Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Julian Assange: No Surrender
Ann Garrison, BAR contributor
12 Dec 2018
Julian Assange: No Surrender
Julian Assange: No Surrender

Supporters of the Wikileaks founder say he won’t leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London unless the British police drag him away.

“If you look at his enemies, and you look at who wants to lock him up forever, it's clear that we have to defend him.”

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange appears to be one step closer to forcible removal from Ecuador's London Embassy, most likely to be extradited to the US to face charges in the Eastern District Court of Virginia, which is commonly known as “the espionage court.” If UK police have to go in and remove him by force that will of course demonstrate the brutality of the state in the Gandhian tradition.

The US and UK governments may nevertheless be in a hurry to get hold of him however they can, with Theresa May's Tory government so close to collapse and Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party so close to power. Given all that Corbyn has said about protecting journalists who take risks to reveal the truth about power, it's hard to imagine him extraditing Assange in response to US demands, even though refusal would no doubt damage the longstanding Anglo-American alliance.

“It's hard to imagine Jeremy Corbyn extraditing Assange in response to US demands.”

“Ecuador Envivo” reports that Ecuador's new ambassador to the UK has “very clear instructions” regarding Assange, who has been an asylee in the embassy for the past six years. And that the government said Assange's asylum has been detrimental to its relationship with the UK and could further damage trade relations between the two countries.

Supporters of Assange met last Friday evening on an international online video conference about his worsening situation. Consortium News Editor Joe Lauria said that he does not expect Assange to leave the embassy of his own volition. Stefania Maurizi, Italian “La Republica” journalist and longtime Wikileaks publishing partner, told Lauria that she was able to see Assange about 10 days ago, and that he's not planning to come out on his own, no matter what they do to him.

Black Agenda Report columnist Margaret Kimberley and Joe Lauria both said that the elite list of those determined to arrest and silence Assange prove that he deserves the support of the people:

Margaret Kimberley:If you look at his enemies, and you look at who wants to lock him up forever, it's clear that he's important and it's clear that we have to defend him.

Joe Lauria:They want to lock him up because he's directly threatening their interests. I'm talking about individuals inside the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, MI6, and big business. If you oppose Julian Assange, you're on the side of the state against the people.

Chris Hedges said that defending Assange is equivalent to defending the possibility of investigative journalism despite mass surveillance:

“Investigative journalism into the inner workings of power has been frozen completely because of wholesale surveillance.”

Chris Hedges:I really can't reiterate enough times that this is the last chance we have not only to defend Julian Assange, but also to protect publishers ability to disseminate material on the inner workings of corporations and corporate states.

I worked as an investigative journalist for the New York Timesand I still have colleagues there, and they are quite blunt about the fact that investigative journalism into the inner workings of power has been frozen completely because of wholesale surveillance.Government officials, because they know they're monitored, and journalists, because they know they're monitored, can no longer shine a light into the inner workings of power. Leaks are the only mechanisms left by which we can understand power and particularly the crimes that are being committed by power, by the elites.

The three-hour video conferences regarding developments and possible responses to the UK and US governments pursuit of Julian Assange can be viewed every Friday evening beginning at 8 pm Eastern Time on the website Unity4J.com. Viewers can ask questions, make suggestions, and share details of upcoming Assange solidarity events in the YouTube chat window.

Ann Garrison is an independent journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2014, she received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prizefor her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes region. She can be reached at [email protected].

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Wikileaks

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Why We Must Defend Julian Assange
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Why We Must Defend Julian Assange
14 December 2021
Julian Assange is one of the political prisoners that the US claims not to have.
U.S. Corporate Media Watch: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
Richard Medhurst and Roberto Sirvent
U.S. Corporate Media Watch: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
14 December 2021
Richard and Roberto would like to dedicate this feature to Glen Ford, one of the fiercest critics of U.S.
The Julian Assange Media Blackout Must End
Branko Marcetic
The Julian Assange Media Blackout Must End
15 July 2021
Embarrassed by revelations, the Biden administration has now offered several “assurances” they would allow Assange to apply for transfer to a priso
Assange Faces Extradition For Exposing US War Crimes
Marjorie Cohn
Assange Faces Extradition For Exposing US War Crimes
14 October 2020
The prosecution of Assange would set a disturbing example for journalists and media outlets that publish information critical of the government.
Eyewitness to the Agony of Julian Assange
Timothy Erik Strom and John Pilger
Eyewitness to the Agony of Julian Assange
07 October 2020
The defendant was caged behind thick glass, and had to crawl on his knees to a slit in the glass to make contact with his lawyers.
WikiLeaks, Still Revealing Truths About Power, Officially Launches Bibliography
Patrick D. Anderson
WikiLeaks, Still Revealing Truths About Power, Officially Launches Bibliography
02 September 2020
The interpretations of and commentaries in the bibliography vary widely, from unquestionable support for WikiLeaks to outright hatred of Assange.
Free All Political Prisoners –- Including Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning
Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
Free All Political Prisoners –- Including Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning
13 February 2020
Julian Assange and his protégés have made common cause with Black revolutionaries in their zeal to lay bare the dictatorial nature of the omni-perv
Assange and Manning are Being Persecuted for Speaking Truth to Power
Leonard C. Goodman
Assange and Manning are Being Persecuted for Speaking Truth to Power
08 January 2020
Had WikiLeaks existed in 2002, a patriotic officer like Chelsea Manning might have leaked the official intelligence reports and stopped a war.
The Trials of Julian Assange
review by Michael Steven Smith
The Trials of Julian Assange
04 December 2019
A new book offers a sweeping defense of the imprisoned Wikileaks publisher.
WikiLeaks, the Global Fourth Estate: History Is Happening
Ann Garrison , BAR contributor
WikiLeaks, the Global Fourth Estate: History Is Happening
03 July 2019
WikiLeaks made it possible for whistleblowers to expose government and corporate criminals anonymously. 

More Stories


  • STATEMENT: On Abortion, Shirley Chisholm, December 3, 1969
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    STATEMENT: On Abortion, Shirley Chisholm, December 3, 1969
    25 Jan 2023
    In the wake of the would-be fiftieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Shirley Chisholm's 1969 statement on abortion is bold, progressive, unsentimental – and necessary.
  • Cop City Kills Before It Opens
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Cop City Kills Before It Opens
    25 Jan 2023
    What could possibly go wrong with a $90 million, 85-acre police training ground that the community doesn't want? Someone could be killed, and that happened before Atlanta's awful Cop City project has…
  • Stand in solidarity with our Councilmember  (Versus voices of white supremacy/death…)
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Stand in solidarity with our Councilmember (Versus voices of white supremacy/death…)
    25 Jan 2023
    Stand in solidarity with our Councilmember  (Versus voices of white supremacy/death…)
  • The Ukrainian Solidarity Network: The Highest Stage of White Western Social Imperialism
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Ukrainian Solidarity Network: The Highest Stage of White Western Social Imperialism
    25 Jan 2023
    The Ukraine conflict was caused by the U.S. backed right wing coup in 2014 and the duplicity of Europeans who claimed to be working for peace. Anyone who supports these actions but claims leftist…
  • “Latin America is Not a Racial Disneyland”: An Interview with Dash Harris Machado
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor , Dash Harris Machado
    “Latin America is Not a Racial Disneyland”: An Interview with Dash Harris Machado
    25 Jan 2023
    BAR Book Forum editor Roberto Sirvent interviews Dash Harris Machado.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us