How much longer must Julian Assannge suffer? Locked inside a process of BS legal limbo, Assange has committed no crime (even under the U.S. government’s own determination) and yet he is a prisoner in the United Kingdom’s harsh Belmarsh prison where he is treated worse than any rapist, murderer, or terrorist. Even the most heinous of criminals have rights; not Assange, however.
Julian Assange is a political prisoner of the empire. His health is diminishing and in the English tradition, he may remain locked away in a dungeon for a long time. The American empire wants blood, and whether Assange dies in prison or is kidnapped under the guise of extradition, he’ll suffer. It’s punishment without conviction, torture by trial. The world can only spectate.
The U.S. government will have an election this year. Julian Assange may become a political bargaining chip to be pardoned or no longer be pursued so long as it serves the interest of which ever candidate is looking for a particular vote. Recently, speaking before a crowd of Libertarians, Donald Trump “promised” to free Silkroad founder Ross Ulbricht to win the votes of those in attendance. A man’s freedom used whimsically as a political pawn…
Then again, the ritual of voting between blue and red has become so dogmatic, with both factions having a distaste for Assange and Wikileaks; their voters may simply not care either way. It was after all the swamp drainer, five-dimension chess playing Libertarian in Chief Donald Trump who made the Assange persecution what it is today. Using a man and the concept of free speech as a political opportunity is disgusting. But that is why people adore and elect politicians.
What does a world where Julian Assange is free look like? Since his imprisonment, an uncertainty exists as to what is allowed, what is permitted, and how much surveillance is tolerated by the public. Wikileaks has become less of a threat to corporations and government’s the world over since Julian Assange has become the world’s most dangerous man locked away. Those who hold the instincts to share information, to reveal corruption and injustice, are less likely to step forward for fear of torture and imprisonment. There are many across the planet who are vocal for the release of Assange. They have active since he sought sanctuary in the Ecuadorian embassy, aware of the injustice and the disgusting nature of the allegations raised against him.
The world is sleepwalking into a place where weak, cowardly, insecure tyrants who use the veil of security, safety, and welfare as a blanket to hide their hideous, naked nature. Julian Assange, Wikileaks, and countless journalists and whistleblowers are a shield against such tyranny. They stab holes into the blanket of lies, the armor of deception so that we may peer inside and see ugly, ghoulish hearts. Now, aware of the existence of such beasts, we can see how and where they have poisoned the world with their insidious conduct.
The Australian government has proven itself to be a great pretender of liberal justice and a weak servant of the United States and the British courts. We are told we live in a world where democracy and the will of the people reign. Instead, professionals who benefit from the status quo dance before one another while a man who symbolizes free speech, journalism and transparency is slowly being executed in a process of judicial cruelty. Is this justice? Is this the message that the rulers of the “free world” wish to send to their enemies, their allies, and those non-aligned? That justice is only a word, free speech is permissive, and that government is all that matters.
Australian military whistleblower David McBride has recently been thrown in jail for doing his job as a lawyer. He exposed the war criminals who had murdered unarmed and innocent civilians. Because of this, he has been persecuted and made an example of. The same Australian government now weeps with crocodile tears over Julian Assange, simply because the public has had enough. So politicians and the unelected furniture of government are going through the motions of requesting that our man Assange comes home. And if he is allowed to come home, then what? Will he be a free man? Or will he spend the rest of his days locked inside of an Australian jail, a form of placation to Washington? Even alleged Aussie Taliban-Al Qaeda fighter David Hicks was eventually released from his Australian holding cell once he had served time in Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Australia has been a good mate; we have done much of what the United States has asked of us. We have given up strategic pieces of dirt across the continent so that their empire may spy on the world and perhaps use for nuclear bombers. We have tolerated coups, massaged our policies on drugs and certain regulations to appease Washington, broken agreements to favour the U.S., pretended scandals like the Seasprite helicopter deal never happened,fought in many wars as a willing buddy, and even let MacArthur’s ego take over Brisbane.
How about you free one of our own? As a thank you. Assange has suffered already, a point has been made, and for over a decade journalism and freedom of speech have been hampered in the empire’s favor. Even if he’s not executed or imprisoned forever, the U.S. government has already won. More than a pound of his flesh has been taken. Washington has proven it has supremacy and the world is helpless. So set him free; that is power.
Then again, for the arrogant it’s never enough. Hubris reigns. The ideals of Julian Assange, the very name of a man who would dare to defy the USA and its ambition is a slight that no imperial government could ever tolerate. The repercussions are maybe not as well appreciated by the legacy media and those outside observers who are slow to the reality. Those with an inclination of justice, with principles in their spirit, scream “Let him go!” Why must the dignified and principled beg for his mercy? Have you no shame?
Perhaps a lesson for the world is not to appeal to government or the institutions of power. When is enough, enough? When do the people storm the Bastille and free the imprisoned? Is there any shame felt by those who love government despite its many misgivings and injustices? These questions are not for those of principle to answer. It is inside the souls of the prison guards, police, drone operators, agents, and even lawyers who go after a man for his journalism. The killers in the Collateral Murder footage, did they believe in the ideals of freedom and liberty? Is that why they volunteered and served, and rationalized their killing? Or are they like most others in government: cynical mercenaries just obeying that which pays them. Are the claimed virtues of such institutions merely a facade to legitimize power, to seduce the obedient mob? Is it all just bullshit?
Those who want Assange free took the right position with heroic dignity. It can be thankless. It can be frightening and isolating. They do it not just for Assange or themselves, but for all of us, even if most are unaware of it. Should we, the world, surrender Julian Assange to the empire then we all lose a voice who represents us and our right to speak, to hear, to witness. Perhaps we need a “world spring,” a revolution not color coded but so widespread where the wild flowers push through the pavement of tyranny. If don’t have the courage of Julian Assange, we may all share a variation of his current fate.
Free the man.
