedish authorities, we may never know. The documents that have come to light, however, show that it was the CPS “that waged what appears to have been a campaign of political persecution against Assange, rather than one based on proper legal considerations.”
This is worrying on far too many levels; firstly that it led to the appalling treatment of Julian Assange including incarceration in a maximum security jail (Belmarsh) and its implications for Press Freedom and broader freedom of speech, particularly when the same man who headed the CPS is now the Prime Minister.
These documents and explanations must be released and those responsible held to account.
LL
This article was originally published by Substack on Fri 10 Jan 2025. Read the original here.
Judge threatens to break the UK's wall of secrecy around Assange's persecution
For years, the UK and Sweden stymied Freedom of Information requests to hide why prosecutors under Keir Starmer pursued the Wikileaks founder. Finally the game may be up
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Thank you both, Jonathan Cook and Judge Foss!! Essential reading and the source of a wealth of facts is the excellent book by Nils Melzer, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, entitled “The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution” which details the extent of the legal persecution of Assange by the Swedish, British and US governments, published by Penguin Random House, in hardback and paperback, in February 2022. It is available at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/697240/the-trial-of-julian-assange-by-nils-melzer/.
In Manchester today, our JVL friends had doctored their familiar banner,
Out went ‘Labour’, to be replaced by ‘the Left’.
There are people with historic loyalties who refuse to allow those loyalties to blindfold them to the truth,
Let us salute our Jewish co-fighters for freedom, for global justice, and for workers’ Internationalism! 🇵🇸❤️🇵🇸
I don’t see the relevance for JVL – Assange is not a campaigner for Palestinian rights or for socialism in the Labour Party. He chose to evade justice in the Swedish courts, took refuge in the embassy, failed to do enough to protect Bradley (Chelsea) Manning and helped to defeat Hillary Clinton and secure victory for Donald Trump. He is not and never has been a worthy cause to support. His policy was to find and publicise secret documents indiscriminately, regardless of the political outcome. Our courts made the correct decisions about Assange’s extradition.
Thank you for your comment but we do disagree (which is fine). The relevance for JVL is our commitment to free speech and press freedom. This is why we have published about Julian Assange’s case before. Of course, Palestine, criticism of Zionism and even of Israel’s actions is one of the key areas of censorship in the Press, in arts and academia. His treatment was regarded as a form of torture such that Nils Melzer (the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture) took the case up even though he was initially reluctant because he had also “bought into” the distorted narrative often used about Assange to demonise him. This is not a question of agreeing with a person but standing up for their human rights, which is also a priority for us.
Starmer is a stooge of the Establishment. Creepy Starmer went beyond the call of duty of DPP to nastily persecute Julian Assange on behalf of the USA.
I recall Starmer as an indifferent Director of our Public Prosecution Service. Counterproductive procedures for obtaining evidence from rape victims were still being followed during Starmer’s time in overall charge, I believe.
Another dark stain on a very dirty history. How can anybody be proud of this country?
Surely, these records weren’t solely on paper? I’m no IT expert, but it must take a very determined effort to totally delete electronic records. Given that this case was continuing at the time, it’s impossible to imagine any legitimate reason for law agencies to do this.
It should not be forgotten that attempts were made to blacken Assange’s reputation in order to undermine public sympathy for him by fabricated allegations of rape. I know people who fell for it and who ought to be ashamed of themselves. All revealed and explained in Nils Melzers book, ‘The trial of Julian Assange’.
I have never had much sympathy for Assange after reading Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s account (the book is still available) but obviously opinions may differ. I think the best service Assange could have rendered to the cause of journalism would have been to stand trial in the USA and win his case based on First Amendment rights. I deplore the efforts of some people to support him by arguing that the female complainants in Sweden were somehow unreliable or the pawns of the Americans. If we are going to support free speech for everyone regardless of their political leanings (we have no reason to think that Assange supports the Palestinians) then it’s a path that could easily undermine our reputation by giving the impression that we support the likes of Elon Musk.