The Australian Citizens Party has put out an excellent press release on the Assange trial, and the precedence it is setting in terms of abuse of process and general injustice, that will impact upon all of us in the coming times:
“Assange trial may determine your fate
This media release is an article that was published in the Australian Alert Service on 26 February 2020. Julian Assange’s extradition hearing commenced on 24 February. Following a week of legal argument the proceedings were adjourned and will continue with three weeks of evidence scheduled to begin on 18 May. In the lead-up to the May trial, it’s vital for Australians to demand justice, and that Assange be exonerated and free to return to Australia. We face perilous times should the British Crown Court uphold the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. A 25 February tweet by Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, makes this clear: “This is not just about Julian Assange. This is a battle over press freedom, the rule of law and the future even of democracy. For democracy cannot co-exist with secrecy. When you deprive the public of their right to know, you deprive them of the tools to control their government!” Assange should be hailed as a hero who has exposed war crimes and systemic corruption. Yet he faces torture and life in jail. If we as a society collectively accept such a miscarriage of justice through our inaction and indifference, we risk going to our deathbeds with a nagging pain that we failed to act when we could. We risk leaving our world to tyrannical leaders and a miserable future for many generations to come. In a 24 February interview on RT’s Going Underground, Melzer explained the media stonewall he experienced last June. “I was unable to place an op-ed demasking the torture of Julian Assange after having visited him and examined him with medical experts. I contacted the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Australian mainstream media, the British mainstream media; it was impossible to place it.”
