The UK Ministry of Justice Is Not Above the Law: Corporate Manslaughter includes Gross Negligence and Death in Custody.
In British law “Corporate Manslaughter” includes Gross Negligence but what the UK Government is doing to Assange right now should be deemed a Corporate Homicide. The difference between “manslaughter” and “homicide” is intent. Right now he is trapped in Belmarsh prison while COVID19 spreads throughout UK prisons. The UK decided to release some prisoners under new COVID19 mitigation measures to reduce prisoner numbers and risk of death in custody, but Assange does not qualify. Why is he ineligible for release under new COVID-19 temporary release measures? The answers don’t make sense. As an extradition target, he’s not currently serving a custodial sentence nor awaiting an upcoming sentencing hearing. He is a remand inmate, not a convicted criminal and therefore is excluded from these emergency measures. Technically, Assange is innocent but that puts him in British limbo and excluded from bail release.
“The Ministry of Justice confirmed with AAP that Julian Assange, who is being held on remand in Belmarsh prison, will not be temporarily released because he’s not serving a custodial sentence and therefore not eligible. The government is also working to expedite sentencing hearings for those on remand to reduce crowding in jails, but the Australian won’t be affected by that measure either.”
Translation: Under no circumstances shall Julian Assange be released, even temporarily, to prevent his foreseeable and probable death in custody.
It appears that Britain would rather Assange die in custody than ever walk out of Belmarsh maximum security prison. Its arguments are circular, illogical and yet another example of GaslightingAssange.
In UK law, where there is evidence of gross negligence in a prison’s duty of care, that prison, Minister of Justice, Robert Buckland and anyone who enables death unintentionally (either directly or indirectly), those responsible are not above the law. They can be prosecuted under the Corporate Manslaugter statues. As long as Assange is in UK custody, the UK is responsible for his welfare. This includes preventing his death or gross negligence which could lead to a foreseeable death in obvious circumstances. From UK Corporate Manslaughter legislation:
Was the gross breach of duty a cause of death?
The prosecution must prove that the relevant breach of duty was a cause of death. It does not need to be the sole cause nor even the main cause, as long as it was an operating cause which made a more than minimal contribution to the death.
Causation is established according to the principles of the criminal law of homicide.
Particular care must be taken in cases of failure by omission, such as a failure to provide effective medical treatment or a failure to protect the deceased from self-harm. The prosecution must prove that, but for the alleged gross breach of duty, the deceased would have survived, or at least that they would not have died at that time or in those circumstances.
Where the prosecution is relying on a series of failings over a period of time, the question of whether the deceased would have survived but for the gross breach of duty may require very careful analysis of the timeline to identify the time and circumstances in which the gross breach was operative, and whether intervention at that time would have avoided death […].
It’s important to note that there are 4 exemptions to death in custody prosecutions, one of which is:
“ ..police operations for dealing with terrorism, civil unrest or serious disorder in which officers come under attack.”
Therefore, if a riot breaks out in Belmarsh, UK prison authorities are exempt from prosecution if Assange dies in custody.
Belmarsh prison’s already substandard conditions are rapidly deteriorating due to COVID19 and the resulting staff shortages, insanitation, increased isolation, lack of P.P.E., prisoner frustration/rage which could lead to protests and “serious disorder” including fires, smoke, violence, deliberate floods or clogged plumbing. If chaos ensues, Assange will be caught in the crossfire, may call for help but out of reach for rescue. He may be violently attacked amidst the commotion. Recall, Assange is a high-value detainee in the eyes of the US Department of Justice and the C.I.A.. It is possible and probable that if COVID-19 does not kill Julian Assange, then a prison riot or targeted murder amidst the chaos might. Arson. Smoke inhalation. Stabbing. Choking. The prison authorities would be exempt from prosecution.
The fear is that if Assange continues to be excluded from bail release, caged inside Her Majesty’s Prison despite the catastrophic spread of a killer virus, he will be trapped among prisoners who are ineligible for release; murderers, violent offenders and terrorists. If Assange is stuck in the middle of “serious disorder”, the UK government is not liable for his death. Is it reckless? Yes. Is it foreseeable? Yes. Is it calculated? Yes. Is it homicide? Yes.
But the UK wants everyone to butt out of this slow motion murder and decade long torture, like an abuser who tells police to butt out so he can hit, kick, stalk, financially cripple and murder “his bitch” without interruption.
Here is UK Jeremy Hunt telling the United Nations to butt out when the UN Rapporteur on torture challenged Britain’s treatment of Assange.
Here is UN Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer’s reply:
In other words, Assange was kettled. It was deliberate police kettling. It fits the GaslightingAssange tactics I’ve tweeted about for a few months.
The recent denial of bail is yet another example of GaslightingAssange games. He is not hallucinating COVID19 as a threat. It is real. If he is exposed to COVID, the likelihood that he will die is almost certain based on his documented medical conditions and lack of emergency medical treatment on site.
If Assange dies, the prison system and UK Ministry of Justice should be held accountable. No one is above the law. The final decision on releasing him from the COVID infested prison rests with politicians UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US president Donald Trump. The only solution to avert Assange’s death is political, not legal. The situation is grave and getting worse by the minute. This is an evolving homicide, behind the walls of a British maximum security prison, enabled by political assurances of immunity all the way up to the British Parliament, Boris Johnson and the overt support of the United States, particularly the C.I.A.. It is a state-sanctioned murder any way you slice it.
Journalist John Pilger tweeted:
In an earlier piece I wrote:
My intuition and research into CIA cover-ups tell me that UK and US lawyers are, at this moment, emailing or meeting each other to write drafts of a pre-fabricated UK Coroner’s report in the event that Assange dies prior to the upcoming US Extradition hearing. How can any medical doctor justify his neglect, torture and life-threatening exposure to COVID-19? They can’t. So that will be left to the lawyers and politicians to figure out pre- and post-mortem. The media will report it like this:
Assange, 48 years old, wearing a light knit blue jumper with matching socks, in loose fitting cargo pants was found dead in his isolated messy cell this morning by prison guards. His hair was unbrushed. His teeth were unbrushed. There were no feces on the wall. During this time of public health emergency, an inquiry into his unfortunate death is not feasible. His body will be repatriated to Australia where his family can mourn, but not have contact with his physical body, nor hold a funeral service due to the threat of COVID-19 transmission and the need to socially distance. [His children Gabriel and Max will not see him. His fiancee Stella Morris will not see him. His father will not see him. His mother will not see him. We, the public, will not see him.] His body will likely be cremated and scattered across the ocean. Just like Osama Bin Laden.
Given the current circumstance of a COVID pandemic, the rapid spread of this killer virus among detained persons in crowded and unsanitary conditions, staff shortages, and intense pressures among inmates and staff, Belmarsh is a volatile tinderbox for protests and serious disruption. To force Assange to remain trapped there is unconscionable. It is undeniable that the UK Government is not just tempting fate, but actively attempting to murder him. It will deny this. It will appoint a Coroner to write a post mortem to the effect that Assange succumbed to COVID, not its decade-long torture, gross negligence or documented corruption.
Julian Assange is a a sitting duck. The US and the UK know this. Their combined efforts to crush him have his life hanging in the balance. He is too close to death for them to actually release him on humanitarian grounds. It would undermine their intentional, slow homicide. The public would be horrified if he reemerged from the gallow. The scent of death is palpable and pungent. The homicide is nearly complete. It would take a scant withholding of his medicine, psychiatric treatment, or food and water to push him into his readied body bag.
“Her Majesty’s Homicide” is unfolding with apparent impunity. To deny Assange bail is to intentionally advance his death. It must stop now. The UK Government is not above the law.