{"id":56320,"date":"2021-01-05T11:06:14","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T16:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=56320"},"modified":"2021-01-05T11:06:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T16:06:14","slug":"the-assange-extradition-ruling-is-a-relief-but-it-isnt-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=56320","title":{"rendered":"The Assange Extradition Ruling Is A Relief, But It Isn\u2019t Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"entry-title eltd-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2021\/01\/04\/the-assange-extradition-ruling-is-a-relief-but-it-isnt-justice\/\">The Assange Extradition Ruling Is A Relief, But It Isn\u2019t Justice<\/a><\/h3>\n<div class=\"eltd-blog-single-share\">\n<div class=\"eltd-social-share-holder eltd-dropdown\">\n<div class=\"eltd-social-share-dropdown\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<article id=\"post-9330\" class=\"post-9330 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-article category-news tag-assange tag-baraitser tag-extradition tag-government tag-journalism tag-news\">\n<div class=\"eltd-post-content\">\n<div class=\"eltd-post-image-area\">\n<div class=\"eltd-post-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-newsroom_elated_post_feature_image size-newsroom_elated_post_feature_image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/medium-2-6.jpg?fit=1000%2C556&amp;ssl=1\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/medium-2-6.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/medium-2-6.jpg?resize=300%2C167&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/medium-2-6.jpg?resize=768%2C427&amp;ssl=1 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"556\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"eltd-post-text\">\n<div class=\"eltd-post-text-inner clearfix\">\n<p>British Judge Vanessa Baraitser\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/world\/europe\/julian-assange-will-not-be-extradited-to-the-us-on-espionage-charges-20210104-p56ri6.html\">has ruled against US extradition<\/a>\u00a0for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but not for the reasons she should have.<\/p>\n<p>Baraitser\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.uk\/judgments\/usa-v-julian-assange\/\">frightening ruling<\/a>\u00a0supported virtually every US prosecutorial argument that was made during the extradition trial, no matter how absurd and Orwellian. This includes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MElmaazi\/status\/1346043037944840192\">quoting<\/a>\u00a0from a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thegrayzone.com\/2020\/09\/18\/mainstream-us-reporters-silent-spied-cia-contractor-assange\/\">long-discredited<\/a>\u00a0CNN report alleging without evidence that Assange made the embassy a \u201ccommand post\u201d for election interference,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamesdoleman\/status\/1346040731274784768?s=20\">saying<\/a>\u00a0the right to free speech does not give anyone \u201cunfettered discretion\u201d to disclose any document they wish,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kgosztola\/status\/1346038036816130050?s=20\">dismissing<\/a>\u00a0arguments from the defense that UK law prohibits extradition for political offenses,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DavidhBrown\/status\/1346038635804700675?s=20\">parroting<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/caitoz\/status\/1346041260843257856?s=20\">false claim<\/a>\u00a0that Assange\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2019\/04\/11\/the-u-s-governments-indictment-of-julian-assange-poses-grave-threats-to-press-freedoms\/\">attempt to help protect his source<\/a>\u00a0Chelsea Manning while she was exfiltrating documents she already had access to was not normal journalistic behavior,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamesdoleman\/status\/1346042905476132865?s=20\">saying<\/a>\u00a0US intelligence might have had legitimate reasons to spy on Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamesdoleman\/status\/1346042905476132865?s=20\">claiming<\/a>\u00a0Assange\u2019s rights would be protected by the US legal system if he were extradited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJudge is just repeating the US case, including its most dubious claims, in Assange case,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnWRees\/status\/1346040386062573570?s=20\">tweeted<\/a>\u00a0activist John Rees during the proceedings.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/index.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1346076384758812673&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fcaitlinjohnstone.com%2F2021%2F01%2F04%2Fthe-assange-extradition-ruling-is-a-relief-but-it-isnt-justice%2F&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1346076384758812673\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>In the end, though, Baraitser ruled against extradition. Not because the US government has no business extraditing an Australian journalist from the UK for exposing its war crimes. Not because allowing the extradition and prosecution of journalists under the Espionage Act poses a direct threat to press freedoms worldwide. Not to prevent a global chilling effect on natsec investigative journalism into the behaviors of the largest power structures on our planet. No, Baraitser ultimately ruled against extradition because Assange would be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1346064175571857408?s=20\">too high a suicide risk<\/a>\u00a0in America\u2019s draconian prison system.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Assange Extradition Ruling Is A Relief, But It Isn\u2019t Justice British Judge Vanessa Baraitser\u00a0has ruled against US extradition\u00a0for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but not for the reasons she should have. Baraitser\u2019s\u00a0frightening ruling\u00a0supported virtually every US prosecutorial argument that was made during the extradition trial, no matter how absurd and Orwellian. This includes\u00a0quoting\u00a0from a\u00a0long-discredited\u00a0CNN report [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[17039,2001,1383,2080,827,3142],"class_list":["post-56320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liberty","tag-caitlin-johnstone","tag-julian-assange","tag-justice","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-us-empire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56321,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56320\/revisions\/56321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}