Chomsky: Julian Assange's 'savage persecution' and the telling silence of our Vichy press

60 posts / 0 new

Wed, 2020-09-16 17:39

NDPP

Noam Chomsky on Julian Assange's Trial and the Silence of the [Canadian] Press

Q: Why is the world of journalism so silent about the persecution of Julian Assange?

NC: 'You'll have to ask them. They shouldn't be. Maybe people are afraid or maybe they have other reasons. But it's not a great tribute to journalism to see them back away from supporting someone who has lived up to the highest ideals of the profession and is being savagely persecuted for doing so.

This is a mission that journalists should applaud. They should be in the front lines of defending Assange, and in effect themselves, against state power that is out of control..."

Wed, 2020-09-16 17:44

NDPP

Go ask them...then post their answers.

Wed, 2020-09-16 18:08

lagatta4

"Vichy Press?" Little as I like the macho, exploitative Assange, I don't want him to be tortured, jailed or persecuted by the US or any other bourgeois state for his (legitimate and important) revelations. But why do you always use such inflated rhetoric?

Wed, 2020-09-16 18:31

NDPP

Because it's true. Especially in this case.

'The Media is a weapon' - Abby Martin

Wed, 2020-09-16 23:46

NDPP

"...I don't know how much clearer we can make it. They're prosecuting him for possession of documents, for attempting to solicit documents. Also publishing. This is a daily occurrence. All journalists do this. These are common journalistic activities. These are all under the umbrella of basic freedoms. And that's what they're criminalizing here.

And that's why this entire case is so significant and has such far-reaching implications. Really grave ramifications for everyone, not just journalists. Which is what makes it all the more egregious when you hear nothing about it in the fucking media and nothing about it in the 'independent' media. They're sitting on their asses talking about Bernie Sanders' asshole or something. It's ridiculous.

What are you doing? How can you not be outraged about this? How can you not be concerned about this, or the extraterritorialization of it? It's not even in the US. This is happening in a UK court to an Australian! This trial is unjust. It's unprecedented. And what they're doing to Julian Assange is completely illegal, unfair and will criminalize journalism. It's an affront to freedom of speech as a whole not just for journalists.

And once again they've led us down this garden path where we're focusing on Julian Assange the journalist instead of the fucking crime. We're focusing on the messenger instead of the message - the fucking war crimes, the torture, the drone strikes. What the fuck is going on here? Why isn't that being addressed? The United States pretends that they are the victims, that the WikiLeaks publications somehow caused injury or harm to Americans. But yet they can't provide a single example, not one!

So they paint themselves as victims without any proof while ignoring the thousands, the tens of thousands of victims in the leaks! The people in Iraq, in Afghanistan, people kidnapped, or snatched from Europe and taken to CIA black sites, the mass surveillance, all of it! This is unbelievable. They're shooting the messenger while ignoring the message and letting these m*ther-f*cker*s get away with war crimes in broad daylight and no-one's even reporting it. Not even alternative media is doing their jobs. It's pathetic, unacceptable shit. A complete violation of any semblance of justice. So that was day 7 in this sham trial, this sham extradition hearing. And we'll be back tomorrow..."

'Excellent Recap by Richard Medhurst' (starts at 30:07 - and vid)

https://twitter.com/DanielEllsberg/status/1306375695921065984

Thu, 2020-09-17 09:19

lagatta4

I made it clear that little as I like Assange, and trust me, I've met many such guys in decades on the left, that in no way do I support his extradition, jailing and possible torture. I agree fully about the importance of WikiLeaks.

Thu, 2020-09-17 15:45

NDPP

"...It is hard for me to convey to a British audience what an assault this represents by the Trump administration on Assange's self-image of their own political culture. The First Amendment is celebrated across the political divide and the New York Times judgement [Pentagon Papers publication] is viewed as a pillar of freedom. The US government is now saying, completely explicitly, in court, those reporters could and should have gone to jail and that is how we will act in future. The Washington Post, the NYT, and all the 'great liberal media' of the USA are not in court to hear it and do not report it, because of their active complicity in the 'othering' of Julian Assange as something sub-human whose fate can be ignored. Are they really so stupid as not to understand that they are next?

Craig Murray - Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 10

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-g...

Again, where is the Canadian media - mainstream and alternative on this? Having participated whole-heartedly in the 'othering' and smear campaign, they seem now to have adopted an attitude of 'omerta' and gone completely silent. Cui bono? Carl on Parl? Rick Salutin? Brent Patterson? Are you getting this? Is anybody out there?

Thu, 2020-09-17 16:21

NDPP

"In Melbourne in 2010, after he had released the infamous US helicopter gunship video, Collateral Murder, which showed innocent civilians, including two Reuters news staff being mowed down in a Baghdad square, Assange worried about being snatched off the streets.

Now the United States is trying a less dramatic but equally questionable version of its CIA rendition program. The attempt to extradite Assange is designed to stifle dissent, sending a chill through the ranks of investigative journalists worldwide. If Assange can be prosecuted for exposing evidence of US war crimes, so can any journalist anywhere in the world..."

Andrew Fowler: Assange Makes His Way to Date With Destiny He Always Predicted

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/assange-makes-his-way-with-destiny-h...

Thu, 2020-09-17 23:49

NDPP

WATCH: "All people have the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, and regardless of frontiers."

https://twitter.com/Orf/status/1306035771548237826

'Can't we just drone this guy?'

Fri, 2020-09-18 02:07

#10

NDPP

Celebrating the Courage & Journalism of Julian Assange: Pilger, Murray, Fowler and Tinari

https://youtu.be/FzbfWwlVH_8

"Our number one enemy is ignorance and I believe that is the Number One enemy of everyone. It's not understanding what is actually going on in the world. It's only when you start to understand that you can make effective decisions and effective plans. The question is who is promoting this ignorance?

Well, those organizations that try to keep things a secret and those organizations which distort true information to make it false. Misrepresent it. In this latter category it is bad media. It really is my opinion that the media in general are so bad you have to question whether the world wouldn't be better off without them altogether. They're so distorted as to how the world actually is that the result is we see wars and corrupt government just carrying on.

One of the hopeful things that I've discovered is that nearly every war that has started in the last 50 years has been the result of media lies. The media could have stopped it if they hadn't reported government propaganda. They could have stopped it...

But what does that mean? That means basically populations don't like wars populations have to be fooled into wars. Populations don't willingly with open eyes go into a war. So if we have a good media environment, then we'll also have a peaceful environment..." - Julian Assange -

Wed, 2020-09-23 08:35

#11

NDPP

From The Editor: Why I Give a Shit About the Assange Trial

https://www.exberliner.com/features/julian-assange-trial-2020/assange-tr...

"The silence from the journalistic community with regards to Julian Assange is indicative of the end of journalism in the Western world...This is not about a man fighting for his fate out there in a London courtroom, but also about our future here and now as concerned citizens of the so-called free democratic world..."

The Jimmy Dore Show

https://youtu.be/b77oFFG7LXE

"Bob Woodward silent about Julian Assange and the attack on the Free Press."

Mon, 2020-09-21 16:20

#12

NDPP

A Guide to Journalists and Organizations Covering Assange Trial for Those Upset About Lack of Media Coverage

https://shadowproof.com/2020/09/21/guide-to-journalists-assange-trial-up...

"Diagnosing why establishment media institutions are not covering Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's extradition trial in London."

Tue, 2020-09-22 08:15

#13

NDPP

Why Are Amnesty International Monitors Not Able to Observe the Assange Hearing?

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/why-are-amnesty-internati...

"...Amnesty International had requested access to the court for a trial monitor to observe the hearings, but the court denied us a designated seat in court. Our monitor initially did get permission to access the technology to monitor remotely, but the morning the hearing started he received an email informing us that the judge had revoked Amnesty International's remote access.

'Amnesty International have monitored trials from Guantanamo Bay to Bahrain, Ecuador to Turkey. For our observer to be denied access profoundly undermines open justice.'

The 'undermining of open justice', so outrageously obvious in this case, is precisely the reason why there is no wish by the kangaroo court and state to have Amnesty observe it. For much the same reason the Canadian Vichy press coverage is also barely there - twisted and skewed when it is. Perhaps it is better this way, since, as the presstitute media have already amply demonstrated in the preparatory smear and disinformation campaign phase of this process, they ultimately work for the same team as the open-justice opposition forces now silencing Amnesty at the free speech trial of the century. They are in fact an enemy not to be trusted.

Tue, 2020-09-22 08:30

#14

NDPP

MEAA Webinar: The Case Against Julian Assange

https://youtu.be/D8ACYQoyb6o

Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor-in-Chief WikiLeaks

Scott Ludlam, Australian Green Party

"This case represents a boot kicking down the door of what passed for press freedom and the rule of law. And not just in United States. I think we need to be very clear this case is an act of repression. In any other regime, we would characterize this as an act of repression. The purpose of repression is to provoke fear and surrender. That is what repression is for. One of the audiences is you: union members who are writers and journalists, publishers and people with a voice and a platform. We're the target audience..."

Tue, 2020-09-22 15:27

#15

MegB

NDPP, please note that thread titles, like headlines, capitalize the first word only, as well as proper names, etc. All other words in the title are to be lower case. Thanks.

Wed, 2020-09-23 03:16

#16

NDPP

Don't Extradite Assange! (and vid)

https://twitter.com/DEAcampaign/status/1308435441549488129

"...Everything seems to be a distraction. There are 28 million displaced persons from the last 20 years of war. Craig Murray estimates the dead at around 4 million. These souls cry for justice. This trial is a distraction for us from the war criminals that must be brought to justice:*" John Shipton, father of Julian Assange

*Also explains why the Vichy media who work for the war criminals won't cover this trial.

Project Censored: Principles of Journalism on Trial (podcast)

https://twitter.com/kgosztola/status/1308475959620833280

"I was on Project Censored's radio show to discuss the Assange trial and what it means for journalism."

Katie Halper: Working Around the Assange trial with journalist Kevin Gosztola (and vid)

https://twitter.com/kthalps/status/1308505341810933766

"Shoutout to Kevin Gosztola and the small # of brave journalists actually covering the Assange trial."

Wed, 2020-09-23 03:47

#17

NDPP

Journalist Andrew Fowler Speaks to WSWS: 'If Assange is extradited the same can happen to any of us.'

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/17/fowl-s16.html

"I always thought it would be tough going, even in the halcyon days when Assange was pointing to a new way for journalists to flourish in the then bourgeoning internet age. WikiLeaks was a counterweight to the rising intrustiveness of the surveillance state. It would be expected that the US - the sole superpower in particular would try to smear its name.

What was disheartening was to witness the relish with which journalists who had previously greeted him as with open arms, turned on him. Many of these journalists saw themselves as part of the ruling elite, not representatives of the voiceless, the unrepresented in society. The attempt by the state to control journalists is at the heart of the charges against Assange. Its physical manifestation is there every day in court.

If the extradition hearing determines that what Assange did was an extraditable offence, then no journalist anywhere in the world will be safe from extradition to the United States. What Assange is charged with is what every journalist does every day, encourages sources to leak, helping them to protect themselves, exposing evidence of war crimes.." *

Not every journalist. Not here.

Wed, 2020-09-23 03:40

#18

NDPP

IBA Warns Against Assange Extradition

https://twitter.com/lawsocgazette/status/1306558190641872896

"Human Rights arm of International Bar Association strongly criticises potential extradition of Julian Assange to US. Removal would set a 'dangerous precedent' human rights institute says."

Wed, 2020-09-23 12:37

#19

NDPP

In defense of Julian Assange (and vid)

https://twitter.com/freedomrideblog/status/1308568199185694721

'I want his right to publish restored.'

"A book talk and panel discussion with contributors to In Defense of Julian Assange. I participated on the panel about the need to defend Julian Assange along with Anya Parampil, Nathan Fuller and Renata Avila. Enjoy."

Thu, 2020-09-24 06:43

#20

NDPP

"Exposing crimes is always legal - what must be prosecuted is the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity." Alfred de Zayas.

[Former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order]

https://twitter.com/Alfreddezayas/status/1308343097475190784

Thu, 2020-09-24 09:51

#21

NDPP

Julian Assange's The World Tomorrow: interview series, made for RT in 2011-2012. Here's 2 episodes...

Ep 1: Hezbollah leader Sayyid Nasrallah

https://youtu.be/GDLXPpooA18

Ep 6:

Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador

https://youtu.be/ZvUwC5JTAJY

Thu, 2020-09-24 10:54

#22

Mobo2000

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/24/the-us-is-using-the-guardian-to-...

"Assange was doing exactly what journalists claim to do every day in a democracy: monitor power for the public good. Which is why ultimately the Obama administration abandoned the idea of issuing an indictment against Assange. There was simply no way to charge him without also putting journalists at the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Guardian on trial too. And doing that would have made explicit that the press is not free but works on licence from those in power.

For that reason alone, one might have imagined that the entire media – from rightwing to liberal-left outlets – would be up in arms about Assange’s current predicament. After all, the practice of journalism as we have known it for at least 100 years is at stake.

But in fact, as Assange feared nine years ago, the media have chosen not to adopt a “united face” – or at least, not a united face with Wikileaks. They have remained all but silent. They have ignored – apart from occasionally to ridicule – Assange’s terrifying ordeal, even though he has been locked up for many months in Belmarsh high-security prison awaiting efforts to extradite him as a spy. Assange’s very visible and prolonged physical and mental abuse – both in Belmarsh and, before that, in the Ecuadorian embassy, where he was given political asylum – have already served part of their purpose: to deter young journalists from contemplating following in his footsteps."

"But among the Guardian’s own columnists, even its supposedly leftwing ones like Gorge Monbiot and Owen Jones, there has been blanket silence about the hearings. In familiar style, the only in-house commentary on the case so far is yet another snide hit-piece – this one in the fashion section written by Hadley Freeman. It simply ignores the terrifying developments for journalism taking place at the Old Bailey, close by the Guardian’s offices. Instead Freeman mocks the credible fears of Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, that, if Assange is extradited, his two young children may not be allowed contact with their father again.

Freeman’s goal, as has been typical of the Guardian’s modus operandi, is not to raise an issue of substance about what is happening to Assange but to score hollow points in a distracting culture war the paper has become so well-versed in monetising. In her piece, entitled “Ask Hadley: ‘Politicising’ and ‘weaponising’ are becoming rather convenient arguments”, Freeman exploits Assange and Moris’s suffering to advance her own convenient argument that the word “politicised” is much misused – especially, it seems, when criticising the Guardian for its treatment of Assange and Corbyn.

The paper could not make it any plainer. It dismisses the idea that it is a “political” act for the most militarised state on the planet to put on trial a journalist for publishing evidence of its systematic war crimes, with the aim of locking him up permanently."

Thu, 2020-09-24 22:00

#23

NDPP

Assange Interviews:

July 28, 2010: The Economist: 'Tea with Julian Assange'

https://youtu.be/E_HPLHIBTtA

AJ, Dec 22, 2010: Frost Over the World - Julian Assange

https://youtu.be/U6mcSXge4Qo

April 11, 2011: SBS Extended Interview with Julian Assange

https://youtu.be/BplfViSKd6Y

August 6, 2013: Julian Assange Talks Chelsea Manning and the Media in Rare Interview

https://youtu.be/7nRKGF1pYsM

Oct 2015: The WikiLeaks Files: Linda Pearson, Julian Assange

https://youtu.be/9uYm-x6h-po

July 23, 2020: Action4Assange: Teach-in 2: The Manning Links

https://youtu.be/eNTcKRP0PYU

"This is the second video A4A is releasing as part of our on-going teach-in series to help educate the public about Assange, his message and his persecution."

Fri, 2020-09-25 07:15

#24

NDPP

Press Freedom Experts in Assange Extradition Hearing Testify to Dangers of Journalism

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1309230291647631361

"The extradition hearing in the trial of WikiLeak editor Julian Assange - the most dangerous front in the Trump administration's war on journalism - is now halfway complete and the court has heard from Freedom of the Press Foundation co-founders, executive director Trevor Timm and board member Daniel Ellsberg, as expert witnesses for the defense.

Tim spoke broadly to the press freedom implications of the prosecution. According to his testimony, 'every single expert witness has some sort of fear that a prosecution of many other reporters - specifically the large group of reporters whose work might sometimes include secret documents. In other words, the prosecutors seek a precedent that would criminalize every reporter who received a secret document whether they asked for it or not..."

Fri, 2020-09-25 10:56

#25

NDPP

Yet another day of silence on the part of Canadian media mainstream and alternative critical reporting on one of the most important press freedom cases in recent history. Democracy dies in silence. Silence is complicity. Shame on all who participate. Kudos to those who break the great silence.

Resist don't collaborate!

Fri, 2020-09-25 11:05

#26

NDPP

RSF: Reporters Without Borders: 'This is a question of life or death'

https://twitter.com/rebecca_vincent/status/1309225150223716354

"...and all for his contributions to journalism."

Fri, 2020-09-25 12:48

#27

NDPP

'2010: Julian Assange, Man of the Year for 'Le Monde'

https://twitter.com/StellaMoris1/status/1309413471776387072

"This snapshot is a damning indictment of the present."

Fri, 2020-09-25 13:01

#28

NDPP

'We Demand the Immediate Release of Julian Assange'

https://twitter.com/ProgIntl/status/1309083907015536641

Breaking: Members of the Progressive International Council demand the immediate release of Julian Assange. 'We must remember that it is for nothing more than acts of publishing that Assange is being prosecuted now..."

Fri, 2020-09-25 16:48

#29

NDPP

A Few Letters Regarding the Media Blackout of Assange Journalists

https://www.assangecampaign.org.au/a-few-letters-regarding-the-media-bla...

"This article is a collection of letters to various players in the apparent media black out of the September Assange Hearings..."

Fri, 2020-09-25 17:33

#30

NDPP

The Idea Behind WikiLeaks: Julian Assange as a Physics Student

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/09/12/the-idea-behind-wikileaks-julian-a...

"...The petition to free Julian, penned by Philip Adams, is the third largest petition to ever have been tabled in the Australian Parliament with over 500,000 signatures. But whilst we can write to our MPs and sign the petition, it is unlikely that this will stop the extraordinary legal precedent being established of the extradition and subsequent conviction of a non-American journalist to the USA for exposing US war crimes.

Once extradited, it is likely that Julian will be found guilty by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on the crime of 'conspiracy to commit computer intrusion' and perhaps also espionage, an action that would place every woman, child and man in western society under US extraterritorial rule.

The story of Julian, alongside the incredible and ongoing bravery of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, are the stories of our generation. And we must not forget their personal sacrifices for our collective freedom.

Sign the petition, contact your MP in Australia, or the UK [or Canada] if you've the time and energy to do so, but perhaps most effectively, share a moment of sorrow when a defender of human rights and press freedom is successfully silenced by the might of structural power."

Most people, in the end, choose to lead safe, comfortable lives. We're not interested in putting ourselves in the line of fire. Yet we owe a great debt to those people who do.' - Mary Kostakidis

Mon, 2020-09-28 09:07

#31

NDPP

FAIR: Press Shows Litle Interest in Media 'Trial of Century'

https://fair.org/julian-assange-press-shows-little-interest-in-media-tri...

"Labeled the media 'trial of the century,' WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition trial is currently taking place in London - although you might not have heard if you're relying solely on corporate media for news. If extradited Assange faces 175 years in a Colorado supermax prison often described as a 'blacksite' on US soil.

Virtually every relevant human rights and press freedom organization is sounding the alarm about the incendiary precedent this case sets for the media. The UN has condemned his persecution, with Amnesty international describing the case as a 'full scale assault on the right to freedom of expression.' Yet the case has been met with indifference from the corporate press*. Even as their house is burning down, media are insisting it is just the Northern lights."

*In Canada, unfortunately most of the alternative press also.

Mon, 2020-09-28 09:48

#32

Mobo2000

Good article by Jonathan Cooke on the Guardian's role and current statement about their publication of the password to the Wikileaks cache:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/28/the-guardians-deceit-riddled-new...

"Things have got substantially harder for the paper during the extradition proceedings, however, as its role has come under increasing scrutiny – both inside and outside the courtroom. Now the Guardian has been flushed out, goaded into publishing a statement in response to the criticisms.

It has finally broken its silence but has done so not to clarify what happened nine years ago. Rather it has deepened the deception and steeped the paper even further in betrayal both of Assange and of press freedom.

The February 2011 Guardian book the US keeps citing contained something in addition to the highly contentious and disputed claim from Leigh that Assange had a reckless attitude to redacting names. The book also disclosed a password – one Assange had given to Leigh on strict conditions it be kept secret – to the file containing the 250,000 encrypted cables. The Guardian book let the cat out of the bag. Once it gave away Assange’s password, the Old Bailey hearings have heard, there was no going back." ...

"First, it is important to remember that claims of the damage this all caused were intentionally and grossly inflated by the US to create a pretext to vilify Assange and later to justify his extradition and jailing. In fact, there is no evidence that any informant was ever harmed as a result of Wikileaks’ publications – something that was even admitted by a US official at Manning’s trial. If someone had been hurt or killed, you can be sure that the US would be clamouring about it at the Old Bailey hearings and offering details to the media.

Second, the editor of a US website, Cryptome, pointed out this week at the hearings that he had published the unredacted cables a day before Wikileaks did. He noted that US law enforcement agencies had shown zero interest in his publication of the file and had never asked him to take it down. The lack of concern makes explicit what was always implicit: the issue was never really about the files, redacted or not; it was always about finding a way to silence Assange and disable Wikileaks."

Mon, 2020-09-28 09:49

#33

NDPP

Kevin Gosztola Interviews Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg on Assange Trial

https://youtu.be/neP0z2oSInk

An extremely important interview of Daniel Ellsberg talking about his experience as a witness in the Assange case, and his personal experience in the court as the Pentagon Papers whistleblower.

Mon, 2020-09-28 19:48

#34

NDPP

Letter from London: The Surreal US Case Against Assange

https://twitter.com/Consortiumnews/status/1310681715799539712

"The fox is guarding the henhouse and Washington is prosecuting a publisher for exposing its own war crimes. Alexander Mercouris diagnoses the incoherence of the US case for extradition..."

'The implications for journalists are truly shocking. It is staggering that in the media it has attracted no attention...The US government is not pursuing Julian Assange because he helped Chelsea Manning, nor is it because Assange received and published classified material...it is because, to a greater extent than any other journalist since the end of the war in Vietnam, he has exposed the darkest and most terrible secrets of the US government.

The extent to which the very existence of the national security apparatus required to implement various US illegal activities and to achieve its foreign policy goals, has become incompatible with a democratic society, is shown by one of the most alarming of recent developments both in Britain and in the United States. [And in Canada.]

This is the growing complicity of much of the media with concealing its illegal activities. Obviously without that complicity these activities would be impossible..."

And so another day of Canadian Vichy media silence on the trial of the century. They carry on doing what they do best. Protecting power and silencing the voices of its enemies.

Mon, 2020-09-28 21:17

#35

NDPP

As major outlets ignore Assange extradition hearing, Ai Weiwei demands freedom for WikiLeaks founder

https://twitter.com/DefenseAssange/status/1310685449569153029

https://artistsforassange.org/

"Assange had to be made to suffer horribly and in public - to be made an example of - to deter other journalists from ever following in his footsteps. He is the modern equivalent of a severed head on a pike displayed at the city gates."

Unnecessary with a Canadian media so highly subservient to power. Sadly it seems most of alternative too. Ask them why.

Mon, 2020-09-28 22:40

#36

NDPP

"...It's hard to believe, but Judge Baraitser on Friday ruled that there will be no closing speeches in the Assange extradition hearing. She accepted the proposal initially put forward by counsel for the US government, that closing arguments should simply be submitted in writing and without an oral hearing...

But this entire hearing has been conducted in effective secrecy, a comprehensive secrecy that gives sharp insight into the politico-legal economic structures of current western society. The state and corporate media have virtually blacked out this hearing, with a truly worrying unanimity, and despite the implications of the case for media freedom.

[Shadowproof's] journalist Kevin Gosztola has reported more on the Julian Assange extradition trial than the New York Times, WaPo, BBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC [,CBC, CTV, Global, G&M etc] have combined.

I am reminded of the words of another friend of mine, Harold Pinter, in accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature. It seems perfectly to fit the trial of Julian Assange:'

'It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening. It doesn't matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.'

The closing arguments are the part of every trial which the media is most likely to report. They sum up all the evidence heard on both sides and what might be drawn from the evidence. To have these simply submitted on paper, without the drama of the courtroom, is to ensure that the hearing will continue to be a media non-event..."

Craig Murray: Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing 9/25/2020

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-g...

Where are the gutless wonders of your media Canada?

Thu, 2020-10-01 16:58

#37

NDPP

New Details Emerge as the US Intelligence Operations Against Julian Assange (and vid)

https://twitter.com/_taylorhudak/status/1311750441022238722

"Includes an extended interview with investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi."

See also this latest report from ex-UK Ambassador, Craig Murray including 'an eloquent and brief statement by Noam Chomsky on the political nature of Julian Assange's actions.'

Craig Murray: Your Man in the Public Gallery: September 30, 2020

https://twitter.com/CraigMurrayOrg/status/1311583071104389120

"...Julian Assange's alleged crime in working to expose government secrets is to violate the fundamental principles of government, to lift the veil of secrecy that protects power from scrutiny, keeps it from evaporating - and again, it is well understood by the powerful that lifting the veil may cause power to evaporate. It may even lead to authentic freedom and democracy if an aroused public comes to understand that force is on the side of the governed and it can be their force if they choose to control their own fate..." - Noam Chomsky -

This is why the Canadian presstitute media doesn't report the Assange case.

Thu, 2020-10-01 20:28

#38

NDPP

Julian Assange,'s Prosecution for Publishing Leaked Government Documents is an Extremely Dangerous Precedent

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/10/julian-assange-prosecution-wikileaks-gove...

"A trademark paradox of the Trump era is that many of the same quarters who have been the loudest in warning about the president's authoritarianism and hostility to press freedom have also been silent or even cheered on one of his most dangerous actions: his attempt to extradite and prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing leaked US government documents..."

Sound like anyone you know ?

Fri, 2020-10-02 22:48

#39

NDPP

The Belmarsh Tribunal

https://youtu.be/3Zh5Nakva5Y

"Is it a crime to expose war crimes?"

Please share with the stupid, the sleepwalking and the suborned...

Sat, 2020-10-03 12:29

#40

NDPP

Julian Assange's Extradition Trial and the War on Journalism (and vid)

https://twitter.com/kgosztola/status/1312405330500911105

"Full video of the 2-hour independent media round table I co-hosted with Juan Passarelli on the Assange trial and the war on journalism that the US government is escalating through the prosecution of this case."

As always, Canada collaborates. Please share with the collaborators.

Sat, 2020-10-03 19:55

#41

NDPP

Pilger: Eyewitness to the Agony of Julian Assange

https://twitter.com/johnpilger/status/1312031619436382560

"...I have sat in many courts and seldom known such a corruption of due process; This is due revenge. If the Assange trial is the political trial of the century, as I believe it is, its outcome will not only seal the fate of a journalist for doing his job but intimidate the very principles of free journalism and free speech. The absence of serious mainstream reporting of the proceedings is, at the very least, self destructive. Journalists should ask: Who is next?"

Mon, 2020-10-05 10:56

#42

Mobo2000

Above twitter link is broken. Link to Pilger's article here:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/02/eyewitness-to-the-agony-of-julia...

"What is at stake for the rest of us has long been at stake: freedom to call authority to account, freedom to challenge, to call out hypocrisy, to dissent. The difference today is that the world’s imperial power, the United States, has never been as unsure of its metastatic authority as it is today. Like a flailing rogue, it is spinning us towards a world war if we allow it. Little of this menace is reflected in the media.

WikiLeaks, on the other hand, has allowed us to glimpse a rampant imperial march through whole societies—think of the carnage in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, to name a few, the dispossession of 37 million people and the deaths of 12 million men, women and children in the ‘war on terror’—most of it behind a façade of deception.

Julian Assange is a threat to these recurring horrors—that’s why he is being persecuted, why a court of law has become an instrument of oppression, why he ought to be our collective conscience: why we all should be the threat.

The judge’s decision will be known on the 4th of January."

Mon, 2020-10-05 11:08

#43

NDPP

Thanks Mobo2000 !

Mon, 2020-10-05 15:20

#44

NDPP

Going Underground: John Pilger - Assange's Only Crimes Are Telling the Truth (and vid)

https://www.rt.com/shows/going-underground/502339-pilger-assange-extradi...

"Legendary journalist and filmmaker John Pilger discusses the extradition trial of Julian Assange being held at the Old Bailey in London...."

What Canadian media dare not speak.

Tue, 2020-10-06 15:55

#45

NDPP

On Contact: Assange Extradition Hearing

https://youtu.be/ZtwpzqAJMBo

"Chris Hedges discusses with Craig Murray, a former British Ambassador, the hearing underway in London to extradite Julian Assange to the United States."

"There has been a concerted effort to keep these proceedings secret. There has been a virtually unanimous decision among the mainstream media not to cover the case. It is quite astonishing. And yet the arguments that are being presented are of vital importance to them."

Wed, 2020-10-07 14:33

#46

NDPP

George Monbiot's Excuses for Not Speaking Out Loudly in Defence of Assange Simply Won't Wash

https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-10-06/monbiot-guardian-assange/

"Faced with a barrage of criticism from some of his followers, George Monbiot, the Guardian's fearless, leftwing columnist offered up two extraordinarily feeble excuses this week for failing to provide more than cursory support for Julian Assange. If any British journalist should be shouting from the rooftop against Assange's extradition, it is Monbiot..."

Fri, 2020-10-09 11:50

#47

NDPP

Free Assange

https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1313824768727019520

"Free Assange, because the world is growing darker as the bastards flick the lights off one by one..."

Sun, 2020-10-18 13:33

#48

NDPP

The Trial of Julian Assange

https://youtu.be/yWvdhrZSm8c

"Author and activist Miko Peled speaks with three prominent activists, Roger Waters, John Pilger and Ray McGovern, who have persistently advocated for Assange's freedom and release." **MUST WATCH**

Thu, 2020-10-22 04:52

#49

NDPP

The Guardian's Silence Has Let the UK Trample on Assange's Rights in Effective Darkness

https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-10-21/the-guardians-silence-has-...

"The Guardian's role in the persecution and prosecution of Julian Assange. A disgrace to journalism and a mortal danger to a free press..."

Not a peep of worry from msm here only smear to stitch him up then omerta/silence.

Thu, 2020-10-22 05:51

#50

NDPP

"So free Julian Assange you lying bunch of hypocrites!"

https://twitter.com/VanessaBeeley/status/1318847688088166400

Sun, 2020-10-25 10:12

#51

NDPP

Assange and the Media: how speculative media reports play a role in extradition hearing in London (and vid)

https://twitter.com/Jonanthan_K_Cook/status/1319923044157108232

"German investigation finds emails between the Guardian and security at the Ecuador embassy about Julian Assange that led Glenn Greenwald to suggest the paper may have perpetrated intentional 'journalistic fraud' in publishing its infamous Manafort story."

Chomsky: Julian Assange's 'savage persecution' and the telling silence of our Vichy press

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