Free Assange!

A London court issued an order to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States this week. Assange has been held in Belmarsh prison since he was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2019 for breaching bail conditions in a separate extradition case involving Sweden.
    Behind all this lies the less than hidden hand of the Americans who want to get their hands on the maverick journalist to face charges that could lead to the death penalty or a life-time in jail. The Americans have charged Assange with espionage after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified documents revealing war crimes committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.But Assange is an Australian who has never lived in the US and that country has no jurisdiction over him. Still that sort of thing has never bothered the country that built the concentration camp at Guantánamo or that has secret torture bases – not so secret after Wikileaks – all around the world.
    The persecution of Assange has been condemned by journalists and human rights activists across the world, who have slammed the US and British authorities for attacking press freedom by going after the WikiLeaks founder.
    The bourgeois media tell us that information technology was transforming our lives for the better. The internet, Twitter and other social networking services are hailed as forces for individual freedom of expression and valuable tools of “democracy” when they are used to foment reactionary unrest and regime change in countries that dare to stand up to imperialism. But it’s a different tune when the boot is on the other foot.
    When WikiLeaks releases embarrassing documents, when the crimes of imperialism are exposed by ‘hactivists’ for all the world to see, the internet becomes ‘irresponsible’ and the most craven bourgeois pundits start calling for censorship, government control and the prosecution of those who have dared to break the ruling class consensus.
    Russia is condemned for allegedly manipulating social media to influence elections in the heartlands of imperialism, and WikiLeaks reviled for releasing tranches of documents that expose the crimes of imperialism and the dirty work of their intelligence agencies.
    Assange’s ‘crime’ was his refusal to play the bogus ‘human rights’ game and turn a blind eye to the crimes of imperialism. He worked together with former US soldier and whistle-blower Chelsea Manning to expose atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the notorious ‘Collateral Murder’ video that shows American helicopter gun-ships mowing down innocent civilians in Baghdad under the cover of fighting ‘terrorism’.
    Assange’s defence team have until 18th May to challenge the decision and make representations to Home Secretary Priti Patel before she makes her decision on the ruling.
    WikiLeaks' chief editor Kristinn Hrafnsson said that by issuing the extradition order, the Westminster Magistrate's Court had signed Assange's death sentence. "Extraditing Assange would be a risk to his life," Hrafnsson told the crowd assembled in front of the court. "It would be equal to a death sentence. Now, Julian's life is in the hands of Priti Patel and Boris Johnson. They need to do the right thing." Let’s hope so...

Defend Julian Assange!

The arrest of Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London last week is another despicable crime of British imperialism. The founder of WikiLeaks was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London by the police on Thursday after Ecuador’s president, Lenin Moreno, revoked his political asylum. Assange had spent almost seven years in the building after being welcomed there by the previous president, Rafael Correa. Now he’s in Belmarsh charged with jumping bail and under a previously secret US indictment – a development which Assange predicted and stated as his reason for going into the embassy in the first place.

Assange, an Australian citizen living in Sweden, came to Britain following rape allegations that he strenuously denied. Assange was avoiding an arrest that he feared would lead to his deportation to the USA, where he faces charges that will put him behind bars for many years to come. The then progressive government of Ecuador offered him asylum and Assange took refuge in their embassy in London when the British government moved to send him to America. But Assange was denied free passage to leave the country.

Seven years later reactionary forces willing to do the bidding of US imperialism are back in charge in Ecuador. The Moreno regime handed Assange over to the police in exchange for around $4.2 billion worth of IMF loans/aid. No wonder former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa called Moreno the "worst traitor" in his country's history for handing the WikiLeaks chief over to the Metropolitan police.

In the past the bourgeois media told us that information technology was transforming our lives for the better. The internet, Twitter and other social networking services were hailed as forces for individual freedom of expression and valuable tools of “democracy” when they were used to foment reactionary violence in Iran, Ukraine and throughout the Arab world.

But it’s a different tune when the boot is on the other foot. When WikiLeaks releases embarrassing documents, when the crimes of imperialism are exposed by ‘hactivists’ for all the world to see, the internet becomes ‘irresponsible’ and the most craven bourgeois pundits start calling for censorship, government control and the prosecution of those who have dared to break the ruling class consensus.

Russia is condemned for allegedly manipulating social media to influence elections in the heartlands of imperialism, and WikiLeaks reviled for releasing tranches of documents that expose the crimes of imperialism and the dirty work of their intelligence agencies.

Assange’s ‘crime’ has been his refusal to play the bogus ‘human rights’ game and turn a blind eye to the crimes of imperialism. He worked together with former US soldier and whistle-blower Chelsea Manning to expose war-crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the notorious ‘Collateral Murder’ video that shows American helicopter gun-ships mowing down innocent civilians in Baghdad under the cover of fighting ‘terrorism’.

Manning spent around seven years in prison for exposing war-crimes. She’s now back in jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. Assange faces even worse retribution if he falls into American hands.

Jeremy Corbyn says that Julian Assange should not be extradited. The Labour leader said: “The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government.”

Corbyn is calling on the May government to oppose the attempt to put the 47-year-old WikiLeaks founder on trial in America for obtaining classified information from former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. This call must be echoed throughout the labour movement.

Free Manning! Free Assange!

Let Assange go!

Rumours abound, within the corridors of power, about a deal that could allow Julian Assange safe passage from his refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The fugitive founder of WikiLeaks fled to the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape charges that he vigorously denies.

Assange publicly declared he would go to Sweden if that government could guarantee he would not then be sent on to face charges in the USA. The Swedes would not guarantee that. His supporters believe that the Swedes were doing the bidding of American imperialism, enraged at the Australian whistle-blower’s publication of thousands of embarrassing secret communications between the US government and its embassies and military bases around the world.

There is little doubt that heavy pressure on both Britain and Sweden was wielded behind the scenes by the US government, with the ultimate objective of getting him sent to the USA where he could face the death penalty. He has never lived in the USA and that country has no jurisdiction over him. But that sort of thing has never bothered the country that built the concentration camp at Guantanamo or that has secret torture bases – not so secret after WikiLeaks – around the world.

WikiLeaks has done a lot of damage to imperialism by exposing its ugly, deceitful, cruel and greedy underbelly. Genuine left-wing communist and workers parties around the world have long supported demands for Assange’s release to a country of his choice. Let’s hope that the rumours are true…