This is not just about one man's fate but a litmus test for democracy, transparency, and the power of state over the individual's right to expose wrongdoing.
Assange's efforts through WikiLeaks to bring to light uncomfortable truths of our times should be seen through the lens of the cypherpunk ethos - advocating for privacy, freedom of speech, and the use of cryptography as a route to social and political change (or preservation of previously entrenched liberties). These trends have all come off the boil significantly in the last 10 years I think at great detriment to society at large.
The pursuit of truth should not be a crime, nor should it be met with life-ending punishment. Assange's work is a testament to the belief that information should be free and accessible, and those who dare to reveal the hidden should be protected, not persecuted.
In Oscar Wildes "The Happy Prince", who, from his high perch, saw the suffering and injustices of the city below and used his position to alleviate them, sacrificing his own life. In a similar vein, Assange has endeavored to expose injustices and bring to light the truths that many would prefer remain hidden. As the Happy Prince said to the little swallow, 'I am covered with fine gold,' but chose to strip away his gold leaf by leaf to help those in need. Assange's actions, much like the Prince's, ask us to consider what is truly valuable: comfort and safety, or truth and justice? Let us not forget those who, like Assange, have made life altering or ending sacrifices in the pursuit of truth and justice.
> These trends have all come off the boil significantly in the last 10 years I think at great detriment to society at large.
It’s really the past 7 years, during which we assumed the Espionage Act would not be weaponized:
> “All through the [Barack] Obama years, those assumptions held good. It took [Donald] Trump – immoral and indecent – to overturn them. It’s just shameful that [Joe] Biden’s people are using Trump as their guide.”
I personally believe Assange probably did something illegal under the strict Swedish laws. I also know Swedish Police routinely close investigations before they even start with much more available evidence. I also know the prosecutor did go to great lengths to stall and play. It would not be the first example of Swedish authorities caving to US interests. The raid on the Pirate Bay servers were extraordinary - with the Police taking direct orders from a minister/cabinet member, which is illegal under Swedish law.
So something is definitely fishy with the Sweden connection.
I don’t even like Assange, but the way he’s been treated is shameful. Plus, I don’t even understand how the US can extradite a non US citizens, but there’s probably something legal I don’t understand.
We should be building statues of this man and honouring him with prizes, he is a fine journalist, who exposed the actions of our governments. He has committed no crime, yet is being killed in prison, being tortured for revealing the truth.
It’s a very disturbing precedent. If we allow this to happen, where do we go from here?
> If we allow this to happen, where do we go from here?
But we've already allowed it to happen. He's been in jail for years now. For something he may or may not have done. He's on the verge of being deported to the US, where he will most likely be imprisoned for journalism. Something he shouldn't have had to think about. If we wouldn't have allowed this to happen in the first place, he could have stand trial for the other things he's been accused of.
So it's already happened. It's why Snowden is in Russia, instead of living his life in the US.
Except Snowden leaked to mature and well respected media outlets, whom released things without political bias and made sure any information that could put people at risk of harm was redacted.
Assange does no such thing and leaks for political reasons.
“I would only add that the attempt to punish Assange for exposing the truth is an attack on journalism itself.
I notice that none of those mainstream collaborators who published his material – the New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel – are being pursued, which demonstrates that a generational bias against internet-based journalism is at the heart of the case ...
If Julian goes to the US, Britain will have failed to protect one of the first principles of democracy.”
Do you support the US charging journalists from the NYT and seeking extradition for others from the UK and Germany, or is it only Assange?
What are respected media outlets? Your personal favourites? That's a nonsensical category, considering most media conglomerates are in bed with their respective governments.
I actually think Snowden is much more problematic as a case than Assange is.
Snowden released some information which was within the realm of reasonable activities for the organisations he worked with, an he was in fact American, so was not quite loyal.
Meanwhile, everything Assange did was appropriate. He has no duties to the US, not being a US citizen or permanent resident, and political bias is very common with journalists. Maybe there is one or two unbiased journalist in all of America, probably people with very extreme pro-truth and consequences-can't-be-allowed-to-matter mindsets, but there's not going to be many of them.
Assange's efforts through WikiLeaks to bring to light uncomfortable truths of our times should be seen through the lens of the cypherpunk ethos - advocating for privacy, freedom of speech, and the use of cryptography as a route to social and political change (or preservation of previously entrenched liberties). These trends have all come off the boil significantly in the last 10 years I think at great detriment to society at large.
The pursuit of truth should not be a crime, nor should it be met with life-ending punishment. Assange's work is a testament to the belief that information should be free and accessible, and those who dare to reveal the hidden should be protected, not persecuted.
In Oscar Wildes "The Happy Prince", who, from his high perch, saw the suffering and injustices of the city below and used his position to alleviate them, sacrificing his own life. In a similar vein, Assange has endeavored to expose injustices and bring to light the truths that many would prefer remain hidden. As the Happy Prince said to the little swallow, 'I am covered with fine gold,' but chose to strip away his gold leaf by leaf to help those in need. Assange's actions, much like the Prince's, ask us to consider what is truly valuable: comfort and safety, or truth and justice? Let us not forget those who, like Assange, have made life altering or ending sacrifices in the pursuit of truth and justice.