Freedom of the Press

Julian Assange’s Basic Press Freedoms Are Still In Danger

March 31, 2024 Chip Gibbons, Jacobin. Educate! Extradition, Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange, United Kingdom (UK)

On March 26, 2022, the UK High Court issued a decision about whether journalist Julian Assange could appeal his extradition to the United States. The United States is seeking to put the WikiLeaks founder and Australian journalist on trial for exposing US war crimes and abuses of power. After a nearly five-year legal process, during which a UK judge blocked Assange’s extradition only for a higher court to reverse, the UK High Court in February held two days of hearings on whether Assange had the right to appeal his extradition on a myriad of grounds, including press freedom and free expression concerns.

Basic Press Freedoms At Stake In The Julian Assange Case

February 27, 2024 Chip Gibbons, Jacobin. Educate! Extradition, Freedom of the Press, Journalism, Julian Assange, United Kingdom (UK), Wikileaks

At least a half hour before the Royal Courts of Justice opened their doors on Tuesday, February 20, thousands had already gathered outside the courthouse. In two hours, two British judges would be hearing two days of arguments in what may be journalist Julian Assange’s final plea that the UK courts halt his extradition to the United States. The United States is seeking to put the WikiLeaks founder on trial for exposing its war crimes — which would set a precedent that the Espionage Act can be used to prosecute journalists who publish information the US government doesn’t like.

UK Steps Up War On Whistleblower Journalism

February 14, 2024 Kit Klarenberg, The Grayzone. Educate! Freedom of the Press, Journalism, Julian Assange, National Security Act, National Security State, United Kingdom (UK), Wikileaks

It was the afternoon of May 17 2023 and I had just arrived at London’s Luton Airport. I was on my way to the city of my birth to visit my family. Before landing, the pilot instructed all passengers to have their passports ready for inspection immediately upon disembarking the plane. Just then, I noticed a six-strong squad of stone-faced plainclothes British counter-terror officers waited on the tarmac, intensely studying the identification documents of all travelers. As soon as the cops identified me, I was ordered to accompany them into the airport terminal without explanation. There, I was introduced to two officials whose names I could not learn, who subsequently referred to each other using nondescript callsigns. I was invited to be digitally strip searched, and subjected to an interrogation in which I had no right to silence, no right to refuse to answer questions, and no right to withhold pin numbers for my digital devices or sim cards.

We Are Spartacus

November 12, 2023 John Pilger, Consortium News. Educate! Censorship, Democracy, Fascism, Freedom of the Press, Journalism

Spartacus was a 1960 Hollywood film based on a book written secretly by the blacklisted novelist Howard Fast, and adapted by the screenplay writer Dalton Trumbo, one of the ‘Hollywood 10’ who were banned for their ‘un-American’ politics. It is a parable of resistance and heroism that speaks unreservedly to our own times. Both writers were Communists and victims of Senator Joseph McCarthy, chairman of the Government Operations Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate, which, during the Cold War, destroyed the careers and often the lives of those principled and courageous enough to stand up to a homegrown fascism in America.

The Deadly Business Of Reporting Truth

August 21, 2022 Andy Lee Roth, Project Censored. Educate! Censorship, Freedom of the Press, Journalism, State Violence

Violence is the most basic and blunt form of press censorship. To kill or imprison a journalist is to silence the public’s source of news. To date, 33 journalists around the world have been killed this year and another 494 are currently imprisoned, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Put another way, thus far in 2022, on average, once per week somewhere in the world a journalist is killed for reporting the news. Sometimes these cases make headlines, as was true in October 2018 when Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist who reported for the Middle East Eye and the Washington Post, was murdered by agents of the Saudi government, and in May 2022 when Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed—almost certainly by Israeli soldiers—in the occupied West Bank while reporting for Al Jazeera.

Calls To Drop ‘Absurd’ Charges Against Journalists Covering Protests

August 27, 2020 By Lisa Newcomb, Commondreams. Resist! First Amendment, Freedom of the Press, Media, Police abuse

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for authorities to drop charges against members of the news media who were arrested while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the United States. More than 600 attacks against the press during the protests, ongoing since the end of May, have been reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and many detained journalists were released without charges, according to CPJ.

DOJ’s New WikiLeaks Indictment Has Significant, Convenient Plot Holes

June 27, 2020 Dell Cameron, Gizmodo. Educate! Extradition, Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

In its push to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the U.K., the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday published a superseding indictment aimed at broadening “the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged.” The names of certain organizations and individuals are masked, including that of a paid FBI informant who stole money from WikiLeaks and later confessed to having sex with nine underage boys in exchange for money and other valuables. A decent chunk of the filing relates to Chelsea Manning, her interactions with Assange and other possible ties to known WikiLeaks associates, which serve as the foundation for the bulk of the charges against Assange, including multiple counts of espionage.

Assange Hit With New Indictment, Possible FBI Sting Operation

June 26, 2020 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Educate! Extradition, Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange, Media

The Justice Department on Wednesday said it had filed a second superseding indictment against imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, adding to existing computer intrusion charges. “The new indictment does not add additional counts to the prior 18-count superseding indictment returned against Assange in May 2019,” the DOJ said in a press release. “It does, however, broaden the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged,” the release said. “According to the charging document, Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to commit computer intrusions to benefit WikiLeaks.”

Journalist Blinded By Cops Speaks Out

June 26, 2020 Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. Educate! Freedom of the Press, Health Care, Journalism, Police violence, White Supremacy

Journalist and photographer Linda Tirado was standing near a police line in Minneapolis May 29, covering the George Floyd protests engulfing the city. All of a sudden, her face “exploded” in her own words. She had been shot from close range in the eye, permanently blinding her. Her goggles shattered and tear gas entered the wound, causing even more pain. The police had shot her. Protestors pulled her away from her attackers, put her into a vehicle and drove her to the hospital where they were unable to save her eye, but were able to give her a $58,000 bill, likely the first of many. Now, in a wide-ranging interview with writer Luke O’Neil, she spoke out about the ordeal, brutal policing, and the state of America today.

Comprehensive Plan To Put Journalists Back to Work

May 11, 2020 Free Press Create! Freedom of the Press, Local Media, Media, Media Democracy

On Monday, Free Press Action released a comprehensive series of policy recommendations that Congress should adopt to save local journalism and put tens of thousands of reporters back to work during and after the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal, What a Journalism-Recovery Package Should Look Like During the COVID-19 Crisis, includes billions in direct and indirect subsidies to journalists, as well as increases in federal support for public-media institutions that would protect a significant number of local reporting jobs. Among the immediate recommendations are direct emergency payments to newsroom workers, news-outlet tax credits to retain and boost the number of newsroom jobs, increased public-media funding, and accelerated federal-ad spending.

Assange Extradition Hearing Delayed Until September

May 4, 2020 Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance Educate! Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

Hearings in the extradition of WikiLeaks founder, publisher, and editor Julian Assange will resume in September after being postponed from May 18 because of the coronavirus outbreak which would have prevented lawyers from attending the hearing. he parties agreed September 7 as the earliest date for the hearings to resume, although an exact date and an appropriate venue were yet to be decided. Assange was not able to attend Monday's hearing via videolink because he was ill. Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief called the hearing a disgrace and said it was unacceptable for Assange to be held in prison until September.

Assange Indicted On 17 Espionage Charges

May 23, 2019 Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance Educate! Chelsea Manning, Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

For the first time in history, a publisher and editor has been charged under the Espionage Act. The prosecution of Julian Assange is an attack on Freedom of the Press that will make it less likely that the media will critically cover actions of the government especially when it comes to military and intelligence activities. This indictment is a blow to our right to know and undermines Constitutional guarantees. The superseding indictment announced today against Assange includes 17 additional charges under the Espionage Act involving the unlawful obtaining and disclosure of national defense information.

What It’s Like To Be The Target Of Character Assassination

February 19, 2019 Suzie Dawson, Endarken Resist! Asylum, Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange

Suzie Dawson is a long time political activist who deserves our support. She is currently leading efforts to defend Julian Assange for his work as publisher of Wikileaks. See Unity4J at https://twitter.com/Unity4J and join the weekly Friday night web vigils. In the article below she describes the character assassination attacks against her. Dawson is a New Zealand journalist who is seeking temporary asylum in Russia.

Assange Takes Legal Action To Force Trump Administration To Reveal Charges Against Him

January 23, 2019 Defend Wikileaks, Popular Resistance. Resist! Freedom of the Press, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

Lawyers for Julian Assange have filed an urgent application to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), based in Washington D.C., to direct the Trump Administration to unseal the charges it has secretly filed against Mr. Assange. Assange's lawyers are also asking the Commission to compel Ecuador to cease its espionage activities against Mr. Assange, to stop the isolation imposed on him and to protect him from U.S. extradition.

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