High Court Neuters District Court: Assange Extradition sent to a Politician
Assange Extradition sent to a Politician
[Image: a still borrowed from the TheAnalysis.new/Activism Munich video linked below, depicting Mr Assange’s father John Shipton and current Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson.]
Publication date: 2021-12-13
The decision on the appeal to the denial of extradition to the USA for journalist and publisher Julian Assange was delivered by the two High Court judge panel of Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett and Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde on Friday 10th December, 2021.
If you just want other people’s commentary, scroll down to “Sources” below.
The summary of the judgement is that of the 5 grounds for appeal, 3 are rejected, but two upheld. None of the medical evidence heard and relied upon by Magistrate Baraitser is refuted. The pillar of the judgement is that extradition requesting states should have the ability to provide assurances of treatment on appeal after a magistrate's judgement.
The sentence containing the damnation is from paragraph 47:
It is accordingly clear that Diplomatic Note no. 74 contains solemn undertakings, offered by one government to another, which will bind all officials and prosecutors who will deal with the relevant aspects of Mr Assange’s case now and in the future.
The use of the verb “bind” in that statement is highly contentious. Richard Medhurst recently examined the case of Mendoza to show just how unreliable USA "assurances" were in the treatment of the person extradited.
The judgement sends the case back to the district judge and asks that the case be sent to the Secretary of State (being the Minister for the Home Office, currently MP Priti Patel):
Paragraph 99 from the judgement reads (the [clarifying edit] is mine):
Conclusion:
For those reasons we reject Grounds 1, 3 and 4, but allow the appeal on Grounds 2 and 5. We accordingly quash the order discharging Mr Assange. We remit this case to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court, with a direction to proceed as the DJ [District Judge] would have been required to do if she had decided differently the relevant question of whether Mr Assange’s mental condition was such that it would be oppressive to extradite him, namely by sending the case to the Secretary of State. Pursuant to section 106(9), we remand Mr Assange in custody.
The key phrase is “with a direction to proceed as the DJ [District Judge] would have been required to do if she had decided differently”. To de-legalize: we are not amused. Oh, and we have not considered the spying and compromise of legal privilege, the perjury in the prosecution’s case by “Siggi the cant-hack” or the “Yahoo! News” reported plans by the CIA to kidnap or murder Assange.
Gathered in sources below are a collection of commentaries, in written or video form, on the legal decision and the case in general by those more skilled than I to express our collective disappointment outrage.
Voices include: Greenwald, Pilger, Medhurst, Johnstone, McGovern, Cook, Hedges, Lauria, Gosztola, Horton, Dore, Varoufakis, Jay, Martin, Corbyn, Stein, Ali, Melzer, Kiriakou, Robinson, Moris, Hudak, Horvat, Richter, Chomsky, Snowden, Murray, Waters, Maurizi, Ellsberg, Mercouris, Hogan, Johnson and Westwood comprising journalists, commentators, former intelligence analysts or operatives, a comedian, an economist, activists, politicians, philosophers, a UN rapporteur, lawyers, a fiancee, intellectuals, whistleblowers, musicians, medical doctors, and artists.
Be the light.
Sources
High Court Judgement in the case of USA v. Julian Assange, Royal Courts of Justice, delivered 2021-12-10
Julian Assange Loses Appeal: British High Court Accepts U.S. Request to Extradite Him for Trial, Glenn Greenwald, His newsletter, 2021-21-10
John Pilger: A Judicial Kidnapping, John Pilger, Consortium News, 2021-12-11
Assange Loses, High Court Allows US Appeal; Quashes Assange’s Discharge, Joe Lauria, The Indicter, 2021-12-10
Hedges: The Execution of Julian Assange, Chris Hedges, ScheerPost, 2021-12-13
High Court Says Assange Can Be Extradited to U.S., Richard Medhurst, His newsletter, 2021-21-10
Assange Plans To Appeal High Court Decision Backing Extradition To United States, Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter, 2021-12-10
They're Killing Him: Assange's Stroke Reveals The Western Version Of The Saudi Bone Saw, Caitlin Johnstone, Her newsletter, 2021-12-13
Assange Verdict: Vengeance Is Ours, Saith the Agency, Ray McGovern, AntiWar.com, 2021-12-11
Assange Ruling a Dangerous Precedent for Journalists and British Justice, Jonathan Cook, AntiWar.com, 2021-12-11
Assange can be extradited, says court, Chris Hedges interviews Joe Lauria, On Contact (RT America), 2021-12-11
US & UK Destroying Assange & Press Freedom, Jimmy Dore interviews Glenn Greenwald, Jimmy Dore Show (youtube), 2021-12-12
Assange Extradition: High Court Rules in Favor of U.S., Richard Medhurst, youtube channel, 2021-12-10
Ep. 5645 - Kevin Gosztola on Assange’s Future After the High Court Ruling - 12/10/21, Scott Horton interviews Kevin Gosztola, Scott Horton Show, 2021-12-13
LIVE with Daniel Ellsberg, John Pilger, Roger Waters, Nils Melzer, Craig Murray & Stefania Maurizi, Randy Credico and Guests, Live on the Fly with Randy Credico youtube channel, 2021-12-10
WATCH: CN Live! — ‘The Survival of Julian Assange’, Joe Lauria, Elizbeth Vos and Guests (Alexander Mercouris, Jill Stein, Bill Hogan and Lissa Johnson) , CN Live (youtube), 2021-12-13
Can we save Assange? We will not give up! Abby Martin, Snowden, Chomsky & others speak out!, TheAnalysis.news and Activism Munich, published 2021-12-10
Culture
Apologies to my readership for reusing this song, but I could find no better cultural voice to capture the moment. I hope that if Mr Assange could view this article, he would approve.
Midnight Oil - US Forces, Midnight Oil, Vevo/Youtube, uploaded 2009-10-03 but from their 1982 album “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”
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