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Maybe many heard about the name of Julian Assange, but only few really know who he is, what he did or what he does now. From these, even less know why he is an emblematic figure in the crypto space.

This topic is a call for help, that's why I posted it in the Beginners & Help board. It's a call for helping Julian!

I planned writing this topic for a while, but from various reasons (the most important being the lack of time) I delayed it. However, a another recent discrediting (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5226451.msg53858052#msg53858052) of the press (in a way or another) determined me (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5226451.msg53859878#msg53859878) to write this thread. The reason behind is less important though. What's important is Julian needs help.

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The last sentence of this topic (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5212783) is a cautionary tale: "All of us should continue Cypherpunks' work and to fight for freedom!".

The Cypherpunks group emerged initially in 1992 from Eric Hughes, the author of "The Cypherpunk Manifesto (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5175676.0)", John Gilmore (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5219463) and Timothy May, the author of "The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5212783)". From a former meeting in Gilmore's office, a mailing list (http://mailing-list-archive.cryptoanarchy.wiki/) was born, under the name of Cypherpunks mailing list.

During time, others joined Cypherpunks' fight against the State surveilling the citizens. They eventually reached a number of over 1000 contributors.

Julian Assange was part of the group between 1995 and 2002. His brilliant mind was easily observed by the others. If May, Hughes or Gilmore were focused more on "algorithms for people", on digital cash and on public's access to cryptography (in an era when NSA was fighting with all its powers against that), Assange had a different principle: “Freedom of information is a respected liberal value”.

The WikiLeaks Manifesto (https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=2746), a document less known, unfortunately, contains other words of wisdom from Julian: "Only revealed injustice can be answered; for man to do anything intelligent he has to know what's actually going on".

Since the apparition of Gutenberg's printing press in 1448, which led to the Printing Revolution, elites' power over classified documents decayed constantly. This was one of the first forms of the information decentralization. Julian Assange took it to a whole new level.

And this happened after the launch of WikiLeaks, in 2006.


Sharing a similar thought with Snowden; and even more: trying to help him by recommending him where to settle and where not to settle his new life after betraying the govern; Assange published thousands of classified information from all parts of the world.

His connection to Bitcoin?, some may ask.

After US govern initiated a financial blockade over WikiLeaks' accounts, Julian realized (https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2ghp54/i_am_julian_assange_ama_about_my_new_book_when) the potential of Bitcoin and intended to accept the new cryptocurrency as a form for donations. The idea put BitcoinTalk on flame at that time:

"Bring it on” (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1735.msg26876#msg26876), emphasized RHorning (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=344).

However, continues Assange, ""Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, responded (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1735.msg26999#msg26999): “No, don’t "bring it on". The project needs to grow gradually so the software can be strengthened along the way. I make this appeal to WikiLeaks not to try to use Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a small beta community in its infancy. You would not stand to get more than pocket change, and the heat you would bring would likely destroy us at this stage.” [...] Six days later, on 12 December 2010, Satoshi famously vanished from the Bitcoin community, but not before posting this message (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2216.msg29280#msg29280): “It would have been nice to get this attention in any other context. WikiLeaks has kicked the hornet’s nest, and the swarm is headed towards us.”".

As a deep sign of respect for Satoshi and for his work, as Assange stated also (in the previous mentioned link), "WikiLeaks read and agreed with Satoshi’s analysis, and decided to put off the launch of a bitcoin donation channel until the currency had become more established. WikiLeaks’ bitcoin donation address was launched after the currency’s first major boom, on 14 June 2011.".

A sign of respect which is a rara avis nowadays.

But Julian's rely on Bitcoin certainly didn't help just WikiLeaks: it also helped Bitcoin to become more popular; it raised awareness about Satoshi's creation; it brought more and more people on the path opened by Satoshi.

What happened next is known better than the above mentioned history. US govern started to hunt Assange in 2011, and as a response, Julian managed to help himself by asking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy from London. His request was granted in 2012. However, his staying in the embassy was not easy - among others, he never put his step outside the embassy until 2019(!), living almost as an inmate. Between a fabricated accusation of sexual harassment, which was dropped after years by the Swedish govern, and his continuous work for WikiLeaks, Assange also tried to keep his moral and to do his best to avoid the extradition to US, being well aware this would mean if not a death penalty, then at least 175 years behind the bars (https://www.businessinsider.com/assange-175-years-jail-doj-charges-wikileaks-2019-5).

Unfortunately, in 2019 Ecuador ended his asylum, for reasons more or less ridiculous (https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18307626/julian-assange-wikileaks-ecuador-cat-poop), but it's almost clear that the decision was forced somehow by other secret agencies or by other governs.

At the moment of writing this thread, Julian's trial for extradition has started. During the trial, he is staying in prison.

As I was saying recently, in a previous topic,


It is in our hands also to help Julian. And helping him means to help freedom of information!

I'm not going to say how to offer this help. I'm sure everybody knows, or, at least, has an intuition about that.

There is time for debates and time for action. Debating is dead now.

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Issues of note:

I also recommend reading the following:
- Nils Melzer's The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution - The shocking story of the legal persecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and the dangerous implications for the whistleblowers of the future
- Robert Manne's piece of art The Cypherpunk Revolutionary Julian Assange (https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2011/february/1324596189/robert-manne/cypherpunk-revolutionary)
- The Most Dangerous Man In The World: The Inside Story On Julian Assange And WikiLeaks, written by Andrew Fowler
- Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet, by Julian Assange. The book is a discussion between Julian, Jacob Appelbaum (Tor developer) and Jérémie Zimmermann (co-founder of La Quadrature du Net)
- Underground, by Suelette Dreyfus & Julian Assange. It is a fascinating book about the rise of Australian hackers and phreakers from 1980s, including the early activity of Julian Assange which, by that time, was known under the nym Mendax
- When Google Met WikiLeaks, by Julian Assange
- The Unauthorised Autobiography, by Julian Assange.

Besides, the following movies are parts of the must watch category:

Ithaka (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15066072/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) - a documentary showing Julian's struggle to avoid extradition to US
Mediastan: A Wikileaks Road Movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n0Yu7bYF9E) - a WikiLeaks very own documentary - full movie
Risk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWeRhpkEP1c) - a WikiLeaks documentary, directed by Laura Poitras (a friend of Julian Assange) - full movie
The Fifth Estate (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837703/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3) - a great movie about WikiLeaks
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1824254/) - yet another documentary about WikiLeaks
Underground: The Julian Assange Story (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2357453/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) - another movie about Julian, depicting his early career.

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Translations (in chronological order):

• Română: Apelul pentru Assange || Manifestul WikiLeaks – Cu toții ar trebui să-l citim (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5438865), translation by GazetaBitcoin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1285797)
• Filipino: Ang tawag para kay Julian Assange || Ang Pagmanipesto ng WikiLeaks - Basahin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5447233), translation by jeraldskie11 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=911833)
• Polish: Wezwanie do Juliana Assange || Manifest WikiLeaks - Wszyscy powinniśmy go przeczytać (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5448778), translation by cygan (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=27470)
• Pidgin: De call for Julian Assange || De WikiLeaks Manifesto - Make all of us read (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5465992), translation by sokani (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3520902)
• Bengali: জুলিয়ানের জন্য ডাক - সবার পড়া উচিৎ (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg62808469#msg62808469), translation by Learn Bitcoin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3506304)
• French: L'appel pour Julian Assange || Le Manifeste de WikiLeaks - Nous devrions le lire (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5471986), translation by iwantmyhomepaidwithbtc2 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3373825)
• Urdu: جولین اسانج کی کال || وکی لیکس کا منشور - ہم ک (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=232519.msg63606613#msg63606613), translation by JunaidAzizi (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3501268)
• Indonesian: Panggilan untuk Julian Assange||Manifesto WikiLeaks-Kita semua harus membacanya (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5484259), translation by dansus021 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=392207)
• German: Der Aufruf für J. Assange || Das WikiLeaks-Manifest - Wir alle sollten es lesen (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5494021), translation by cygan (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=27470)

Reserved

Thank you, GazetaBitcoin.  This is a classic Gazeta post:  I will need some hours to peruse all your links!

Meanwhile, I will remark on the first thing I noticed:  As usual, the mainstream media is up to the dirty tricks of smear accusations (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/why-ecuador-ended-asylum-spoiled-brat-julian-assange-n993711), and cherry-picking the worst images they can find as of some they dislike.

Excepting that in an old self-quote, all images in this post are from Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Julian_Assange).  Although I am not always a fan of Wikimedia, they are a stable source—and they will not be cherry-picking bad-looking images of Assange.  I have linked each image to its page on Wikimedia Commons.  I encourage others to use presentable images of Assange when discussing him:  The Assange who built a powerful fight for freedom, not snapshots grabbed in bad moments after he was been virtually imprisoned for so long.


Although I myself do not agree with Assange about everything, I highly respect for his stand on principle.  It is why he is so hated by the U.S. government:  He cannot be bought, he cannot be terrorized, he cannot be persuaded.  Not unless they can get him bodily under their control.


Speaking of which, the American so-called “prosecution” of Assange raises an issue of world-historical import that I have not seen many others discuss:  By what right does the United States presume jurisdiction over Assange?  He is a not an American citizen, and is thus not generally subject to the personal jurisdiction of American laws.  He is not alleged to have committed any acts within American territorial jurisdiction.  It is only yet another instance of America enforcing international reach for its diktat, on the basis of:  “We have the most guns, we have nukes—and most of all, we have the global poison power of the dollar.”


Quoting from one of the links in OP (https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18307626/julian-assange-wikileaks-ecuador-cat-poop):


Otherwise stated:  The aptly-named Lenin Moreno sold his country, and sold Julian Assange.  $$$

What can stand against such global, international corruption?



Hmmm...


That sounds to me like asymmetrical warfare, with a twist.


Thank you, GazetaBitcoin, for your continuing coverage of cypherpunks and the relation thereof to Bitcoin.  To that, I will add a quite decent treatment of that history (https://web.archive.org/web/20160213102252/http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/cypherpunks-write-code) (with a hyperlink thoughtfully added by me (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5226757.msg53917191#msg53917191)):

The whole thing is to silence journalism and Assange is a scapegoat. The deep state wants to punish him for telling the truth.

I am proud to say that after the U.S. pressured banks to cut off Wikileaks, I stepped up and donated 10 BTC. It wasn't worth a lot then, but it is now.

I feel the same. He's hugely important, both for what's he's done so far and as a figurehead, but - whether from arrogance or from the unremitting psychological pressure - he has made some stupid decisions. Interesting to compare with Snowden, for example.

He cannot be bought or terrorized, yes. 'Persuaded' is a sub-category of both, and a euphemism.



Bought or terrorized. Arguably 'bought' in the context of the US and any international resistance is a sub-category of terrorized. The threat can be implicit or explicit, but is there. Sanctions are only the start of it.
What does the US want? Wealth or power? Money is nothing but a manifestation of power... with this in mind, looking at a US reeling from the reputational damage caused by Assange and the Wikileaks exposures is very much like looking at a wounded predator. Is the US more annoyed by the actual damage or by the affront, by the fact that someone has the temerity to stand up to their global hegemony? If one man is willing to stand against them, then others will do so. Opposition is a threat and must be suppressed. I think the fact that the US is demanding extradition is quite revealing here; they are not calmly sitting in the background awaiting an impartial outcome, it's a show trial with the outcome predetermined due to US pressure. The US is flexing its muscles very publicly: no, we're not damaged, we're still strong, we're still in control. Bluster and posturing is often indicative of underlying insecurity. Assange has them rattled.


“Prior to your election, our nations had experienced 10 difficult years where you people didn't do exactly what you were god-damned told,” Vice President Mike Pence implied.
Assange was a fool for coming to the UK. I'm from the UK; we're a vassal state of the US. We are the ally who like a good little puppy eagerly does what we're told; we're the country who can be relied upon to send in a few token tanks so that US unilateral intervention in the middle-east can be painted with a veneer of multilateralism. The Ecuadorian embassy stuff was only ever a delay of the inevitable. Ecuador was bound to buckle eventually under US pressure; they aren't Cuba bolstered by the might of a Soviet Union.

I really hope he gets out of this, but I'm not optimistic. There is quite vocal opposition from a First Amendment perspective, but I can't see this having much sway over a president who sees laws as an irritating inconvenience.

It's hard to say what will happen to him. But nullius pointed out something very important: "By what right does the United States presume jurisdiction over Assange?  He is a not an American citizen, and is thus not generally subject to the personal jurisdiction of American laws.  He is not alleged to have committed any acts within American territorial jurisdiction."

I really wonder how this will be explained during the trial.


That's admirable. 10BTC? Wow! Literally wow!


Hehe, I like that my posts become known for a certain pattern :) I'll do my best in the future as well. Some cypherpunks retired; other left us for good. But their message lives within us!

As i remember, Julian Assange in his last days was mostly against USA, and not against Russia or China. He was even in cooperation with one of the most propagandist channels of Russia - RussiaToday.

I doubt that he was proKremlin, but with 90 % probability he was, as would say Vladimir Lenin,"a useful idiot" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot) in the service of Russia interests.  Noone even with a best intentions can ally with a bloodthirsty maniacs. 

I'm no expert, but my naive understanding is: Assange is accused of hacking into US databases and publishing sensitive security information, thereby 'endangering lives', i.e. a crime against the US and US citizens, so answerable in the US. The UK has an extradition treaty with the US, and for the hearing to go ahead, the judge in the UK just needs to be convinced that the alleged crime is one that might have led to trial here, had it occurred in the UK. There is no consideration of guilt here, merely an assessment of the nature of the alleged crime. The US just needs to convince the UK that there is a case that needs answering. I believe there is something in there whereby the UK won't allow extradition where the accused could face the death penalty, but I don't think the US want the death penalty anyway in this instance...

It may be a flimsy pretext, but in practice that doesn't matter. The UK will perform as instructed.

This is called the double standard if morality. What is the stand of the Australian govern regarding his citizen? Do they try to protect him? Or: do they try to take him back in Australia and take the trial there? No! Why?

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The following is unknown information for almost all forum members. Maybe just the Romanians know this story.

On December 4th, 2004, 04:30AM local time, the famous Romanian bass player Teo Peter (playing in Compact band) was murdered in a car accident by a drunk US Marine named Christopher Van Goethem. The marine ignored the traffic light and bumped in the car where Teo was present as a passenger. Van Goethem was in his car also with his lover. They were having an affair.

After killing the poor man, the sergeant also fled the premises.

At the moment he was working for the US Embassy, thus having diplomatic immunity.

What happened next? After being captured, US requested his extradition in US, refusing Romanian authorities to take him here in a Court of Law.

What happened in US? The sergeant faced Court Martial but in the end it was stated that he is not guilty for manslaughter charges, nor for adultery (although the adultery accusation was a trivial one compared to the other one). Furthermore, his blood tests concluded he didn't drink alcohool, although he was drunk. Although he admitted he drank a few beers!!! You can read more here (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Teo_Peter) or Google the case.

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This is the double standard if morality: all people are equal, but some are more equal than others.

One one hand, US govern interdicts to another govern to judge a crime performed by an American citizen; it also rules he is not guilty. And on the other hand, the same US govern forces to judge on American soil the actions of an Australian citizen, living in UK, in the Ecuadorian Embassy, while this man's govern assists powerless to what happens to Assange.

A military who killed a man is sentenced as not guilty, while Assange, who fought all his life for the freedom of information, faces 175 years in jail!!!

The US does as it pleases, and everyone else is expected to toe the line. That 2004 case is revealing, but here in the UK we have one from just a few months ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Harry_Dunn

In this instance, Anne Sacoolas, the (US) wife of a US intelligence officer stationed in the UK, crashed into and killed a motorcyclist. The officer's wife admitted that she was responsible and was driving on the wrong side of the road. She fled the UK under diplomatic immunity, and the US rejected the UK's subsequent extradition request (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-51228262). The UK was "disappointed in this decision which appears to be a denial of justice"...

Your example is outstanding! For 2 reasons:

1. This case looks like a copycat to what happened in Romania: an innocent murdered by an US official; the official trial in the country where he / she commited the crime is not allowed; the official goes back to US. A small difference though, at least so far: in your example, the criminal's trial is not over yet. But most likely, she will be free. Why? Because she is the wife of an US official working for the Airforce, because she was a CIA operative, but, most important, for this (quoted from your second link):


Basically, they already set her free!

2. I don't know if you noticed, but in your first link is stated the following:


So the second reason for which your example is outstanding is because this case is connected to the OP, to Assange!!! What were the odds?! Did you notice that in the link?

Yes, I did know about that, sorry, I should have pointed it out.

The accusation of hypocrisy is an interesting one. It may be a technicality, but I don't think the US is being hypocritical, because that implies some level of concealment of their true motivations and actions. No, the US are quite blatant about all this, it comes from being a global superpower. The UK used to behave the same way a hundred and more years ago, back when we ruled the world. If you are bigger and stronger than everyone else, then there is no need for secrecy or subterfuge; your brute strength already affords you all the advantage that you need. You can be as much of a blunt instrument as you desire.

The term 'special relationship' always makes me wince. I mentioned it in another Assange thread yesterday:

I was not aware of the other thread. And, anyway, the subjects are different. This one is a call for helping Julian, while JollyGood's is a debate about Julian's current situation, when he is behind bars until the extradition trial is over.

I planned my topic for months. It's writing, close to JollyGood's is just a coincidence.

Coming back to the OP, I don't think "people's voice" will change anything. Nor mass media, unfortunately. Look at the petition for freeing Ross Ulbricht (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5214934.msg53525049#msg53525049), which was signed already by 250.000 people. This petition was supposed to convince Trump to pardon Ross, as the Justice turned its back to him. So what happened, although a quarter of a million of people asked the president to pardon the man? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Yes, absolutely. I wasn't implying they should be the same thread; yours is completely different. Apologies for any misunderstanding.


Yes. Politicians too often serve themselves rather than the people they represent. This coupled with the short-termism inherent in our democracies erodes trust in both politicians and the political process itself. It is by appealing to the baser instincts of disillusioned voters that demagogues like Trump are able to sweep into power.
I'm going to link out again I'm afraid :) Quarter of a million people is quite a number, but the anti-Iraq-war protests of 2003 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_February_2003_anti-war_protests#Effect) are estimated at up to 10 million demonstrators globally... and although there was some impact in some countries, the protests didn't stop the war (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_February_2003_anti-war_protests#Effect).
It is so easy for politicians and the establishment to manipulate voters, that they don't need to take any notice of protests - they will justify it all afterwards, or try to direct the public gaze onto other topics. It is important to shine a bright light on the stuff that governments would prefer to remain hidden. This is why people like Julian Assange are so important - and why the implications his extradition have for the First Amendment in the US are so troubling. Democracy is already on its knees; this could be the blow that kills it.

Months have passed and there are no good news about Julian Assange. Actually, the news are worst: he is facing new charges. His bail was denied, although he is very ill, his extradition trial was postponed from May, 18th to September, 7th (which means he will be in jail for a longer time) and prosecutors also accused him for conspiracies with Anonymous hacker group. Australian govern is still not interested about the life of a countryman.

Excepting all these, I updated the OP with three excelent resources for those interested in learning more about Julian and the benefits he offered to this world:

- two books: The Most Dangerous Man In The World: The Inside Story On Julian Assange And WikiLeaks, written by Andrew Fowler and Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet, by Julian Assange. The second book is a discussion between Julian, Jacob Appelbaum (Tor developer) and Jérémie Zimmermann (co-founder of La Quadrature du Net).
- Underground: The Julian Assange story, which is another movie about Julian, depicting his early career.

If telling the truth is a crime we are ruled by criminals.

For the elites (governs, law enforcement agecies, even the Church -- at least in the past), speaking the truth was always considered a crime. Do I need to remind what happened also with Galileo Galilei? E pur si muove! Martin Luther King's theses were translated in various languages and as a result the Church excommunicated him.

There is no difference now. Time passed, but speaking the truth is still forbidden.

I didn't read all this yet but might later..

I have just been wondering where TF that supposed BTC blockchain staked deadman switch info dump is..

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you meant here. What have you been wondering about? Meaning the part "where TF that supposed BTC blockchain staked deadman switch info dump". What do you mean by "supposed BTC blockchain staked deadman switch info"?

IIRC he is supposed to have a deadmans switch embedded in the BTC blockchain that should dump a hash/password thing along with a link to encrypted files that will dump in the event of his death/kidnapping.. "Insurance Files"

Google "julian assange dead man's switch bitcoin"..

Wouldn't it be better if you provided a link or more than one link, if you are making the claim?  I did google those words, and I got this:

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00LsWLVpISRwHUvqQjXAxZqJ0sJ5g%3A1594589491526&ei=M4ELX5bZH4TatQaRnIqICA&q=julian+assange+dead+man%27s+switch&oq=julian+assange+dead&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgIIADoECCMQJzoICAAQsQMQgwE6BAgAEEM6BQgAEIsDOggIABCxAxCLAzoLCAAQsQMQgwEQiwM6BggAEBYQHlC-CliVD2CkJGgAcAB4AIAB7AKIAd8LkgEHMC4yLjMuMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXq4AQI&sclient=psy-ab

Are some links contained therein more credible than others?  Or, do you just accept the whole general theory (speculation) that a deadman's switch might exist in connection to Julian?

A similar theory has been made about Jeffery Epstein, in terms of suspicion that Epstein is still alive because otherwise a deadman's switch would have triggered.

I don't know all that much about it..


Basically..
I have known/heard of it for years/long time but don't really know.. Kinda disappointed that it hasn't happened.. I'm not an expert on it..  
Expected something to happen back when he was arrested, but nothing..
IDK..

Two months later, Julian's trial for extradition in US was started on September 7th. He was accused of 18 charges, 17 of them being linked related to the Espionage Act. If he will be found guilty and extradited to US, he may face 175 years behind bars. I wonder how can any rational judge imagine that a normal human being would live that much for spending 175 years in prison. Excepting the 49 years that he lived already. Maybe the judge believes that Assange is immortal, thus it would be easy for him to get released from prison at the age of 224 years.

Anyway, let's pay attention to the trial and let's see how unfair it will be. I wish I'm wrong, but I am almost sure that the judge is corrupt and the trial is rigged already, as it happened to Ross Ulbricht. Let's hope for the best though.

Heads-up about Julian's trial: the trial has ended and the judge announced that the resolution will be published on January 4th, 2021. This means 3 more months in jail for Julian before he finds out if he'll be exyradited to US. While serious press and also UN said it is unfair what's happenig to him, Australian govern still takes no action for its citizen...

Julian's trial for extradition ended on January 4th, as it was settled. Fortunately, the judge decided he won't be extradited to US. However, this is not a big win, as the court's motivation wasn't based on the journalism's free of speech. The judge decided that Julian's mental health is too low now, that he may attemp to suicide, and an American prison would not protect him from.committing suicide. The decision was taken, Julian will remain in UK, but the case won't make a precedent for other abuses of politics over journalism, due to the Court motivation.

Besides, the US prosecutors can appeal the decision within 14 days and they confirned they'll do it, although, in many's view, it will be in vain. Why in vain? Because (1) Trump may pardon Julian and (2) in case Trump won't pardon him, it is uncertain if Biden will be interested in having Julian extradited to US.

Unfortunately, the judge who denied Julian's extradition also denied his bail, thus he remains behind bars. Probably until the appeal will finish.

The good side is that recently two users sent 8.2 and respectively 4.5 BTC to WikiLeaks, for supporting Julian, according to the Twitter account WhaleAlert. I also tried to contribute to his cause somehow, by buying two of his books (Underground (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5219257.msg55238143#msg55238143) and Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5219257.msg54596549#msg54596549)). It's not much, but it's something...

All in all, it is a great victory for Julian. But the victory is for him as a man, not as a journalist. The courts of law are not yet prepared to allow free speech of journalism, nor to protect journalists from politic oppression. It is obvious that the judge who analyzed Julian's case realized that he did nothing wrong for he constantly exposed the truth and this is why she saved him from being extradited to US, where he could face 175 years of prison. But, at the same time, I believe the judge was afraid to say she denies the extradition for Julian could not be accused of anything for stating only the truth. Instead, she chose to save him saying his mental health is too poor now for living in a US prison. It is good she saved him, but it is bad that she saved just the man Julian Assange, while the journalism is still exposed. Most likely, Julian will have to live all his life in UK now, where he at least knows that he is secure.

Let's see though also what happens after the appeal.

Almost a year passed since Julian won his right to not be extradited to US, yet he remained in prison all this time. US prosecutors said they will appeal the Court's decision but, for various reasons (which are unknown to me) the appeal started only at the end of October (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/oct/26/julian-assange-extradition-appeal-us-assurances-to-challenge-legal-team).

In summer, Julian's lawyers tried, and failed, to stop US from expanding the extradition appeal (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/11/julian-assange-loses-court-battle-stop-us-expanding-extradition-appeal). As far as I know, in any country, if you want to appeal a decision of a Court then you have a certain amount of time to do so. This amount may vary, from a few days to a month (probably), but to expand the time for an appeal with almost 1 year -- this is something I never heard of! Even the decision of the Court taken during summer, allowing more time to US prosecutors for making the appeal for extraditing him is something unthinkable!

Yet time passed and the appeal started at the end of October and today high court took the decision that Julian can be extradited to US (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/dec/10/julian-assange-can-be-extradited-to-us-to-face-espionage-charges-court-rules).

Based on Guardian's presented material, I find that judge's decision was itself a chaotic one, as the judge ruled that he can be extradited to US based on the fact that US authorities ensured that Julian won't be sent to a "highly restrictive prison", thus his detention regime would be a - how to say? - "manageable" one. Apparently, the judge which previously denied his extradition did so also taking into account that he could be sentenced in very bad conditions in US, conditions which his health could not endure.

But since "fellow US prosecutors" ensured the new judge that Julian's treatment will not be a bad one in US prison -- then there is no reason to not extradite him, right? /s

I wrote the above sentence with highest degree of sarcasm I can have, regarding such court decisions. Which, in my opinion, are based on nothing. It sounds like they really needed a motive to be able to extradite him, thus they made a huge brainstorming about what legal reasons they can invoke for permitting the extradition. Something like: "oh, he will be placed in a nice prison? He won't have a hard life there? Then there you go - you can have him! Case closed!".

Maybe a last sign of ration was shown by this judge at the end, as high court also ruled, according to Guardian, that "that the case be remitted to Westminster magistrates court with a direction that a district justice send the case to the secretary of state, who will decide whether Assange should be extradited to the US".

I highly doubt that the secretary of state would (ever) overrule a high court decision. Still, there is a chance. Meanwhile, Julian did all he could and announced he will also appeal this decision. I am wondering how much time he'll have at disposal for making the appeal. Obviously, he will never have one year, as US prosecutors had. Nevertheless, it would also not be his interest to delay the appeal, as he would be remaining in jail even more if he would do that.

All we can do now is to hope that he will win this appeal. And maybe - maybe! - after that he will finally be free.

We, on another side, should never forget all he did for us, as humans, and support his cause! Those who do not know what he did, please read all the materials I presented at the end of OP (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5228619.0)! Read at least the online available materials. But I also encourage you all to buy his books for truly understand all his efforts... Julian was (and still is) a Cyphperpunk (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5255623). And his work, together with all the work Cypherpunks did, allow us now to have the Internet and communications the way they are. And by saying this I mean the fact that we can have private and encrypted communications; private and encrypted web surfing; private and encrypted  crypto phones (https://www.cryptophone.de/) (these are some special phones which allow private communications which he mentioned in his book The Unauthorised Autobiography); freedom on Internet; free access to cryptography! Without Cypherpunks's work, without their crypto wars, probably all the Internet and our communications would be subject of total surveillance, as Orwell described in 1984. State surveillance exists, this is undeniable, but Julian and the other Cypherpunks offered us ways - for free - to be able to avoid this surveillance. By supporting one of these extraordinary people we show our respect for what Cypherpunks offered us!

#justiceforassange!

Several months have passed since more news arrived about Julian Assange. And it's not good news...

On June 17th, 2022, the British home secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of Julian USA. According to Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jun/20/julian-assange-what-is-australias-position-on-his-extradition-and-what-options-does-it-have), Patel said that they had "“not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange". And, of course, Australian government still does not do anything to help its citizen.

After this decision was taken, Julian had the right to try to appeal it, within 14 days. At the moment it's unknown if Julian made the appeal or it status.

---

Meanwhile, the ones which are still loyal to Assange made another documentary about Julian. Film's name is Ithaka (more information here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15066072/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0). The movie depicts Julian's most recent struggles and his attempts to avoid the extradition to US. If it matters, movie's producer is Gabriel Shipton, Julian's brother. Many remarkable figures appear during the documentary, such as Julian's father, Julian's wife or Daniel Ellsberg -- the whistleblower which was sentenced to 115 years in jail, in 1973, for revealing the Pentagon Papers. I highly recommend you all to watch this documentary!

You can watch a trailer here: https://vimeo.com/637431702.

I also added Ithaka to Issues of Note section from OP.

Also, for those interested in watching a documentary about Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers, I recommend you this movie: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319726/). You can watch the full documentary on YouTube, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRFVwpI40jM.

I can do no better here than to quote the conclusions of indefatigable Glenn Greenwald:

As we all know, any appeal would be purely symbolic, and have absolutely no chance of success... given that the extradition approval itself was purely symbolic and has been utterly inevitable all along.


Does the distinction between "have not found that it would be oppressive" and "have found that it would not be oppressive" provide the UK with the semblance of a defence when, inevitably, he's mistreated in the US?

Of course, if we disagree with the inability of the UK government to stand up to obviously bogus matters that really seem to arise to the level of overreaching - there is seemingly a bit of a whimpiness in the way the standards are discussed in terms of findings of whether their would be oppressiveness or not, and so for sure there is a difference in the two statements.. and those kinds of failures to find (or evidence fails to support such a finding) statements are common for courts to seem to get out of responsibilities.

For sure, I have not studied the evidence sufficiently to figure out what the evidence supports or not, even though from what information that I have come across through the years, those kinds of findings of lack of evidence of oppressiveness do not really seem to add up.   Many of us likely realize that however much he has been held (even if a lot of it was not even incarceration, officially) has likely already sufficiently been enough punishment for any kind of supposed crime that may have been committed (and I am not even willing to concede that part), and for sure both he and many others who had been vocalizing the free flow of information have been muzzled (considerably oppressed).  The powers that be remain quite scared of Julian - even though he has already become a lot less physically / mentally able to even muster up  a fight, but surely they want to shut up anyone who might attempt to follow in his footsteps.

The level they are trying to hunt down Assange is unprecedented and relentless. But how is it diferent from the Sudis killing Khashoggi? At the end the US is just killing Assange slowly, but it should be viewed in the same way. It's a systematic crackdown of the old school hackers that has been going on for years done by the US.

Two words:  Exemplary punishment. (https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/exemplary+%5Bof+a+punishment%5D)

Seems like the thing exemplary punishment is both being attempted and actually accomplished in Julian's case.

The process is the punishment in this case as well (book by the same name (https://www.russellsage.org/publications/process-punishment-1) describing regular criminal proceedings in such a way).

Ross Ulbricht seems to have been suffering a similar ongoing outcome of "exemplary punishment."

Glenn Greenwald is pro-kremlin troll (due to many well respected people) who justify russian army and tries to accuse ukrainian one. As a witness of russian action I can consider Glenn Greenwald as a Putin whore, and anyone who read and trust him - as Useful idiot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot).

The same problem with Julian Assange: He hated USA so much that step-by-step turned to be ruskie-chinesee whore. No no empathy for him. I'm not glad about what happened to him, but as it said in russian proverb: "Пoмep Hикoдим - нy и XУЙ c ним"

And yeah, a little obituary to Assange from a good russian and my good friend (yeah, in Russia still a lot of honest and brave people who figthing against kremlin imperialism and Z-ombie curse):

https://t.me/RottenKepkenChannel/2965

https://t.me/RottenKepkenChannel/17818

https://t.me/RottenKepkenChannel/14051

T,e: Бoкo Xapaм Tyдeй == Russia Today
Why Boko Haram? Because RT pushing takes not to different to those which pushing Boko Haram (at least i think so. Never asked him about it)

A totally unjustified, viciously insulting off-topic attack on Greenwald shows the soundness of your judgment here.

What’s next?  Will you denounce my citations of Greenwald’s seminal reporting on privacy, security, and mass-surveillance?  Perhaps you will denounce Snowden as retroactively a “Putin whore”, whose disclosure of secret mass-surveillance programs must be wrong because America must not be criticized?  It is interesting that Snowden is only in Russia as an asylee, because the only alternative for him is an American prison.

Only Russia is evil.  Russian evil not only relevant to all topics, but the primary topic in all topics.  If you do not comply with the groupthink of the war psychosis, then you are The Enemy(TM).  It shows your thought process.

For the record:  I do not agree with Greenwald about everything; to the contrary.  I am independent, but I lean pretty far to the right.  I was pro-Greenwald years before Greenwald suddenly became popular on the right—back when speaking favourably of Greenwald could get me treated as having cooties in some circles, due to his lifestyle.  Well, I am independent; I did not need Tucker Carlson’s stamp of approval to form my opinion of Greenwald.  I simply recognized that Greenwald is a straight shooter on some issues of overwhelming importance.

Hereto off-topic, but relevant to your post:  American warmongering.  I noticed that at least twelve years ago, Greenwald dared to criticize the sacrosanct Obama administration for continuing and worsening some Bush war policies.  The mainstream “antiwar” American left suddenly shut up and toed the line, when the U.S. president was changed from (R) to (D).  Greenwald called them out for it:  He is honestly, consistently opposed to America’s wrecking of other nations.  I highly respect that—as, of course, I also respect his stances on privacy and on the freedom of speech.

Was Greenwald a “Putin whore” for opposing American policies in the Middle East?  If not, why is he one now, simply for applying the same principles to the American security state’s years-long belligerent policies towards Russia?  You brand him a “Putin whore” because he is not a hypocrite, and he does not change his principles according to popularity or political convenience!

The over-the-top way that you are attacking Greenwald, Assange, and (in multiple threads) me, I would suggest that you are an “American whore” if I wished to descend to your level of discourse—or if I wished to insult actual working whores, (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178336.msg56584873#msg56584873) some of whom are good Bitcoiners.  I wish neither, so I will simply point out that your argument amounts to hating anyone who does not blindly hate Russia.

---

Off-topic—but unfortunately relevant, insofar as I have been insulted as a “Useful Idiot”:


My post history reflects that I have been all along consistently opposed to the American Empire.

I will not let anti-Russian trolling further drag me into an off-topic debate, on a thread about the injustice against Assange.

---

You are making the Russians and the Chinese look good here.  Reading your argument, I feel favourably towards them.

Your problem:  You hate Russia so much that you will betray every principle, and attack anybody, from sheer spite against anything that is not actively anti-Russian.  No matter who they are, where they are, or what their reasons!  To you, anyone who does not hate Russia is The Enemy(TM).

It might be off-topic but johhnyUA is completely right: Glenn Greenwald is indeed a host of Russian propaganda and Greenwald can't be trusted (~Greenwald).
Greenwald is completely brainwashed by Russian propaganda: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5388472.msg60530002#msg60530002



I would like to add a text here from Alex Gladstein, a known Bitcoiner from the Human Rights foundation (the text is about Bitcoiners from Ukraine and Russia, here Bitcoin Core Contributor Gleb Naumenko from Ukraine, describing how Bitcoin is useful for them) :

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/currency-of-last-resort

So, you see, Greenwald is not to be trusted. Better Alex Gladstein than Glenn Greenwald.  :)
Greenwald's effort to advocate for Assange is noble, but misguided because Greenwald is using Assange to protect Putin's regime by whitewashing Putin's crimes in Ukraine.  :-\
Greenwald has lost his mind completely and he's now actively justifying Putin's war crimes.  >:(

This has been gnawing at my conscience.  I recall Lauda’s and my debate with you about empathy, (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2876160.msg30031564#msg30031564) to which you seem to allude with your “no, no empathy for him” remark:
I must modify what I just said in the other thread:
If you want to be my enemy, it is your choice to attack, to insult, and to smear a man who has risked all and sacrificed all to fight for justice and for freedom—who is now essentially fighting for his life against an evil empire that has personally targeted him for destruction.  And for what!?  Because you got so upset by Greenwald’s reporting of facts that I cited elsewhere about American propaganda and censorship (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5388472.msg60523978#msg60523978)—facts you did not and could not rebut, because they are true—you could not control your spite in following me across threads, thus to bash Assange here.

Do you really want to do such a reprehensible thing?  Do you hate Russia so much that you lost all reason about all else?

If that is your way of promoting the Ukrainian cause, then Ukrainians should hope that you are not their best public representative.

I stand with Assange.

---

So, why are you derailing a thread about Assange with your hatred for both Greenwald and Russia?

I have been following Greenwald’s reporting on this type of topic for years.  Now, you effectually declare him an unperson: (https://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/english/)  You forbid me to cite him about Assange in an Assange thread, on pain of you and johhnyUA trolling me across threads with a bunch of vicious, totally off-topic anti-Greenwald and anti-Russia attacks.

As I said in the other thread:


And I stand with Assange.

Time passes and no good news come from one of the last Cypherpunks, Julian Assange. In my earlier post (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5228619.msg60499424#msg60499424) I wrote that it was unknown, at the moment, if Julian appealed British home secretary Priti Patel's decision to give Assange to US authorities. Meanwhile, Guardian, maybe one of Assange's last loyal supporters, confirms (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/aug/27/julian-assange-files-appeal-against-us-extradition) that the appeal was made. However, we don't know when we will hear the outcome of this appeal.

Of course, during all this time, Julian is still held prisoner in jail, where he lives since 2019.

Meanwhile, his lawyers initiated a trial against CIA, accusing the agency for spying on Assange while he was under political asylum inside Ecuador embassy, by taping his discussion with his lawyers. According to Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/aug/16/julian-assange-lawyers-sue-cia-over-alleged-spying), "Robert Boyle, a New York attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the alleged spying on Assange’s attorneys means the WikiLeaks founder’s right to a fair trial has “now been tainted, if not destroyed. There should be sanctions, even up to dismissal of those charges, or withdrawal of an extradition request.”."

While this trial is a small attempt to help Julian somehow, most likely, no charges against him will be lifted...

However, more and more people (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/oct/19/julian-assange-australian-government-urged-to-show-courage-against-us-over-charges) pressure Australian government to help one of his iconic citizen, while Biden is under heavy media pressure to lift the charges put on Assange's head.

Five big international media outlets (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/nov/28/media-groups-urge-us-drop-julian-assange-charges) wrote an open letter to Biden, entitled as Publishing is not a crime.

---

Last, but not least, this year a new book about Julian's struggle was published: The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution, written by Nils Melzer's (I also added this title to OP). I was not sure if I could buy it from my country, but I was lucky and, after a few weeks while I searched for various places where I hoped to find it, I finally found it!

Therefore, I proudly present you:

https://i.ibb.co/V9JYXk2/RyICoXG.jpg

Needless to say, the book from top-left corner of the picture is Edward Snowden's Personal Record, another great (and shocking) writing, which I recommend you all to read as well.

I added this title to the four books written by Assange and to the other book which I bought, which also depicts his life, The Most Dangerous Man In The World: The Inside Story On Julian Assange And WikiLeaks, written by Andrew Fowler.

To all those supporting his cause: please buy this book too! Maybe it's the smallest gesture we can make for him and for his cause!

i wanted to BTCump this very interesting topic up again, because the BitcoinMagazine has immortalized Julian Assange's image on the Bitcoin blockchain as ordinals.
http://ordinals.bitcoinmagazine.com/inscription/4af9047d8b4b6ffffaa5c74ee36d0506a6741ba6fc6b39fe20e4e08df799cf99i0 (http://ordinals.bitcoinmagazine.com/inscription/4af9047d8b4b6ffffaa5c74ee36d0506a6741ba6fc6b39fe20e4e08df799cf99i0)
in addition, the cover of the new print issue (The Gatekeepers) has been dedicated to his face/person, serving as "a reminder of the price some have paid so that we can all enjoy our freedoms"

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FuVM0ZpWAAADyWm?format=jpg&name=small
https://store.bitcoinmagazine.com/collections/magazines/products/bitcoin-magazine-annual-subscription (https://store.bitcoinmagazine.com/collections/magazines/products/bitcoin-magazine-annual-subscription)

Thank you for this, dear cygan!


This image is simply... thrilling. Julian's eyes... his face... the struggle he expires through all his pores -- all these are so touching... so touching!


These are such meaningful words...

May this man be set free! May his struggle end soon!

today i stumbled across a new book on the internet by former un special rapporteur Nils Melzer on the Assange case.
the book is titled: The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution and points out that the persecution of Julian Assange is a "threat not only to Assange himself, but to freedom of expression around the world".

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FueSa9AWYAAXfsX?format=jpg&name=small
https://www.versobooks.com/products/2907-the-trial-of-julian-assange?_pos=1&_sid=e856d730e&_ss=r (https://www.versobooks.com/products/2907-the-trial-of-julian-assange?_pos=1&_sid=e856d730e&_ss=r)

You mean this book? :)

https://i.ibb.co/2Fp1Y2j/n8GpByd.jpg

I already found it since last year (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5228619.msg61456768#msg61456768) and I was lucky enough to find a website importing it also in Romania! The book appeared during last spring.

In the above link you can also see my collection with "must-read" books written by Assange, Snowden or about Assange. I read them all excepting this book (I will do it in the close future though). In fact, I read all the books and materials presented in OP and I also watched all the movies I listed there. I recommend them to all which are interested about Assange.

i envy you this book as well as the others i looked at again on the last page of this thread :)
somewhere i read it (would then post the link later if interested) that the book is also available in italian and it would therefore perhaps also be interesting for fillippone 8)
for me here would be a german/polish edition of interest...

Yay!
The book is actually available in Italy and in Italian.
The Italian edition is available on Amazon and the title is

This literally translates into


Quite evocative

Here is the reason behind why Assange is being persecuted.


What Julian Assange Was Really Doing (http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/342801-2023-04-24-what-julian-assange-was-really-doing.htm)

---

http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/342801-2023-04-24-what-julian-assange-was-really-doing.htm
Julian Assange sits in an English prison cell, as he has for some years. He got there on trumped-up charges and remains there because he hurt the plans of powerful people.

We must not forget about Julian. And so I am re-posting this article from some years ago, with just a bit of editing. It explains what Julian and his friends were really doing, which is probably not what you thought.

A lot of people know the what about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks – that they publish secret information – but they don't know the why. And that's unfortunate, because the thinking behind all the leaks is both brilliant and illuminating.

It Began With The Cypherpunks
... (http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/342801-2023-04-24-what-julian-assange-was-really-doing.htm)

---

8)

I stumbled upon this article recently: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/apr/11/julian-assange-australian-politicians-urge-merrick-garland-united-states-us-attorney-general-to-abandon-extradition

U.S. government has had a target on his head for years for disseminating the truth. They will make an example of him to send a warning to the rest.

If you are interested, the books written by Assange are also available in Italian, German and Polish languages. Or, at least, some of them.

For example, I found Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet and Underground available in ]German (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Julian-Assange/s?i=stripbooks&bbn=266239&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AJulian+Assange%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A400533011&dc&ds=v1%3AboC6oHT7fvhxSGn5u63Nce03Q5hLDa9eyqIlXa1h2M8&qid=1683020352&rnid=400529011&ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse-bin_3): Cypherpunks: Unsere Freiheit und die Zukunft des Internets and Underground: Die Geschichte der frühen Hacker-Elite. Tatsachenroman.

I did not spend more time on searching for translations of these books but I am sure that other ones are translated as well.

---

True. Yet he is their only target. None of the journalists from big newspapers (such as New York Times, Der Spiegel or Guardian) which collaborated closely with Assange were ever accused by US. Only Assange. They did not have the guts to go against a big media outlet so, instead, they made Assange a martyr...

Julian Assange has taken the occasion of today's coronation of king Charles III to write and publish a letter to the majesty.
he asks the king to visit him in belmarsh prison to talk about certain things and certainly to raise the issue of release/grievance.
you can read the complete letter in the following link: A KINGLY PROPOSAL: LETTER FROM JULIAN ASSANGE TO KING CHARLES III (https://declassifieduk.org/a-kingly-proposal-letter-from-julian-assange-to-king-charles-iii/)

---

thank you for the suggestion and for the research. i will have a look at the book on the internet and then decide whether i want to order it or not. :)

Bu pure chance, while searching for Italian / German / Polish translations of Assange books, I also found this book, which is written by Chelsea Manning: Readme.txt.

https://i.ibb.co/jygJMbb/8TKYz9I.jpg

For those not aware, Chelsea Manning (used to be known as Bradley Edward Manning) is the soldier whistleblower which gave more than 400.000 Iraq war logs and almost 100.000 Afghan war logs to Assange, the materials being published by WikiLeaks. The documents depicted all the atrocious things done by American soldiers during these wars. Curiously, before contacting WikiLeaks, he tried to contact The Washington Post and The New York Times but these publications were not interested about such documents.

Among the materials leaked by Manning is also included Collateral Murder (https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/), a video published also by big press outlets (such as Der Spiegel) presenting how American soldiers are killing civilians during war. Among victims there were also 2 journalists of Reuters. The video is still available on WikiLeaks website and also on other newspapers' websites.

Bradley Manning was put to detention in May 2010 inside a 1.8m x 3.6m room which had no window. Poor man (which became a woman meanwhile) finally got free in March 2020.

I am more than certain that this book is also a must read and I am going to order it next week.

I come back with some news about Julian Assange -- and the news are not good at all...

According to CNN (https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/09/uk/julian-assange-extradition-appeal-intl-gbr/index.html), he lost the appeal he filed last year (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5228619.msg60499424#msg60499424) against his extradition. Court decision came last week, on June 6th.

At same time,


However, it seems that British laws allow him to appeal again that decision, although I am not sure how it is possible to make appeal after appeal... In Romania you can start a trial; after it ends you may file an appeal; and, after the appeal from the second circuit you may only make an appeal which challenges the equity of the trial (but not the facts). And this last appeal may (or may be not) accepted by Supreme Court of Justice. Fortunately for Assange, British laws work differently and he is allowed to file another appeal, which he will do during current week, as the appeal may be made only in the next 5 working days after the Court decision (I also don't understand why this appeal may be filed only within such a short amount of time).

At same time, according to Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/09/julian-assange-dangerously-close-to-us-extradition-after-losing-latest-legal-appeal), this is also his last possible legal appeal within UK.


Perhaps, if UK Courts make no justice for him, at least European court of human rights will make justice in his case...

After waiting about a month the book is finally here!

https://i.ibb.co/dPsdC7n/20230613-140558.jpg

I am barely waiting to read it!

in the last weekend issue of the german newspaper 'frankfurter rundschau' the topic Julian Assange and his release or extradition made it to the front page.
there, german foreign minister Annalena Baerbock is called upon by prominent figures from politics, culture and the media to campaign for the release of wikileaks founder Julian Assange during her visit to the usa
unfortunately the whole article is only available in german language :P

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/09/11/62Wfc.jpeg
https://www.fr.de/politik/offener-brief-an-baerbock-prominente-fordern-unterstuetzung-fuer-assange-92507876.html (https://www.fr.de/politik/offener-brief-an-baerbock-prominente-fordern-unterstuetzung-fuer-assange-92507876.html)

'the guardian' reports that a total of 63 members of australia’s house of representatives and senate are fighting for JA's release and have written a letter. this letter will be handed over to the americans by a small delegation.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/14/julian-assange-more-than-60-australian-mps-urge-us-to-let-wikileaks-founder-walk-free (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/14/julian-assange-more-than-60-australian-mps-urge-us-to-let-wikileaks-founder-walk-free)

Besides, if JA can simply sit imprisoned in an embassy, without Internet and communication with others, what harm can he do? After all, the damage has already been done, and harming him will only make him a martyr in the eyes of the people. Is that what the US really wants? There are others who are doing more damage to the system than JA. Why add martyrdom to his list of accomplishments?

8)

I think that Julian already became a martyr, after spending 7 years in self-imprisonment inside Ecuador embassy, where he also had to live a lot of humiliation during his last months there (embassy employees were cutting his Internet access, the electricity or they were accusing him of all sort of idiotic things [1] (https://en.tempo.co/read/1195058/ecuador-embassy-says-julian-assange-aggressive-has-bad-hygiene), [2] (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/11/julian-assange-ecuador-president-lenin-moreno-evict-from-embassy)). As a plus, after he was turned out by the embassy and handed to UK Police, he was placed in a prison way before his trial started; he was kept in jail during the trial; and even after winning that trial (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jan/24/julian-assange-wins-first-stage-of-attempt-to-appeal-against-extradition)! He was also kept in jail even after spending an initial sentence of 50 weeks of jail time (https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/julian-assange-arrested-julian-assange-to-stay-in-jail-even-after-end-of-sentence-2100640)! All this is absolutely outrageous!

And regarding US, I believe that they reached such a level of irritation, determined by the fact that they still can not take him there, that they don't care anymore of they make him a martyr. They are acting like they are blinded by fury and their only purpose is to get him there at any cost...

Although I am just a newcomer on this forum, I have already read some articles behind the persecution of Assange and when I saw this thread I just feel like adding something here, what Julian Assange did wasn't a bad thing but what he did is something that can bring the US country down to the ground and this was what  happened before the US government planned to kill him (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/the-charges-against-julian-assange-explained)  Julian Assange is the type of person that doesn't support evil things and that was why people expostulated on this behalf for the the government to release him and this is the video of what really happened. (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/the-charges-against-julian-assange-explained)

Thank you for involving in this thread, Su-asa.

Indeed, all Assange did was to expose the entire truth about all shenanigans made by various governments. And this irritated US very much and tried to do everything to finish him. They are just a bunch of hypocrites, as they headed only for Assange, although he collaborated with various respectful media outlets, such as Guardian, Der Spiegel or New York Times. But US government knew they have no chance to touch any of the journalists from such big media outlets and, if they would ever try it, the press around the work would ruin them. So they threw all their hate towards Julian, as he was more exposed than a journalist from "old-era media outlets". They denied the fact that WikiLeaks was a new form of journalism and decided that he has to pay for all materials published, although same materials were published by other media outlets as well...

with this letter (dated november 8), 16 democratic and republican members of congress call on president Joe Biden to withdraw the us extradition request against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/11/10/tpRc5.jpeg https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/11/10/tpzm2.jpeg
https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/11/10/tpT0z.jpeg

This was, probably, a move that US secret services did not anticipate. People point the finger toward Biden but I believe that behind him, all decisions about Julian are taken by secret services.

The Guardian also informed (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/nov/10/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-and-marjorie-taylor-greene-unite-in-push-to-free-julian-assange) about this and, as far as I see, it may be the heaviest action pro-Assange from recent past.

Indeed, some may point the finger that behind the letter stays Marjorie Taylor Greene, which is supporter of Trump, but this should not affect too much the fact that 16 congressmen signed the letter. Let's hope for the best...

Friendly bump  :) because we never remind people too much about Julian Assange's story.

3 weeks ago, Cedric Villani, a French mathematician gave some news (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRZdtVuTh4w) about Assange. He went to visit him in jail. I don't like a lot Cedric Villani (he was working with the French government and not in a good way IMO), but I respect a lot his fight for Assange freedom. He is doing a lot of conferences/events through Europe to educate people about this sad situation.

I did a translation of this video's content:

I see, being in prison is like living another life outside the world because the prisoner will not be allowed to go outside the place he's being kept, but for the case of Julian Assange, he shold be free and not to in prison but the US government would have cautioned him, because what he leaked is a kind of thing that will expose the entire country of their evil dids.
Although, from my thoughts Julian Assange is not the bad guy here, he just did what he did because that the kind of person he is and people loved him for who he is, that's why others are speaking good of him and they still want him to be free. so he should be free.

New hope.


Hand-picked breaking news headlines: (https://censored.news/)
Headlines change daily.

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https://revolver.news/2023/12/cia-secret-plot-against-julian-assange-could-be-fully-exposed-thanks-to-bombshell-court-ruling/
CIA’s secret plot against Julian Assange could be fully exposed thanks to a bombshell court ruling…

The never-ending saga surrounding Julian Assange is taking an interesting turn. The latest development is a bombshell court decision that could potentially open a CIA “Pandora’s Box,” revealing secretive operation details on WikiLeaks founder and political prisoner Julian Assange. This twist in the saga began when four American citizens—two lawyers and two journalists—sued former CIA Director and RINO traitor Mike Pompeo, the entire CIA, and a man by the name of David Morales, a former Spanish special forces soldier, who ran a surveillance company contracted to secure the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Assange was housed.

Well, that recent court decision in New York has found that the CIA, along with Morales’ surveillance company, conducted unauthorized surveillance on journalists and attorneys who visited Julian Assange. Now, what this does is open the door for the release of documents that will shed light on the full scale of the clandestine operation by the United States against Assange. A lot of people are probably sweating bullets right now.

El País (https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-12-22/a-spanish-company-and-the-cia-found-guilty-of-violating-rights-of-julian-assanges-visitors.html):

    The ruling is a win for the plaintiffs and poses a challenge for the CIA, as the plaintiffs will now seek the complete declassification of CIA documentation pertaining to the covert operation through the legal discovery process. An EL PAÍS investigation in 2019 uncovered audio and video recordings, emails and documents about UC Global’s illegal activities that were later presented as evidence by the plaintiffs. The judge decided that the plaintiffs presented “sufficient evidence” indicating Morales acted as an agent or collaborator of the CIA under by Mike Pompeo (who also served as Trump’s Secretary of State). The judge rejected the defendants’ motions to dismiss the entire complaint.

    The lawsuit was filed in August 2021 by lawyers Margaret Ratner Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, and John Goetz and Charles Glass, journalists specializing in national security issues. All four were among the many visitors received by Julian Assange when he was living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition. According to the lawsuit, over 100 U.S. citizens, including Assange’s lawyers and doctors, were subjected to surveillance ordered by the CIA during Pompeo’s tenure. The New York judge’s ruling was partially based on statements made by Pompeo identifying Assange and Wikileaks as targets of a long-running CIA campaign.

    The EL PAÍS investigation in 2019 revealed that UC Global was paid by the CIA to spy on Assange’s conversations with his lawyers and associates when they were preparing to fight an extradition request so he could face charges in the U.S. for revealing secret information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few weeks after our report, Spanish police arrested UC Global’s owner and director, David Morales. The ex-soldier was released on bail shortly thereafter and is under investigation in Spain for alleged crimes related to privacy, attorney-client communication secrecy, misappropriation, bribery and money laundering.
... (https://revolver.news/2023/12/cia-secret-plot-against-julian-assange-could-be-fully-exposed-thanks-to-bombshell-court-ruling/)

---

8)

I actually read about that in Nils Melzer's book The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution, which I finally managed to read at end of last year, after staying on a shelf in my house for a few months... The book is written ny a UN rapporteur which made a very thorough description of how Assange became politically persecuted and multiple US minions, together with US, tried to defame him and point public's attention to something else, for making people forget the terrible truths revealed by Assange.

Morales' company is also mentioned in the book and his company was contracted after the fall of the former Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, which did not want to be obedient to US and granted the asylum for Assange. The situation changed when a new president came and this one wanted to consolidate relations with US. Among others, one main request from US was to expel Assange from the embassy. This was officially written on a paper (cable) exchanged between US and Ecuador governments and made public in the book.

So among other miserable actions which took course from that moment (including surveilling the poor man even at bathroom) they also hired this security company of Morales. The UN rapporteur and book author also mentioned this and the fact it was later found that Morales had direct connections with CIA and the surveillance tapes from the Ecuador embassy from London arrived to US officials... The book explains that a trial was started but I see now it also finished...

So all in all this is good news indeed... Maybe truth will prevail in Julian's case as well..

Well, there is no perfection anywhere before you complain about your country, and it's the government you should make sure you have broad knowledge about what's happening around the world.

Assange is a computer programmer, editor, publisher and activist who was accused of hacking and intrusion and was jailed for 50 weeks in the Ecuadorian embassy. Most of his defenders found it wrong and said that Assange is just a journalist who only published leaked information.

But what I understand here is that the government did not support what Assange did because it was not in their own favor (Assange wants to expose their secrets). The US government don't want him to expose them because the whole thing will spoil their reputation. That's why they asked him to come and appeal in court for some explanation (I think he didn't).

Assange is a good guy who doesn't support bad things. That is why he has to expose the evil acts of the US government, and I am in support of Assange, so he should be released and not put in jail. The US government try to cover their own secret because they are in power but if it was other country government that did what they did, the US government will do everything possible for that country to encounter some penalties but since it's them, they just want to cover their evil dids.

Although, with some news, I am sure that I am not the only one who's saying he should be released. We can check here for some peace protests about the release of Assange.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/dec/20/us-officials-monitored-pro-assange-protests-in-australia-for-anti-us-sentiment-documents-reveal

Good writing, I just read your writing from a thread translated into our local board (Indonesian). If I look at how the Cypherpunks community fights for freedom in the financial system, it seems that this vision and mission are no longer the soul of this community. What should we do to support the Cypherpunks movement? If you have an article about the ideas, vision and mission of the cypherpunks movement, please give me the link.

If you are interested by the principles defended by the Cypherpunks and if you like Gazeta's articles, I suggest you to read the following topics:

Bitcoin: The dream of Cypherpunks, libertarians and crypto-anarchists (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5255623.0)
12 years later and people still don't know to use Bitcoin nor what it's good for (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5310500.0)
The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto - We all should read it (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5212783)
A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace - We all should read it (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5432752)

I have in mind for a long time to write an essay about Cypherpunks (for more than a year), but I just did not have time...  That would be an essay about most important names from Cypherpunks group. I hope I will write it at some time though...

However, if you want to read about some initiatives taken by Cypherpunks during time, I can recommend you reading these topics I wrote in the past:

• Bitcoin: The dream of Cypherpunks, libertarians and crypto-anarchists (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5255623)
• Governs try to limit access of public to information and freedom since ages (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5219463)
• The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto - We all should read it (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5212783)
• When the govern wants to hold your private keys (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5202758.msg53160787#msg53160787)
• Phil Zimmermann's thoughts about PGP - We all should read them (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5226376)

The Cypherpunks movement does not exist anymore... Their mailing list dissolved in time and each went on his on way... But many involved in various projects. Julian Assange created WikiLeaks and invented the encryption software Rubberhose. Adam Back invented HashCash, which is a core part of Bitcoin. Phil Zimmermann invented PGP. Satoshi invented Bitcoin. Jacob Appelbaum became a Tor developer. Suelette Dreyfus became a journalist and a writer (among others, she is the author of the book Underground, which depicts Assange's early days as hacker) and also contributed to development of Rubberhose. John Gilmore developed the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Bruce Schneier wrote Applied Cryptography. David Chaum developed the first working form of electronic private money (CyberBucks), invented blind signatures and authored Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms (https://nakamotoinstitute.org/static/docs/untraceable-electronic-mail.pdf), Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-0602-4_18) or Security without Identification Card Computers to make Big Brother Obsolete (https://www.cs.ru.nl/~jhh/pub/secsem/chaum1985bigbrother.pdf). And the list goes on and on...

If you wish to give a hand of help to Julian Assange, for example, I think that smallest thing you can do is buying his books (they are all mentioned at bottom of OP)... I bought (and read) them all. They are 4 in total, so it won't be a huge financial effort. It may be a small gesture, given his current situation but all these small things may matter so much for someone.

Julian Assange motive of leaking classified documents is believed to be exposing corruption, wrongdoing, misconduct and abuse of power. U.S and others hunting after Assange, is because his publications of the truth embarrassed and hurt the US government and they are trying every means to  suppress the truth. I watched a video of how the  United States helicopter fatally shot 18 civilians including Reuters journalists Which Reuters has been requesting for the video footage under the U.S freedom of information act had been denied. The US military has done wrong that's why they denied them that piece of information which is  the actual truth.
The leaks of documents concerning Iraq war clearly shows how civilians were murdered in thousands of numbers. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_documents_leak)According to Assange he said that he hope the publication would correct some of that attack on the truth that occurred before the war during the war and which has continued after the war. Assange intentions are not bad because he could have sold this information and other ones to enemies of the U.S had it been he was motivated negatively but he wanted certain wrongs corrected. The U.S government has committed crime against humans but is trying to suppress and cover them up by prosecuting him with Espionage.
This is another act of oppressing the truth it will not be fair if Julian Assange is extradited to the US government.  countries, entities, organisations, Amnesty, journalists and individuals  globally to advocate and strongly oppose any form or way that Assange will be extradite to US.
https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-xiaomi-terr1-rso2&sca_esv=7a12701d0fbd3cd4&sxsrf=ACQVn0_cMea5luPW5mtmXa8R03KBbBWYvA:1707856612883&q=protest+on+call+to+free+julian+assange+today&tbm=vid&source=lnms&prmd=nvisbmz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVtfPVlamEAxU9VkEAHXaQBsMQ0pQJegQIDRAB&biw=393&bih=754&dpr=2.75#vhid=3yHboR2kmnSCUM&vssid=videos-62de9900

Today and tomorrow are two extremely important days for the future of Julian Assange!

I'm taking the liberty of translating here a part of an article from a well-known French media, Le Monde, because I think it sums up the situation better than I would:


Support protests are currently underway in London:
https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/02/20/YzGEa.jpeg

Personally, I continue to hope that the British judiciary will prove that it is not simply a tool of the American government.

https://talkimg.com/images/2024/02/21/YIJtq.jpeg
I join other well meaning supporters of Julian Assange for the dismissal of other part of his case against extradition.
#free Julian Assange
#hands off Assange
#i support Assange

Assange is a great man whose full name goes as Assange Julian Paul Hawkins, who was born on 3 July 1971 and who is 52 years old today. He was born and raised in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

But he is a dual citizen of Australia and Ecuador and his. Occupations are Editor, publisher and activist Years active. 1987–present he has been an editor and activist. He is also the Founder of WikiLeaks, and he has been serving as the Director and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks 2006–2018 publisher since 2018......


Also, he formed a political party called WikiLeaks. He was active from (2013–2015). He married his first beautiful woman, Teresa Assange, in 1989, and divorced her in the year 1999.... Assange later married again to Stella Assange in 2022. That date ....



Assange has been a great personality who has won several awards, including the 2008 The Economist New Media Award.

2009, Amnesty International UK New Media Award for Kenya: The Cry of Blood—Extra Judicial Killings and Disappearances

2010, Le Monde Readers' Choice Award for Person of the Year

2010, "Rockstar of the year" in the Italian edition of Rolling Stone

2010,Time Person of the Year, Reader's Choice

2010, Sam Adams Award... Assange has been a great contribution to the whole world 🌎 as a editor and activist. With all these achievements, he is still doing more to help the mental development of society at large....



Assange shouldn't be arrested for any reason for his positive contribution to society. This is the man that the world wants to listen to. Children, mothers and fathers want to hear from him because he is a great positive influence on society. I call for the immediate release of this young noble and integrity man if we need to go out of prison or government custody anyway.....



I support and stand the notion of this immediate release without much hesitation and further neglect. The world should not neglect his great contribution and his positive hard work to make sure young people are affected all round. In fact, he is my favourite and mentor. I stand for his release.....



FREE ASSANGE!

FREE ASSANGE!!

FREE ASAANGE!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U6fcmOlIIEU

This is indeed a freedom call, our society today has dealt with hero's who went against the government principle just to promote privacy, hero's who fought for freedom, hero's who spoke the truth. This make me  understood that the society we live in today our leaders will always silent the cry of freedom and justice. I have read books about historical hero's who died for speaking the truth. The story of Julian assange reminds me of the journalist called Dorothy Kiligallens, I read few articles about the journalist born 1913, a journalist who featured in Tv shows like entertainment but went further reporting politics and crime. She started a report concerning the assassination of president john F. Kennedy but unfortunately she died during the process, most people stated the probe of JKF assassination lead to her death (https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/dorothy-kilgallen.htm).

I strongly believe the case of Julian assange is a wake up call to fight for freedom of speech, fighting for all hero's who stoodup for the truth, fighting for Julian assange is the right time to protect journalism, freedom etc. I love the fact when Julian assange wife gave a speech (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VTDseSI4HdM) concerning the current situation, she made mention about the support of the masses being necessary. Journalism is not a crime so Julian assange should be free

Julian Assange an Australian computer programmer who founded the media platform WikiLeaks in 2006.Julian Assange is a hacker activist who revealed the truth and was arrested for exposing the truth.Julian Assange posted a video clip of Somali rebel leaders who hired gunmen to assassinate government officials.In 2010 WikiLeaks posted half a million of classified documents obtained from the U.S army intelligence analyst.Julian Assange leaked classified documents about the U.S military and it became a threat to the U.S government and politicians,and they called him a terrorist all because he revealed the truth.
Julian Assange also faced prosecution in Sweden, where he was charged of a criminal case(Sexual assault) which led to his second arrest warrant issued for those alleged crimes (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julian-Assange).
One of the biggest crime in America is leaking confidential information,and Julian Assange has been facing prosecution ever since he leaked the U.S military documents in his media platform (WikiLeaks). Julian Assange leaked the U.S.A's dark secrets to the world.Julian Assange will be recorded in history as a brave man who revealed the U.S military.Julian Assange will also be remembered in history as;
1.A brave scientific journalist
2.A great journalist
3.An investigative journalist

Justice for Julian Assange................
Justice for Julian Assange................
Free Julian Assange...............

"Good" news!

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not be immediately extradited to the U.S., British court rules (https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/uk-court-rules-julian-assange-can-appeal-his-extradition-to-the-us.html)

the three points requested by the british court as assurances also correspond to the points agreed to in Assange's appeal in this judgment. the remaining six of the nine points were rejected. in yesterday's ruling, the court stated that extradition for a political offense is compatible with both british law and the ECHR. nevertheless, Julian Assange would not be sentenced for his political views, but for the crimes he had committed, such as passing on information and disclosing his sources.

here you can read the complete approved judgment: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Assange-v-USA-Judgment.pdf (https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Assange-v-USA-Judgment.pdf)

us president Joe Biden, when asked about australia's request on wednesday, surprisingly responded by saying it would be 'considered'. Biden's brief comment - timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of J. Assange's incarceration in london's belmarsh maximum security prison - has raised hopes among Assange's supporters that the information activist's ordeal may soon come to an end.

Biden says he’s ‘considering’ wrapping up Julian Assange prosecution (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/apr/10/biden-says-hes-considering-wrapping-up-julian-assa/)

Indeed, finally, some good news! Of course, all these delays are a masquerade, meant only to mentally break Julian. This was very well explained (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5228619.msg62158523#msg62158523) by UN rapporteur Nils Melzer in his book The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution. At same, political gifures change in US and also in UK and new people replacing old ones may not have same drive to chase him anymore or, at least, not as intense as before...

---

And the above position of Biden may only prove my above supposition.

Now, more than ever, Australian government must push US and UK authorities and all people supporting Assange should do the same. It is a very good moment and, who knows, maybe a positive reaction will come from all this.