Defend Assange Campaign · @DefendAssange
5th Feb 2018 from TwitLonger
Background on my arrest warrant case tomorrow
Good background on my arrest warrant case tomorrow from a legal supporter (not by me or my legal team, don't quote me; but I have verified its accuracy and the sources are cited or easy to find).
Next Tuesday (Feb 6) at the London Westminster's Magistrates court at 2pm there will be a judgement in the case brought by Julian Assange to dismiss the UK arrest warrant against him. If the arrest warrant is rescinded then the question then moves to whether the UK has already received an extradition warrant from the United States (it presently refuses to confirm or deny.
The present state of affairs:
The UK seeks his arrest. The US case has expanded and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has declared his arrest "a priority". The Swedish "investigation" closed a year ago without charge. The UK state lost its appeal at the UN. Emails reveal the UK engineered his arbitrary detention and engaged in a cover up with Sweden. He has been arbitrarily detained in the UK since Dec 7, 2010. He was granted asylum on August 16, 2012 but the UK has preventing him leaving without arrest.
The UK state remains in violation of the Feb 5, 2016 UN WGAD determination which found that Julian is being subjected to arbitrary, unlawful detention and should be freed and compensated. The UK government appealed the UN finding and definitively lost again in late 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcw3SKVRUbM
Julian is not charged in the UK and is not accused of absconding or breach of bail. There is, however, an outstanding arrest warrant from 2012 that was associated with the Swedish extradition attempt. Sweden closed its investigation a year ago without charges so the UK arrest warrant serves no legitimate purpose but has been maintained anyway.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has publicly confirmed Julian's arrest "is a priority".
The US has expanded its grand jury to include WikiLeaks' 2017 CIA publications.
In 2017 then FBI director James Comey told Congress: "He hasn't been
apprehended because he is in the Ecuadorian embassy in London"
https://www.c-span.org/video/?427708-1/fbi-director-defends-decision-reveal-clinton-email-probe-election&t=30&start=5827
Trump CIA director Mike Pompeo has stated Julian has "no first amendment
rights" and that the CIA is working to "take down" WikiLeaks. The US
Senate intelligence committee has tabled legislation to declare WikiLeaks
a "non state intelligence service" and that the US government should
"treat it accordingly" https://archive.org/details/CSPAN_20170414_033500_CIA_Director_Calls_WikiLeaks_A_Non-State_Hostile_Intelligence_Service
Julian published a response in the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/julian-assange-the-cia-director-is-waging-war-on-truth-tellers-like-wikileaks/2017/04/25/b8aa5cfc-29c7-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html?utm_term=.aba56c52111d
A leak from intelligence contractor Stratfor in 2012 shows the U.S. having a sealed indictment. Julian faces up to life imprisonment. The five charge types on the warrants used against WikiLeaks are espionage, conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy, theft, and electronic espionage--a terrorism offence. https://wikileaks.org/google-warrant/press.html
CNN states that the Obama administration looked at dropping the case against Julian after he obtained asylum but changed its mind in 2013 due to his rescue of Edward Snowden from Hong Kong.
The UK refuses to release correspondence between itself and the US over the matter stating that to do so would risk potentially "tipping off" Julian . http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2017/12/14/news/london_tribunal_dismisses_la_repubblica_s_appeal_to_access_the_full_file_of_julian_assange-184083942/ .
It was revealed through emails obtained under freedom of information act litigation that the UK CPS in 2011 and 2012 improperly told Sweden to not interview him in the UK and also pressured Sweden in 2013 to not drop its extradition request (which Sweden told the UK it was intending to do) and that both Sweden and the UK engaged in a cover up, to hide and destroy emails related to these actions and the management of the case broadly. This is from the few hundred emails that have been obtained. The overwhelming bulk, numbering at least several thousand, have not been released. See https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/10/uk-prosecutors-admit-destroying-key-emails-from-julian-assange-case and http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2017/12/14/news/london_tribunal_dismisses_la_repubblica_s_appeal_to_access_the_full_file_of_julian_assange-184083942/
Julian has also already suffered more than 3x the maximum penalty (three months) even before obtaining asylum at the embassy (house arrest at over 8 hours per day is valued at 50% prison time in UK legislation). If the time at the embassy is included at the same discount then more than 10x the maximum penalty.
Sweden dropped its "preliminary investigation" in early 2017 in response to legal action. Julian was never charged and was previously found innocent in 2010 on exactly the same allegation.
Julian's health is in an increasingly dangerous condition: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/24/julian-assanges-health-in-dangerous-condition-say-doctors
More information: https://iamwikileaks.org/ and https://justice4assange.com/