“The UK is not quite clean in this parody,” complains Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA official. “The British version of the Espionage Act is the Official Secrets Act, enacted in 1911, which is also apparently concerned with protecting state secrets. The same British official who signed Assange’s extradition suggested radical new reforms that would impose tougher penalties on journalists and their sources. Under the reforms, the UK government “…would not consider that there is necessarily a serious distinction made between espionage and more serious unauthorized disclosure.”
Assange has been detained since April 2019 in Belmarsh Prison, which is what many call the British version of our six-maximum security prison. He is being held in solitary confinement at every moment of every day in Belmarsh, while the United States is making an incredible effort to extradite him on charges of violating the Espionage Act.
I continue to be passionate about exposing and correcting the errors of the Espionage Act and how the US government uses it not only for whistleblowers, but also for anyone who dares to reveal its transgressions and wrongdoing.
The real goal is to try Assange under the Espionage Act on political and revenge grounds. The UK courts found every reason not to challenge the merits of the US case against Assange and the UK government followed suit. The management of the United Kingdom must be seen by the United States as an example of the use of resources and methods to achieve a goal without the supplier knowing what is actually being done.
Just like the Espionage Act, the government is given full respect for determining what counts as serious disclosures. Just like the 1917 American version, the original goal was to combat espionage designed to help the country’s foreign enemies. Over time, both processes have developed as tools for regression.
One has to ask which countries came up with the idea of using either law to hide government abuses by silencing whistleblowers. The US and UK seem to be feeding off each other with the ever-expanding goal of not being held accountable for their illegal actions by pretending to be imaginary threats to national security. Indeed, what is happening in Assange is the definition of collusion between two states to jointly undermine accountability and freedom of expression.
The lack of interest and silence about Assange stuns the mainstream media, it’s disturbing. Perhaps out of self-preservation, the media is clinging to the misconception that they are not like Assange, and that Assange is not a journalist. Only the arrogance of a selfish one refuses to recognize a clear and present danger to freedom of the press and freedom of expression.”
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You may also be interested in: “Julian Assange is in prison and because the United States wants him dead”, Jeremy Scahill
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