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WikiLeaks founder jailed in London on bogus charges

Patrick Martin | 08.12.2010 14:50 | Repression | Sheffield | World

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by British police Tuesday morning, denied bail by a London magistrate and then jailed. Assange faces a hearing December 14 on an extradition request by Swedish authorities, who issued a warrant last week on fabricated charges of sexual misconduct.

US officials applauded the arrest and noted that Washington has had an extradition treaty with Sweden for the past 50 years, a signal that once in Swedish custody Assange would face the danger of being shipped off to an American detention facility like Guantanamo Bay or a CIA “black site” prison.

Such comments underscore the basic political reality in the Assange case: the WikiLeaks leader has been targeted, not because of his private conduct in Sweden, but in retaliation for the devastating worldwide impact of the WikiLeaks exposures of US military atrocities and diplomatic skullduggery.

Assange is in jail, while the real criminals, the American warmongers whose crimes against humanity are being exposed daily on WikiLeaks, remain free.

A statement issued by the Metropolitan Police (New Scotland Yard) said that officers in its extradition unit had arrested Assange in response to a European Arrest Warrant. “He is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010,” the statement said.

Police brought him later in the day to Westminster Magistrates’ court, where he was denied bail and remanded to police custody for seven days, until a further hearing. The WikiLeaks leader said little during his court appearance, except to declare his unwillingness to be extradited to Sweden and to formally request bail.

Prosecutor Gemma Lindfield, representing the Swedish authorities, objected to the bail request, citing Assange’s “nomadic lifestyle” (he moves frequently because of death threats), temporary residence in Britain, and media reports that he would seek political asylum in Switzerland. She also cited his refusal to have his fingerprints taken or give a DNA sample on arrest.

The prosecutor actually cited the large number of death threats issued against Assange as a reason for keeping him in detention, warning “any number of unstable persons could take it upon themselves to cause him serious harm.” This statement is remarkable for its chutzpah: the same US military/intelligence apparatus that created the climate for the death threats is behind the Swedish prosecution.

Despite the fact that Assange voluntarily surrendered to the police before the hearing, Lindfield declared, “This is someone for whom, simply put, no conditions, even the most stringent conditions that could be imposed, would ensure he would surrender to the jurisdiction of this court.”

Assange’s attorney Mark Stephens called the outcome “unfortunate” but said Assange would make another bail application. “This is going to go viral,” he said. “Many people believe Mr. Assange to be innocent, myself included. Many people believe the prosecution to be politically motivated.”

Another of his London-based lawyers, Jennifer Robinson, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,

“I think he will get a fair hearing here in Britain but I think our, his, prospects if he were ever to be returned to the US, which is a real threat, of a fair trial, is, in my view, nigh on impossible.”

Magistrate Howard Biddle denied bail despite the declaration by a half dozen prominent British citizens that they were willing to post bond to assure Assange’s future. Several of them appeared in the courtroom, including film director Ken Loach, journalist and documentarian John Pilger, and Jemima Khan, former wife of Pakistan cricket star Imran Khan.

John Pilger told reporters, “This is a man who’s made some very serious enemies for the very best of reasons.” He said he knew Assange personally and had “a very high regard for him.”

Pilger added: “I am aware of the offenses and I am also aware of quite a lot of the detail around the offenses. I am here today because the charges against him in Sweden are absurd and were judged as absurd by the chief prosecutor there when she threw the whole thing out until a senior political figure intervened.”

In an implicit criticism of the reporters who were questioning him about his support for Assange, Pilger said, “One only has to read the document to understand the enormous service that Julian Assange has put to us and when I say us, I mean the whole of humanity and journalism. This is the best type of journalism. It is telling the truth.”

He said that he was prepared to put up £20,000 as surety “because there was a possibility of an injustice being perpetrated against Julian Assange personally. He has been a doing the job of a journalist and he deserves the support of people who believe that the free flow of information is the bedrock of a democracy.”

Ken Loach, director of such films as Land and Freedom, Bread and Roses, and The Wind That Shakes the Barley, said that he did not know Assange personally but was willing to put up £20,000 for bond. “I think the work he has done has been a public service,” he said. “I think we are entitled to know the dealings of those that govern us.”

Speaking with ZDNet UK, he called the judge’s decision to deny bail “very shocking.” He cited “the coincidental nature of the charges and that he has published documents,” concluding, “It’s just bizarre that a person who makes documents available should be treated in this way.”

Jemima Khan, who is also the sister of Conservative Member of Parliament Zac Goldsmith, told the court that although she did not personally know Assange she was prepared to offer £20,000, “or more if need be.” Retired solicitor Geoffrey Shears and retired Professor Patricia David also pledged the same sum, while a sixth unnamed person offered to put up £80,000, for a total bail fund of £160,000.

The decision of these individuals, including leading figures in art and journalism, to come forward in defense of WikiLeaks is to be welcomed. It is a demonstration of the shift in public opinion on a world scale, and a growing recognition of and hostility toward the crimes of American imperialism.

This shift is taking place within the borders of the United States as well, despite the universal demonization of WikiLeaks in the corporate-controlled media and both big business political parties. It is significant that in the Internet voting on Time magazine’s web site for the “Man of the Year” award, Julian Assange is the top choice, with more than 300,000 online votes.

The legal persecution by Sweden makes a mockery of genuine rape charges, as it involves admittedly consensual sexual encounters with two women, both of whom subsequently posted celebratory comments via Twitter and SMS.

While press accounts invariably describe the two as “WikiLeaks volunteers,” at least one of them, Anna Ardin, has ties to right-wing organizations in Sweden, contributing regularly to a Swedish/Spanish anti-Castro publication affiliated with the Union Liberal Cubana, a right-wing exile group.

While this frame-up has sent Assange to a British jail, at least temporarily, the technological and financial attack on his organization continues. Visa and MasterCard announced Tuesday that they were suspending all payments to WikiLeaks pending an investigation of the legality of the group’s activities.

At the same time, as Charles Arthur, the technology editor of the British newspaper the Guardian, points out, both financial companies continue to allow users to make donations to “overtly racist organisations such as the Knights Party, which is supported by the Ku Klux Klan.” The Ku Klux Klan web site directs users to a site called Christian Concepts. It takes Visa and MasterCard donations for users willing to profess their racist and Christian convictions.

Patrick Martin
- Homepage: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/dec2010/assa-d08.shtml

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

nice piece

08.12.2010 15:10

while i enjoyed your article and found it informative, lets not go down the route of discrediting the people who have brought charges against assange. Those charges may be true, and it is not for you or I to decide that they are 'petty'. None of us know the truth of it. Just because assange has done some good shit doesn't make him a saint. The case is no doubt being used politically. But that doesn't mean there isn't truth in it. None of us know. So please stop ridiculing and rubbishing the name of people who may have been mistreated by assange and who have brought chartges against him. That is journalism worthy only of crass publications like the daily mail, and not something i expect to see on indymedia.

Take care


Visitor list

08.12.2010 15:14

... Now that Assange is held in a known location by the state; I wonder how many visits he's getting from CIA / MI6 etc... ?

Visitor


Nice article, Mr care possible connections to accuser& security services

08.12.2010 15:57

need to be investigated, I agree that its needs to stated clearly unless there is full evidence that the lady accusing is circumstantially connected to the state.etc.

Its obvious that the charges are being politically motivated otherwise many other media figures would be in jail now from arnold shwarzenegger to Sean Connery,etc.
One accusation of groping should not be used to destroy wikileaks& other organisations, with a literal medieval witch hunt.
The data uncovered by assange is mainly low level secrets if accessisble to 3million workers in the nsa,cia&fbi,
this is what used to be called a ducking.

Witchfinder General in another life


re: nice piece

08.12.2010 17:13

It does look pretty bad for the people who made the complaints - they were "twittering" happily about meeting him right after the alleged incidents, and Anna Ardin even published a guide on the internet on how to get legal revenge on an ex-partner! And then tried to delete it to cover it up until it a cached copy was found.

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this does have all the hallmarks of a US dirty tricks campaign.

Check out these revenge tips. WTF!? Seriously sociopathic. What kind of mind thinks these things up?!

7 Steps to Legal Revenge by Anna Ardin

January 19, 2010

I’ve been thinking about some revenge over the last few days and came across a very good side who inspired me to this seven-point revenge instruction in Swedish.

Steg 1 / Step 1

Tänk igenom väldigt noga om du verkligen ska hämnas. Consider very carefully if you really must take revenge. Det är nästan alltid bättre att förlåta än att hämnas

It is almost always better to forgive than to avenge

Steg 2 / Step 2

Tänk igenom varför du ska hämnas. Think about why you want revenge. Du behöver alltså inte bara vara på det klara med vem du ska hämnas på utan också varför. Hämnd ska aldrig riktas mot bara en person, utan även möta en viss handling.

You need to be clear about who to take revenge on, as well as why. Revenge is never directed against only one person, but also the actions of the person.

Steg 3 / Step 3

Proportionalitetsprincipen.

The principle of proportionality.

Kom ihåg att hämnden inte bara ska matcha dådet i storlek utan även i art.

Remember that revenge will not only match the deed in size but also in nature.

En bra hämnd är kopplad till det som gjorts mot dig.

A good revenge is linked to what has been done against you.

Om du till exempel vill hämnas på någon som varit otrogen eller som dumpat dig, så bör straffet ha något med dejting/sex/trohet att göra.

For example if you want revenge on someone who cheated or who dumped you, you should use a punishment with dating/sex/fidelity involved.

Steg 4 / Step 4

Gör en brainstorm kring lämpliga åtgärder för kategorin av hämnd du är ute efter. För att fortsätta exemplet ovan så kan du paja ditt offers nuvarande relation, fixa så att dennes nye partner är otrogen eller se till att han får en galning efter sig.

Do a brainstorm of appropriate measures for the category of revenge you’re after. To continue the example above, you can sabotage your victim’s current relationship, such as getting his new partner to be unfaithful or ensure that he gets a madman after him.

Använd din fantasi!

Use your imagination!

Steg 5 / Step 5

Tänk ut hur du kan hämnas systematiskt.

Figure out how you can systematically take revenge.

Kanske kan en serie brev och foton som får den nya att tro att ni ännu ses bättre än bara en stor lögn vid ett enstaka tillfälle?

Send your victim a series of letters and photographs that make your victim’s new partner believe that you are still together which is better than to tell just one big lie on one single occasion

Steg 6 / Step 6

Ranka dina systematiska hämndscheman från låg till hög i termer av troligt lyckat genomförande, krävd insats från dig samt grad av tillfredsställelse om du lyckas.

Rank your systematic revenge schemes from low to high in terms of likely success, required input from you, and degree of satisfaction when you succeed.

Den ideala hämnden ligger givetvis så högt som möjligt i dessa staplar, men ofta kan en ökad insats av arbete och kapital ge säkrare output för de andra två, egentligen viktigare parametrarna.

The ideal, of course, is a revenge as strong as possible but this requires a lot of hard work and effort for it to turn out exactly as you want it to.

Step 7 / Step 7

Skrid till verket. Get to work. Och kom ihåg vilket ditt mål är medan du opererar, se till att ditt offer får lida på samma sätt som han fick dig att lida.

And remember what your goals are while you are operating, ensure that your victim will suffer the same way as he made you suffer.

anon


Arrest not political?

08.12.2010 19:44

keithpp “There is nothing so strong … as the simple truth.” -- Charles Dickens

A well written and informative piece.

Arrest not political? Immediatelly following his arrest, US Secretary of State for Defence Robert Gates issued a statement welcoming the arrest. Is this normal for alleged rape cases, is it normal for alleged rape cases in foregn jurisdictions with no US connection?

The stament put out out by Daniel Ellsberg and co-signed by others is well worth reading.

 http://www.ellsberg.net/archive/public-accuracy-press-release

Daniel Ellsberg was subjected to exactly the same hate campain as Julian Assange.

As was less we forget, fomer UK Ambassador to to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who was fired from his job when he objected to Uzbeks being tortured to gain “intelligence” on “terrorists.”

Our mainstream meda is crap. And that includes the BBC. Russia Today with its news coverage puts to shame the BBC.

 http://www.rt.com

Excellent Editorial from El Pais - Spain's respected paper - lavishing the Wiki-leak with praise & detailing its value:  http://is.gd/iiMR3

The U.S. Government gets angry when people don't meekly submit to its threats and bullying:  http://is.gd/iiVP5

Ultimate irony: US to host World Press Freedom Day:  http://bit.ly/htIu9C. Still I guess it could be worse, Bejing to host a World Human Rights Day!

@democracynow "The fight over #WikiLeaks is part of a war over control of the Internet," says @Salon's @ggreenwald.  http://ow.ly/3lb13

Keith
- Homepage: http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/is-there-any-difference-between-china-and-usa/


Special Report: STD fears sparked case against WikiLeaks boss

08.12.2010 19:49

A very good report by Reuters of the 'facts' surrounding the case.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B669H20101207

It should not be forgotten that Julian Assange voluntarily gave himself in to the police.

Keith
- Homepage: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B669H20101207


Solidarity mail - letters postcards etc

08.12.2010 22:40

Next bail hearing is Tuesday Dec 14th.2010


Address:
Julian Assange
Prisoner
Wahsworth Prison
PO Box 757
Heathfield Road
Wandsworth
London
SW18 3HS
ENGLAND

solidarity


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