✍🏻 Tim Dawson

It is a victory for common sense, media freedom and human decency. Julian Assange is free and, it seems, will stay that way.

For the U.S., expending such energy attempting to incarcerate the WikiLeaks founder for the rest of his life has exposed a bullying nature, damaged its reputation as a haven for free speech and has shone an unforgiving light on its military operations. This agreement creates the opportunity to repair that damage.

For Assange it ends a legal process that, in various forms, has overshadowed his life for 14 years, including seven in the Ecuadorian embassy and five in HMP Belmarsh. Psychiatric reports to the court reveal that this has driven him to catatonic despair and sparked fears among those closest too him that his will to live was all but extinguished.

He should now be able to devote himself to bringing up his young sons, and enjoying time with Stella, his wife, who he married in prison.

This extraordinary saga began in when Assange obtained two vast information dumps from the U.S. military in 2009–the Afghan and Iraqi war logs. Containing nearly half a million records, mostly categorised “secret,” these recorded military factions in granular detail. They cast and unflattering light on operations, exposing multiple human rights abuses. The “collateral murder” video, in which a helicopter gun ship mowed down civilians and journalists as the crew whooped, was the emblematic centrepiece.

The route by which these “war logs” came to be published in full is twisty and complicated, involving news platforms such as the Guardian and the New York Times, which first collaborated with Assange and then turned their back on him when another leaks platform, Cryptome, published them in full, prompting WikiLeaks to follow suit.

The full extent and nature of the subsequent U.S. attempt to bring the Australian to heel may not be known for many years. The Obama administration considered prosecution and then abandoned the idea rather than engage in a messy fight involving press freedom. That all changed, with the election of Donald Trump and the appointment as secretary of state of former CIA chief Mike Pompeo in 2018.

A crazed suite of charges based on the U.S. Espionage Act was concocted. Plans were hatched to assassinate Assange on the streets of London. An extensive bugging operation was mounted to listen in on Assange’s confidential meetings with lawyers. Those of us involved in media freedom argued that prosecution for activities that are normal for a journalists–finding a witness to wrongdoing and helping them to discreetly supply evidence–jeopardised reporters the world over.

When the Ecuadorians ejected their guest from the embassy in 2019, he was arrested and incarcerated in Britain’s most secure prison–Belmarsh, on London’s southern fringe.

It is from here that Assange has fought deportation to the U.S. to face charges. If convicted he could have faced a 176-year jail sentence, to be served in effective solitary confinement in a “supermax prison,” to which visits are all but impossible.

There have been nearly two months of court hearings, spread over four years. At an early stage, the judge who presided over the hearings, rejected extradition on the grounds that for someone with Assange’s mental health history the prospect was “oppressive.” This was quickly overturned, and in recent times the courts have repeatedly found for the U.S.

In May, however, judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson surprised even Assange’s own team when they granted leave to appeal. The court had asked the U.S. Department of Justice whether Assange would be granted protection under the first amendment of the constitution–that guarantees free speech and a free press.

Some argue that such protections apply only to U.S. citizens. The reply was equivocal, “it would be up to the court.” That did not satisfy the British judges so a date was set in July for a hearing that had the potential for being a public relations disaster for the U.S.

The possibility for a plea deal has been in the air for months. U.S. diplomats hinted at the possibility, and President Joe Biden himself appeared to float the prospect in an off the cuff reply to a reporter in April. Several times, Assange’s lawyers have told me that the end was close.

Last week, I journeyed to Belmarsh with members of the executive of the International Federation of Journalists to call on President Biden to end this persecution. For years, at the entrance of the jail has been parked a mobile advertising trailer carrying the slogan “Free Julian Assange” in giant letters. It was gone. I learned too, that campaigners employed by the Free Assange campaign were now working elsewhere. Clearly a deal was afoot.

The device by which Assange is being freed appears complex. He pleads guilty to a single, criminal charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. information. Presumably he will be sentenced to a sentence for this of less than the time that already served. The case will be heard in U.S.-adminstered Saipan, the capital of the Northern Marianas islands, in the western Pacific. This is both en route to Australia, and sidesteps Assange’s great fear that if he touches down on U.S. soil, he will never leave.

In the end, the absurdity of the charges, the resources and reputation spent in pursuit of Assange, and the sight of a free spirit laid low by the most powerful nation on Earth overwhelmed the prosecution.

For the charges to be completely dropped would have been better, but for now the plea deal ends an unbecoming performance that risked irreparable damage to media freedom. Whether you have been cheering Assange from the outset, or still have questions in your mind about his methods and personal actions, if you care about free expression, this is a time to celebrate.

Tim Dawson is deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists.

@Communism

Despite military patrols on Kenya’s streets, the anti-government uprising continues, ignited by suffocating IMF-backed tax reforms. President William Ruto rescinded plans for the bill, but failed to quell the protests, which have now escalated beyond tax issues.

Following the peak of the protests on Tuesday, which saw at least 20 protesters killed, current mobilizations are smaller, primarily due to the heavy police and military presence. Nonetheless, clashes have erupted again.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters. Ruto vowed on Tuesday to quash the unrest “at whatever cost.” Organizers dismissed Ruto’s reversal as “Too Little, Too Late” and are calling for the president’s resignation.

The Communist Party of Kenya (CPK), at the forefront of the protests, declared, “The blood spilled on the streets of Kenya lies squarely in the hands of the IMF, the World Bank, and their local puppets led by President Ruto in Nairobi.” The CPK warned, “Ruto resign or be overthrown.”

theredstream

Media
On this day, 27 June 1905, the revolutionary union the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in Chicago, Illinois. One of the first multiracial unions in the US, the IWW advocated all workers uniting into one big union, taking control of society and abolishing capitalism. It's founding conference lasted from June 27 to July 8, and was attended by over 200 workers including legendary labour organisers like Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood and leading Black anarchist Lucy Parsons. It organised large swathes of previously unorganised workers in the US, and pioneered many innovative new types of industrial action like slow-downs and sabotage. Parsons at its founding convention delivered a speech arguing for sit-in strikes, which would sweep the US 30 years later, declaring: "My conception of the strike of the future is not to strike and go out an starve, but to strike and remain in and take possession of the necessary property of production." The IWW won big improvements for hundreds of thousands of workers, and for its troubles faced savage repression from employers, with many organisers beaten, jailed and murdered. It also spread to other countries including Chile, Australia and South Africa. It still exists today, although much smaller than it was, and its members are active in many organising projects.

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🟡 theredstream:

Donald Trump hurled many insults at Joe Biden during the first presidential debate in 2024. But one of them was not like the others.

In an exchange about US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Trump called Biden a “very bad Palestinian,” using the word Palestinian as a slur to claim that Biden was not supportive enough of Israel.

“Let them finish the job,” Trump said, urging Biden to give Israel even more free rein in their onslaught on Palestine.


@Communism

When the masses are digesting a new and exceptionally rich experience of direct revolutionary struggle, the theoretical struggle for a revolutionary outlook, i.e., for revolutionary Marxism, becomes the watchword of the day.

#Lenin, Two Letters (1908)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/nov/13.htm

@Communism

"I honor #Lenin as a man who completely sacrificed himself and devoted all his energy to the realization of social justice, one thing is certain: men of his type are the guardians and restorers of humanity."

#Albert_Einstein

@Communism

"#Capitalism has grown into a world system of colonial oppression and financial strangulation of the overwhleming majority of the population of the world by a hanful of "advanced" countries."

#Vladimir_Lenin

@Communism

“Peace isn’t the answer. Liberation is the answer.” – On the birthday of Black revolutionary Kwame Ture, watch this iconic clapback, schooling a white person that “peace” merely serves as a demand of the oppressor, while “liberation” is the true solution.

This conversation was captured in the 1967 documentary “Tell Me Lies,” which explores the global response to the Vietnam War. At the time of its release, the docu was heavily attacked by imperialist advocates.

Ture’s words continue to resonate, especially in light of the ongoing annihilation war against Palestine, the unwavering resistance, and the reigniting discussion of liberation.

theredstream

@Communism

In the #United_States of North America, every independent movement of the workers was paralysed so long as slavery disfigured a part of the Republic. Labour cannot emancipate itself in the white skin where in the black it is branded.

#Marx, #Capital, Volume I, Chapter 10 (1867)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch10.htm#161a

@Communism

But this conception, correctly as it expresses the general character of the picture of appearances as a whole, does not suffice to explain the details of which this picture is made up, and so long as we do not understand these, we have not a clear idea of the whole picture. In order to understand these details we must detach them from their natural or historical connection and examine each one separately, its nature, special causes, effects, etc.

#Engels, Anti-Dühring (1877)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1877/anti-duhring/introduction.htm#022

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Media
On this day, 30 June 1960, workers in Genoa, Italy, rose up against a conference of the neo-fascist party, the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), which was due to take place in the city the following day.Only 15 years prior, the population of Genoa had launched an uprising, which succeeded in liberating it from fascist rule. Many residents, including former partisans who fought against the fascists and Nazis during World War II, were outraged both by fascists being back in government, as part of a coalition with the right-wing Christian Democrats, and by their attempting to hold a congress in their anti-fascist city.Therefore, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, including large numbers of dockworkers and partisan veterans. Police with armoured cars, on horseback, wielding batons, and backed up by the military-run Carabinieri, attacked the crowd. But the move backfired. The crowd fought back, and local residents in their apartments hurled household objects down on the heads of the police.After hours of fierce fighting, the fascists were forced to admit defeat, cancel their conference and head home.Similar anti-fascist protests then broke out around the country. And despite police killing significant numbers of demonstrators, including former partisans, protests continued and by July, the prime minister was forced to resign and the right-wing coalition government was brought down.

@Communism

Media
On this day, 30 June 2013, over 200 workers at the Zhongji Pile factory in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China, surrounded the company's office, trapping five executives inside, demanding unpaid wages and protesting against proposed layoffs. The bosses were well treated, fed and allowed contact with the outside world, they were just not permitted to leave. They did try to escape on several occasions, and one of the bosses even tried to assault a government representative to try to get himself arrested.After four days of the occupation, the employers caved in, agreed backpay and agreed to keep workers employed.

@Communism

The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of knowledge.

#Marx, Critique of #Hegel’s #Philosophy of Right (1843)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/ch03.htm#027

@Communism

The #philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.

#Marx, Theses On Feuerbach: Thesis 11 (1845)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/theses/theses.htm#018

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