Part 10: GaslightingAssange, Wiggle Room in the Court Proceedings, But More to Tackle
This Is An Opinion Piece. The details are in the links.
There was a Monday morning conference call today in Britain concerning the Assange case. It has brought some reasonable hope and shows the world there is a firm argument to prevent the ongoing GaslightingAssange and his legal team. For starters, THERE IS A GLOBAL PANDEMIC called COVID and despite the British courts insistence that everything is fine at Belmarsh in the COVID department, common sense and science indicate otherwise. UK courts must adapt to the global pandemic or risk more deaths in custody as well as tarnishing its international reputation further. Today’s case management hearing reflects more sanity than has been demonstrated in UK courts in a number of years. I consider it a step in the right direction for not only challenging GaslightingAssange but also potential criminal charges against the UK for Corporate Manslaughter. I wrote about this, Assange’s Body Bag is at the Ready.
A summary of the hearing this morning by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) outlines the technical difficulties behind the scenes, the prognosis for open justice and the demand to release Assange on bail immediately. The Assange case will likely be postponed to November 2019, with case management hearings on a monthly basis.
In the meantime, knowing that the antidote to the GaslightingAssange psychological abuse is to draw attention to it, we must bring this topic to media so the public can unify a public interest defence against US and UK injustice.
It will be crucial to bring a few points to the fore. There are still many abuses happening in the Assange case which need public attention.
- Legal access — Assange has a right to access persons, tools and paperwork, documents and have the restoration of Lawyer-Client Privilege (confidentiality to ensure a fair process, allow Assange to defend himself without giving away his strategy). As long as Assange is in Belmarsh, his access to lawyers, technology, legal privilege and documents is limited. This renders the case asymmetrically advantaged toward the US prosecution team.
- Technology access — Assange requires a computer that is not obsolete, internet access, and storage devices to defend himself. To handicap him with barely functioning technology is to skew the extradition case in the US prosecutor’s favour. Assange must be released on bail immediately. As long as Assange is in Belmarsh, his access to contemporary technology, communications via phone/video conferencing and the Internet will be severely limited.
- Court room — Most extradition hearings are located at Westminster Court in central London. Given the experience from the 4 day preliminary arguments at Woolwich Court (Feb. 24 to 28th), it is clear that the Belmarsh venue is inappropriate considering: location, seating size, audio system, allowing Assange to sit with his legal team, and decreased public and journalistic monitoring including human rights organizations. A new venue may be better suited to justice. Today’s remote phone and video connections were inadequate for comprehensive participation in the proceedings and indicate that remote connections are unacceptable.
- Prison conditions — It’s worth repeating. There is an urgent need for Assange to be released on bail /house arrest, out of an environment infested with a killer virus (No, we won’t “Keep calm and COVID on” through this internationally significant case). He should not be in a maximum security facility but a transfer to another prison may put him at risk of Covid infection.
- Security to and from court — If Assange is on bail, he will need to go through security clearance checks while entering/exiting court and must have protections for his dignity respected. If Assange is held in Belmarsh, judges and prison officials must put strict limits on the intrusive security measures he is subjected to (strip searches including anal and genital inspections), hand cuffing and transfers into multiple holding cells. Assange must be let out of the Cry-Room-Fish-Tank secure dock no matter what.
6. Judicial oversight: I don’t mean to traduce the reputation of the UK Judiciary, but there is a pivotal, documented conflict-of-interest of the District Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot in the Assange case. Her role is to supervise, oversee and govern the Assange case, therefore, no matter which judge is actually in the courtroom s/he is an understudy or avatar of Arbuthnot. They are “in persona Arbuthnot”, who is likely “in persona Boris Johnson et. al.” who is “in persona Donald Trump and company (DoJ, DoD, CIA et. al.). Read through this BBC reporter thread from the day Assange was arrested and hauled into court to see just how offended Judge Michael Snow became when Judge Arbuthnot’s professional duty to fully recuse herself was lobbied in court. Assange was chastised. His legal team was chastised. The public must demand that Arbuthnot is completely removed (recused) from the Assange case. Her documented conflict of interest forms the foundation of a UK Supreme Court appeal. Just on that one fact. She must be removed and it must be published on the UK Judiciary site to confirm it to the public. It is in the public interest that conflicts of interest are disclosed and appropriate professional conduct follows. If Arbuthnot refuses to do the right thing, she must be removed and investigated by the UK Bar Association. Trust in the UK Judiciary must be more of a priority than a disclosed motive for revenge. If Assange’s legal defence raises this issue again, it is not to traduce the courts but invite Arbuthnot not to drag Her Majesty’s courts into ill-repute by her unprofessional conduct.
Do You See What I See?
The world is watching this British extradition trial with a new lens, which I have named “GaslightingAssange”. It is shocking to realize the full cost of this psychological operation. It could cost Assange his life. It could cost us our democracy. It has cost millions upon millions of tax money. It will cost journalists and reporters. We are aghast at how the GaslightingAssange techniques have been carried out with apparent impunity and complete lack of surgical criticism. This will not go unnoticed going forward. Any and every syllable which is uttered by a UK judge, US prosecutor or any media will be scrutinized within the Gestalt of a GaslightingAssange psychological operation against not only him, but each one of his lawyers, the United Nations and human rights groups. Here is Amnesty’s statement from today.
Victims of torture, domestic violence, judicial abuse or political persecution have one defence: TELL EVERYONE AND ANYONE WHAT IS HAPPENING in the hope that the truth will resonate with the integrity inherent in their hearts. Then people will mobilize to come to that victim’s defence. Assange is the victim of an elaborate, expensive, extensive and extortive psychological operation which I have named GaslightingAssange. He is a “product”, not a person in the eyes of Britain nor the US.
In Assange’s world, all yellow brick roads lead to the Wizard of Trump, specifically Virginia, USA.
Assange is a human being, entitled to equality under the law, due process and the protection of his human rights. His value to the public as a journalist and intellect is worth the price of democracy itself and a sustainable future for the planet, which is priceless. I am grateful for the wiggle room in the timetable of this case. Let’s not squander this window of time. Let’s tackle the outstanding problems listed above. Let’s unite in this historical fight. We are strong. We are fresh. We are united.
Additonal reading for the keeners: False and defammatory statements about the Assange case.
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