Julian Assange Protestors Photo by Mohamed Elmaazi

Regarding Julian Assange's adjudication status for U.S. alleged crimes related to Wikileak's publishing U.S. government whistleblower's disclosures of U.S. government war crimes, it's been over three years since U.K.'s District Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s extradition decision was issued in January 2021. Baraitser actually rejected the U.S. government's demand for Assange's extradition on the basis that there was a “substantial risk” of suicide if Assange was subjected to U.S. jail or prison conditions. However, in 2021 Baraister also rejected all of Assange’s other arguments against extradition. 

February 20, 2024 Assange's legal defense team Barristers Mark Summers KC and Edward Fitzgerald KC presented in the U.K. appeals court seven grounds for challenging the ruling.

If the High Court accepts some or all of the appeal grounds as being at least “arguable” they will set a future date for Assange’s appeal to be heard. But if the High Court judges reject the defense arguments, Assange will have exhausted all of his domestic avenues of appeal.

Crimes exposed by the WikiLeaks publications that are central to this case include “torture,” “[extraordinary] rendition,” and “drone strikes” that killed scores of civilians.

Shadowproof and Project Censored present a conversation between Kevin Gosztola and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg to mark the release of Kevin’s book Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange. The book is available from Censored Press and Seven Stories Press. It is a crucial and compelling guide to the United States government’s case against the WikiLeaks founder and the implications for press freedom.

Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning redacted passage.

The United States government censored parts of Chelsea Manning’s new book, in which she attempted to describe the information she provided to WikiLeaks in 2010. Manning says she wrote README.txt because she had not really been able to tell her story, and that the book was a “first draft of history” from her perspective. “While I did testify a little bit during the court-martial, my voice has been kind of lost during this whole process,” Manning declared on CBS Mornings. However, the U.S. government used the publication review system to block her from highlighting any of the documents from the Afghanistan War Logs, Iraq War Logs, or US Embassy cables that garnered widespread news headlines.

Julian Assange Holding Guardian Newspaper Afghan War Logs

At no point did the lead prosecutor offer any specific example of a death, and so the record remains as it has been since Chelsea Manning was put on trial. The government has no evidence that anyone was ever killed as a result of transparency forced by WikiLeaks.

Julian Assange's hearing in the British court to be extradited to the United States is scheduled to resume September 7, 2020. Assange’s partner Stella Moris visited him this month with their children at Belmarsh prison for the first time since March of this year, and reports that his physical condition has deteriorated noticeably since that time.

“What happens to Julian Assange and to Chelsea Manning is meant to intimidate us, to frighten us into silence. By defending Julian Assange, we defend our most sacred rights. Speak up now or wake up one morning to the silence of a new kind of tyranny. The choice is ours.” — John Pilger, investigative journalist

As U.S. Constitutional scholar and George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley wrote in May, the U.S. Attorney General is completely wrong in his efforts to prosecute Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange under the Espionage Act. "The use of the Espionage Act strikes at the heart of the First Amendment," wrote Turley, who noted with approval that several prosecutors in the Attorney General's office shared his view that the indictment of Assange on espionage charges is a terrible idea.

Ever noticed, whenever someone inconveniences the dominant western power structure, the entire political/media class rapidly becomes very, very interested in letting us know how evil and disgusting that person is? It’s true of the leader of every nation which refuses to allow itself to be absorbed into the blob of the U.S.-centralized power alliance, it’s true of anti-establishment political candidates, and it’s true of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (April 11, 2019) — Today, Chelsea Manning’s legal-team will file a reply brief in their appeal asking the Fourth Circuit to vacate District Court Judge Hilton’s March 8 finding of civil contempt. Ms Manning, a staunch advocate for government-transparency, asserted legal grounds for her refusal to participate in what she views as an assault on the free-press. She remains in detention as a result of the contempt finding.

One of the 21st century's greatest heroines is behind bars again, held in contempt by federal judge Claude M Hilton for refusing to help prosecutors trump up charges against the journalists who published information she paid dearly for giving them.