Final Saturday, eighth October 2022, I photographed a protest in London in opposition to the imprisonment and attainable extradition of Julian Assange, currrently held within the UK’s most safety jail at Belmarsh.
Assange’s “crime” was to publish paperwork about US conflict crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and elswhere, making paperwork downloaded by Chelsea Manning, making them accessible after appropriate redaction to guard the people involved to the world’s press and to the general public on WikiLeaks. Wikipedia has a very good and pretty detailed entry on him which a lot of the particulars right here come from.
If extradited to the US he could be placed on trial in a space the place the jury could be composed of individuals from an space with robust connections to the US safety companies who will have already got pre-judged him as responsible. His sentence is prone to quantity to 175 years in a US most safety jail, in all probability in isolation and by no means to be freed.
In 2010 Sweden issued an extradition warrant for him on allegations of sexual misconduct, which have been extensively seen as a pretext to allow him to be extradited from Sweden to face prison costs within the USA. When in 2012 he misplaced his battle in opposition to extradition to Sweden he jumped bail to take refuge within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the place he lived in extremely restricted accomodation till 2019.
A brand new authorities in Ecuador determined to finish his asylum within the embassy and invited police in to arrest him in April 2019; he was then sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching his bail. The Swedish sexual costs in opposition to him have been dropped later within the 12 months, however the USA instantly started proceedings to extradite him to face trial underneath the US 1917 Espionage Act.
The choice to make use of this Act has been extensively criticised within the press and elsewhere as being an assault on the First Modification to the US Structure, which ensures press freedom. And if Assange is responsible then it appears clear that the editors of the newspapers that printed the revelations he made in publising the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Homicide video, the Afghanistan conflict logs, the Iraq conflict logs and different materials is also prosecuted. Even my publishing the hyperlink to the video may very well be a criminal offense.
Assange’s sentence was accomplished in September 2019, however he was saved in jail due to the US extradition declare. He had been visited earlier by Nils Melzer, the United Nations particular rapporteur on Torture and Different Merciless, Inhuman or Degrading Remedy or Punishment, who, as quoted on Wikipedia discovered “along with bodily illnesses, Mr Assange confirmed all signs typical for extended publicity to psychological torture, together with excessive stress, persistent anxiousness and intense psychological trauma.”
After a protracted listening to together with a lot medical proof, a decide on 4 January 2021 dominated that Assange couldn’t be extradited to the USA on grounds of psychological well being and the suicide danger in a US jail cell. The USA appealed the choice, and Assange remained in jail. The Excessive Courtroom rejected a lot of the medical proof, believed the US lies of honest therapy made and located in favour of the USA on 10 December 2021.
In April his extradition was formally accepted in courtroom and referred to Dwelling Secretary Priti Patel, who accepted it in June. However the authorized battle continues with a brand new attraction. Basically Assange has now been locked up for 10 years. Wikileaks has continued his work in releasing info in his absence. The persevering with persecution by each the UK and USA for revealing their conflict crimes appears spiteful and malicious.
On Saturday eighth October I photographed a protest in London by round 10,000 individuals who shaped a human chain calling for Assange to be freed and to not be extradited across the Homes of Parliament, crossing the river on Westminster Bridge and returning throughout Lambeth Bridge, a distance of a bit over two kilometres.
It’s troublesome to know what number of took half, however there gave the impression to be sufficient individuals to affix palms, with fairly just a few to spare in some components the place individuals have been shoulder to shoulder and a few to spare. The organisers had thought they would wish round 5,000 so I feel it was in all probability fairly greater than that; estimates I’ve seen vary from 3,000 to 12,000. However in addition to these current in particular person, many unable to get to Londonwere represented by yellow sashes with their names on them.
Once I arrived individuals have been tying these to the railings across the Homes of Parliament, however police got here to take away them, handing them again to the protesters. They stated nothing was allowed to be fastened to the railings. Lots of the protesters held or wore the sashes for the protest, and though I don’t usually participate within the protests I’m photographing, most of those photos have been taken by me with a sash studying ‘#Free Assange Monique Dits Belgium‘ round my neck.
At round 1.30, fairly later than deliberate individuals have been instructed to hyperlink palms and so they chanted ‘Free Assange’ and different slogans for a couple of minutes. I’d chosen to be on Lambeth Bridge for this as I might then take pictures with the Homes of Parliament seen throughout the Thames within the backgound.
After taking some there I made my manner alongside the remainder of the chain again to Parliament, on my manner passing John McDonnell being interviewed by a videographer. Usually I might have stopped to speak to him, however by now I used to be fairly drained, nonetheless struggling a bit from my booster jab the day before today and I carried on, previous a small crowd of individuals with video and nonetheless cameras three or 4 deep round Jeremy Corbyn. However I’d determined he wasn’t actually the story and carried on. I’ve photographed him sufficient occasions over the numerous years I’ve identified him.
You may see extra of the images I made within the album Human Chain Round Parliament Says Free Assange.
Tags: #Assange, #AssangeFreedom, #FreeAssange, 175 years, Afghanistan, Assange, chain of assist, cover-up, Espionage Act, extradition, Free Assange!, Free Julian Assange, free speech, freedom of the press, human chain, Human Chain Round Parliament Free Assange!, Iraq, journalism, journalists, Julian Assange, Lambeth Bridge, London, parliament, peter Marshall, protest, River Thames, Stella Assange, Stella Morris, Thames, UK, US conflict crimes, conflict crimes, Westminster, Westminster Bridge
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