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Press Freedom

US ‘Seizes’ Iranian And Other Regional News Sites

June 23, 2021 People's Dispatch. , , ,
On Tuesday, June 22, the US government “seized” several news websites, alleging their involvement in spreading “disinformation” and calling them a “threat to national security”. The seized websites include Iranian state-owned Press TV and its Arabic version Al-Alam, the Houthi controlled Al-Masirah TV, and Palestine Today, among others. The move has created global outrage with activists calling it an attempt to censor the press and detrimental to the ongoing talks in Vienna. Visitors of Press TV and the other Iranian and regional websites can now see a notice which mentions the “seizure”. The notice cites certain US sanction laws and demonstrates the seals of the US department of justice and department of commerce.

Julian Assange’s Father And Brother Announce US Tour

June 4, 2021 Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. , , ,
The father and brother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are planning a nationwide tour of the United States next month to advocate for the release of the detained journalist and for the Biden administration to drop its extradition effort—and to highlight the broader implications that his prosecution has for global press freedom. John and Gabriel Shipton, Assange's father and brother, will kick off the #HomeRun4Julian tour in Miami on June 6, then travel to over a dozen U.S. cities for the rest of the month, wrapping up in Washington, D.C. in July. Some events will be live-streamed, and the pair plans to meet with activists, journalists, and policymakers along the away. "My brother Julian Assange has effectively been a prisoner for over a decade because he published evidence of war crimes," said Gabriel Shipton in a statement Thursday.

Scheer Intelligence: The Ruling Class’ Revenge Against Julian Assange

May 8, 2021 Robert Scheer, ScheerPost.com. , , ,
The mistreatment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over the past decade has been defined as “psychological torture” by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer. Yet, there is still no real end in sight to Assange’s promethean plight. Several months after a British judge blocked his extradition to the U.S.–citing that conditions in America’s inhumane prison system would be detrimental to his health–the WikiLeaks founder continues to be held in a maximum security prison in the U.K. The U.S. government, first under Donald Trump’s rule and now under Joe Biden’s, is appealing the extradition ruling. With a new decision in the case is due to be announced any day now, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and ScheerPost columnist Chris Hedges joins Robert Scheer on this week’s installment of “Scheer Intelligence” to discuss what Hedges has called Assange’s “martyrdom.”

World Celebrates Press Freedom Day, Julian Assange Remains In Belmarsh Prison

May 3, 2021 Mohamed Elmaazi, The Canary. , , ,
As people worldwide celebrate the UN’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, WikiLeaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange remains incarcerated. The US continues to demand Assange’s extradition for his role in obtaining and publishing national defence documents from 2009 to 2011. The leaks, provided by US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, are known as the Guantanamo Files, the Iraq War Logs, the Afghan War Diary, and the US diplomatic cables (aka Cablegate). There are noteworthy parallels which can be drawn between Assange’s case and that of famed US Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg was a former senior adviser and analyst with the defence and state departments during the Vietnam War.

A History Of The Espionage Act And How it Ensnared Julian Assange

April 12, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. , , ,
From its earliest years the United States has found ways to deny the rights of a free press when it was politically expedient to do so. One of the latest ways was to arrest WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange two years ago today and to indict him — the first time a publisher and journalist has ever been charged under the 1917 Espionage Act for possessing and publishing state secrets. Though several U.S. administrations had come close to punishing journalists for revealing defense information, they all pulled back, until Assange. They were restrained because of a conflict with the First Amendment, which prohibits Congress from passing any law, including the Espionage Act, that abridges press freedom.

April 11: Global Day Of Action For Julian Assange

April 7, 2021 Assange Defense. , , ,
Assange supporters Candles4Assange have put together an incredibly helpful list of actions planned for Julian Assange on April 11th around the world, to mark 2 years of his unjust imprisonment. The full Twitter thread is here but we’ve also listed each event by city below. 

Assange’s Father John Shipton On The Home Run Tour For Julian

March 17, 2021 Paul Gregoire, Sydney Criminal Lawyers. , , ,
For the past fortnight the Home Run for Julian tour has been weaving its way through regional and suburban Victoria and NSW, towards the nation’s capital. And along its route, it’s met with supporters to spread the word that Australians want Wikileaks founder Julian Assange returned home. After over a decade of drawn out detention in the UK, Assange is now incarcerated in London’s Belmarsh prison, pending an appeal of the British court decision not to extradite him to the United States to face multiple espionage charges over his publishing. The Home Run for Julian speak out tour has been led by Assange’s father John Shipton, along with 3CR journalist and peace campaigner Jacob Grech, the Peace Bus’ Graeme Dunstan and Melbourne for Wikileaks’ Raine Sinclair.

Journalist Acquitted: Covering Protests Against Racism Is Not A Crime

March 16, 2021 Patricia Gorky, Liberation News. , , ,
After a three day trial an Iowa jury has found Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri not guilty on misdemeanor charges stemming from her coverage of a June 2020 demonstration against racist police violence. Police pepper-sprayed the journalist in the face and arrested her as she covered a local protest against police brutality. The police alleged that they ordered the crowd to disperse, but three people including two journalists testified under oath that no such order or notice was given. Body cam footage would have cleared any question of what happened yet this was brazenly deleted by the police. During the trial Sahouri testified to her brutalization by police: “I put up my hands and I say ‘I’m press’ because he was coming like, right at me, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to run from officers,” she said. “

Julian Assange Wins 2020 Gary Webb Freedom Of The Press Award

March 15, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. , , ,
Julian Assange, the imprisoned and maligned publisher of WikiLeaks, has been awarded the 2020 Gary Webb Freedom of the Press Award by the board of the Consortium for Independent Journalism, publishers of Consortium News.  Assange is incarcerated in a maximum security prison in London awaiting a hearing later this month on an extradition request by the United States. He has been charged 0n 17 counts under the U.S. Espionage Act of possessing and publishing classified material that revealed prima facie evidence of U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.  For practicing the highest order of journalism–revealing crimes of the state–Assange faces 175 years in a U.S. prison–a life sentence for the 48-year old Australian. 

Julian Assange’s Father Takes Fight To Free His Son To Canberra

March 14, 2021 Hannah Sparks, The Riot Act. , , ,
John Shipton, the father of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently in custody in London pending a High Court appeal, will protest outside Parliament House with supporters from 8:00 am on Monday, 15 March. Mr Shipton is also due to speak at the Australian National University on Sunday night with former Deputy Chief Minister and lawyer Bernard Collaery. Mr Collaery is on trial for allegedly unlawfully sharing protected information about an Australian spy operation that bugged allies in the Timor-Leste Government in 2004 when Australia was negotiating for oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea. The whistleblower, David McBride, will also speak on Sunday night. Mr Shipton is calling on the Australian Government to bring Mr Assange, 49, back to Australia.

‘Enough Is Enough’, Says Julian Assange’s Father

February 28, 2021 Kerry Smith, Green Left. , , ,
John Shipton has started an eight-city speaking tour — the Home Run 4 Julian tour — in defence of his son Julian Assange who is still languishing in Belmarsh Prison. The protest tour was launched on February 26 outside the State Library of Victoria. Shipton will travel through regional centres in New South Wales, Sydney and Canberra. Support for Assange has been growing rapidly since a British court determined earlier this year that he should not be extradited to the United States to face 17 espionage charges arising from the Collateral Murder video release of 2010. Shipton said he was pleased that this week Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese had added his voice to the calls for Assange’s freedom.

Letter: On The Matter Of Assange’s Lawyers Considering A Cross Appeal

February 25, 2021 Alexander Mercouris, Consortium News. , , ,
Julian Assange’s lawyers are considering bringing a cross appeal to the High Court in London disputing parts of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s Jan. 4 judgment not to extradite Assange to the United States, according to a report by journalist Tareq Haddad. Baraitser refused the U.S. request on narrow grounds, saying Assange’s extradition would put his life and health at risk.  But Baraitser sided with the U.S. on every other point of law and fact, making it clear that in the absence of the life and health issues she would have granted the U.S. request.  That opens the way for the U.S. government to seek the extradition of other persons, including journalists, who do the same things as Assange did, but who cannot rely on the same life and health issues. 

The Atrocious Prosecution Of Julian Assange

February 21, 2021 Eve Ottenberg, Counterpunch. , , ,
What do Biden and Trump have in common? (Aside from jerking Iran around over the nuclear treaty, proclaiming support for a phony, unelected pretender to the Venezuelan presidency, Juan Guaido, and posturing aggressively toward China?) Both Biden and Trump support the utterly baseless Espionage Act case against journalist and publisher Julian Assange. Make no mistake, this case is a frontal assault on the first amendment. It is also one of the worst attacks on a free press in centuries. But that hasn’t stopped Trump and Biden. With a pusillanimous press quiescent about Assange and unless Biden reverses course, these two presidents will have trashed the ability of journalists to report on military and government abuses.

Biden DOJ Files Appeal To Get Assange Extradited

February 15, 2021 Consortium News. , , ,
The liberal administration of Joe Biden proved itself to be no less an enemy of press freedom than Donald Trump when it filed an appeal at the UK High Court on Friday to get their hands on the journalist Julian Assange. The appeal seeks to overturn a decision by Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser, who on Jan. 4, ruled that the WikiLeaks publisher was at heightened risk of suicide if he were to be extradited to the United States and face life in a U.S. super max prison.  Amnesty International on Thursday had joined an array of press freedom and human rights organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch, in urging the Biden administration to drop the case against Assange. 

Assange Prosecution, Launched By Trump Justice Department, Will Continue Under Biden

February 10, 2021 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. , , ,
The Justice Department under President Joe Biden plans to continue the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that was launched under President Donald Trump. "We continue to seek his extradition," Justice Department spokesperson Marc Raimondi told Reuters, days before February 12, the deadline for the United States government to submit its "grounds for appeal." The statement represents a departure from President Barack Obama's administration, which declined to prosecute Assange. Justice Department officials were reportedly concerned about the threat it would pose to press freedom. On January 4, British district judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected the U.S. government's extradition request and concluded Assange's mental condition was "such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America."
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