RT
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
A British court sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks for skipping bail. The activist also faces a court hearing on extradition to Washington where he is wanted for “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.”
The Southwark Crown Court in London on Wednesday sentenced Assange to almost a year for “violating bail conditions.”Last month, he was formally convicted of skipping bail in the UK in 2012 when he was wanted over a rape allegation in Sweden (the case was later dropped).
Judge Deborah Taylor told the journalist that he had used bail to escape the law and expressed disdain for British justice.
In a letter read to the court, Assange said he was “struggling with circumstances” when he jumped bail.
“I did what I thought at the time was the best or perhaps the only thing that I could have done,” he said, apologizing to all who “consider I’ve disrespected them.”
Assange was arrested on April 11 after, resisting and yelling, he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He had claimed asylum there for several years out of fear that the British authorities would hand him over to Washington.
In the US, he is charged with “conspiracy” after working with Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower who obtained classified documents that were subsequently published through WikiLeaks.
The extradition case will be decided in a separate court hearing on Thursday.
Over the years, WikiLeaks published material on the conduct of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well American diplomatic correspondence. This included a video from Baghdad showing US troops killing civilians.
Assange’s supporters hail him for championing free speech and exposing what they call abuse of power by various governments. Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, blasted Assange’s arrest, commending the journalist for “bringing to light… human rights violations” by the US.
The executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Trevor Timm, called the charges levelled against the whistleblower in the US “a serious press freedom threat” that “should be vigorously protested.” The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also weighed in, saying it was “deeply concerned” with the prosecution and warning that the conspiracy charges against Assange “could set a dangerous precedent.”
US officials, meanwhile, blasted Assange for revealing classified information. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called WikiLeaks “a non-state hostile intelligence service” in 2017 when he was the head of the CIA.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
I dont know how the law works well enough to be sure, but perhaps this long sentence for Assange has a silver lining. Maybe it leaves more time to fight the extradition issue. However, once again, we have a supposedly objective and detached judge – clearly just about no-one in the Anglo Empire has the first idea what those words mean, or the concepts they represent, any more – throwing out insulting personal subjective assessments. It’s a poor show. No wonder “Highly likely” was so accepted. Can you imagine their reaction if a surgeon were to approach their sick bed… Read more »
I hope. CRIMINALS are being given get of jail cards and, journalists who tell the truth about the crimes of the permanent states, yo get the MAXIMUM
https://www.globalresearch.ca/tel-aviv-pays-al-qaeda-fighters-salaries-the-syrian-wars-worst-kept-secret-that-could-become-israels-nightmare/5597339?fbclid=IwAR3raWixE2AF8eqGnHm4klUwTshH8ugYarZiuJucAVpMJ8J-ragCpYLrCBo
There is NO JUSTICE to be had in the UK – pity the people who live there under the neocon dictatorship of TreasonMay and her cabal
The UK is a horrible dictatorship. I advise all Russians to withdraw all their assets and investments from the UK, if they have any there. No Russian should travel to the UK, as they might be imprisoned, tortured and extradited to “La-La-Land”, far away across the ocean.
The only Russians who have “assets and investments” in the UK are Liberal, fifth-column assholes.
They deserve what they don’t get, and the larger the sum, the better.
The UK government and justice system are a farce just like everywhere else in the world. If these corrupt leaders do not dial it back they may all end up with a good old fashioned tar and feathering and run out of town on a rail by angry mobs.
There is zero “freedom of the press” in the world today except via the official fake news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, CBS, PBS, BBC, etc..
“There is Freedom of the Press….. provided you own one.” H L Mencken
In the EUK, even “yelling” is apparently a crime. As is “resisting” arrest, even by brainless Orcs of a foreign pirate state – the CI(US)A.
What constitutes ‘yelling’ and ‘resisting’ to be liberally interpreted by people who did not graduate from high school but are armed with guns, clubs and bullet proof vests, as well as bullet-proof brains. Not to mention a license to kill.
Ah, the “People of Consummate Cant” (Nietzsche), the English, being so ‘teddibly’ [sic] polite in the line-up to Hell.
One does not know whether to laugh or weep.