Lee Brown explains how Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
Assange: truth on trial
As the extradition hearing against the Wikileaks founder begins today, TIM DAWSON looks at the background to this momentous clash between one whistleblower — and the US empire
Julian Assange court sketch
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WHEN Julian Assange emerges from the tunnel connecting Belmarsh prison with Woolwich Crown Court this morning it will be his first public appearance since May 2019. Then, Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced the Wikileaks founder to 50 weeks in prison for violating his bail conditions in 2012. Today starts in earnest his fight against extradition to the United States and a potential 175-year jail sentence.
The hearings promise to set precedent for the extraterritorial reach of US justice, and the potential prosecution of those who publish leaked US government information. Also likely are fresh revelations about the geopolitical reach of the Wikileaks saga.
Already, in a preparatory hearing last week it was alleged that an emissary for Donald Trump offered Assange a pardon. The suggested condition was that the Wikileaks founder rule out Russian involvement in the publication of Hilary Clinton’s emails. Their appearance, late in the 2016 US presidential election, proved timely for the Trump campaign. The White House has subsequently denied that it authorised the offer of a pardon.
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