by
Phillip Todd
Julian
Assange is a journalist who exposed nothing but lies and deception,
and for that, he is not a free man. He sits in a brutal prison in
England because the U.S. deep state wants him sent to the United
States to be punished for revealing the truth about its sordid,
dark-side practices. Assange released the truth about some of the
practices of the deep state, such as the killing of innocent people
and illegal surveillance schemes to spy on Americans. For
this, those in the shadows are keeping him in solitary confinement
and drugging his consciousnesses in order to destroy his mind so that
he will never be what he was. Never to be a threat to them again.
They are sending a message to all journalists worldwide – expose
elitist plans and suffer the consequences.
Why
should anyone who publishes the truth about the deep state be
condemned or punished? Why shouldn’t the condemnation and
punishment instead be leveled at the entity that engages in sordid,
dark-side practices and the intentional utterance of lies and
deception. This is now the type of world we live in. A world where
activists and journalists like Assange are silenced, a world where
alternative independent media are extremely censored and demonetized.
They simply published records that revealed the truth about the deep
state. That’s why the deep state has condemned and vilified them as
bad people, even as traitors — because they revealed the truth.
For
a long time Julian Assange was allowed no visitors, and now, it’s
quite clear why. Those who have had access to visits have made it
quite clear that he is in very poor health. The WikiLeaks founder
could die in prison without urgent medical care, according to an open
letter signed by more than 60 doctors. The medics, from the UK,
Australia, Europe and Sri Lanka express “serious concerns” about
48-year-old Assange’s tness to stand trial in the letter addressed
to Priti Patel, the home secretary.
For
the first time, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer,
speaks in detail about the explosive findings of his investigation
into the case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The treatment of
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is facing the threat of
extradition from Britain to the US on espionage charges, is putting
his life "at risk", an independent UN rights expert said
Friday. "Unless the UK urgently changes course and alleviates
his inhumane situation, Mr. Assange's continued exposure to
arbitrariness and abuse may soon end up costing his life," the
UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, Nils Melzer, said in a statement. Melzer, who
visited the 48-year-old Australian whistleblower in a London prison
has previously warned he was being subjected to drawnout
"psychological torture. From
a medical point of view, on the evidence currently available,
we have serious concerns about Mr Assange’s fitness to stand trial. Most importantly, it is our opinion that Mr Assange
requires urgent expert medical assessment of both his physical and
psychological state of health. Any medical treatment indicated should
be administered in a properly equipped and expertly staffed
university teaching hospital (tertiary care). Were such urgent
assessment and treatment not to take place, we have real concerns, on
the evidence currently available, that Mr Assange could die in
prison. The medical situation is thereby urgent. There is no time to
lose.” The facts are that more than 60 doctors have expressed their
concern that Julian Assange may die in prison, and that he is in need
of urgent care.
"Assange continues to be detained under oppressive conditions of
isolation and surveillance, not justified by his detention status,"
he said. His statement pointed out that Assange had completed his
prison sentence for violating his British bail terms in 2012 and was
now "being held exclusively in relation to the pending
extradition request from the United States." Assange is facing
the extradition request by the US over charges he violated the US
Espionage Act by publishing a huge cache of military and diplomatic
files in 2010. "While
the US Government prosecutes Mr. Assange for publishing information
about serious human rights violations, including torture and murder,
the officials responsible for these crimes continue to enjoy
impunity," Melzer said.
"Following
my visit to Assange, they took six months to answer me – in a
single-page letter, which was primarily limited to rejecting all
accusations of torture and all inconsistencies in the legal
proceedings. If you’re going to play games like that, then what’s
the point of my mandate? I am the Special Rapporteur on Torture for
the United Nations. I have a mandate to ask clear questions and to
demand answers. What is the legal basis for denying someone their
fundamental right to defend themselves? Why is a man who is neither
dangerous nor violent held in solitary confinement for several months
when UN standards legally prohibit solitary confinement for periods
extending beyond 15 days? None of these UN member states launched
an investigation, nor did they answer my questions or even
demonstrate an interest in dialogue."
Retired
USAF lieutenant colonel Karen Kwiatkowski writes in an article posted
at Lew Rockwell’s website that Julian Assange is receiving the same
treatment as suspected terrorists while in captivity at “Her
Majesty’s Prison Service” at Belmarsh, stating that he’s being
tortured with psychotropic drugs. “This constant abuse of state
power has triggered serious stress and anxiety in Assange and has
resulted in measurable cognitive and neurological harm. I visited
Assange in his cell in London together with two experienced, widely
respected doctors who are specialized in the forensic and
psychological examination of torture victims. The diagnosis arrived
at by the two doctors was clear: Julian Assange displays the typical
symptoms of psychological torture. If he doesn’t receive protection
soon, a rapid deterioration of his health is likely, and death could
be one outcome."
A
constitutional democracy would probably investigate Chelsea Manning
for violating official secrecy because she passed the video along to
Assange. But it certainly wouldn’t go after Assange, because he
published the video in the public interest, consistent with the
practices of classic investigative journalism. More than anything,
though, a constitutional democracy would investigate and punish the
war criminals. These soldiers belong behind bars. But no criminal
investigation was launched into a single one of them. Instead, the
man who informed the public is locked away in pre-extradition
detention in London and is facing a possible sentence in the U.S. of
up to 175 years in prison. That is a completely absurd sentence. By
comparison: The main war criminals in the Yugoslavia tribunal
received sentences of 45 years. One-hundred-seventy-five years in
prison in conditions that have been found to be inhumane by the UN
Special Rapporteur and by Amnesty International. But the really
horrifying thing about this case is the lawlessness that has
developed: The powerful can kill without fear of punishment and
journalism is transformed into espionage. It is becoming a crime to
tell the truth. Their message is - Tell the truth about the deep state and they will give you a slow psychological death, just like Julian Assange.
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