Daily Archives: September 20, 2020

2020-09-20: News Headlines

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-20). Assange's Ninth Day at the Old Bailey: Torture Testimonies, Offers of Pardon and Truth Telling. dissidentvoice.org September 18. Central Criminal Court, London. The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey moved into a higher gear today. Testimonies spanned the importance of classified information in war journalism, the teasing offer of a pardon for Assange by US President Donald Trump, torture inflicted by the US Central Intelligence Agency, the chilling …

_____ (2020-09-20). Day 12: Julian Assange Hearing. popularresistance.org Yet another shocking example of abuse of court procedure unfolded on Wednesday. James Lewis QC for the prosecution had been permitted gratuitously to read to two previous witnesses with zero connection to this claim, an extract from a book by Luke Harding and David Leigh in which Harding claims that at a dinner at El Moro Restaurant Julian Assange had stated he did not care if US informants were killed, because they were traitors who deserved what was coming to them. | This morning giving evidence was John Goetz, now Chief Investigations Editor of NDR (German public TV), then of Der Spiegel.

_____ (2020-09-20). September 18: Julian Assange Hearing Report. popularresistance.org New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager took to stand to testify about using WikiLeaks documents in his work. Hager published Other People's Wars, New Zealand in Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror, and said that WikiLeaks-released military and diplomatic files "greatly increased my understanding of the conduct of the war. It would have been impossible to write the book without these confidential and leaked sources." | In his written testimony, Hager explained, | "It is in general impossible to research and write about war to a useful standard without access to sources that the authorities concerned…

Max Blumenthal (2020-09-19). Mainstream US reporters silent about being spied on by apparent CIA contractor that targeted Assange. thegrayzone.com Despite being spied on and having their privacy invaded by the UC Global firm that targeted Assange, reporters from major US news outlets have said nothing in protest. Meanwhile, new evidence of that firm's CIA links has emerged. A Spanish security firm apparently contracted by US intelligence to carry out a campaign of black operations …

_____ (2020-09-19). Kafka On Acid: The Trial Of Julian Assange. popularresistance.org Julian Assange needs to wake before dawn to get from Belmarsh Prison to the Old Bailey courthouse, where his extradition hearing resumed on 7 September, for four weeks. He gets dressed for court only to be strip-searched before being placed in a ventilated coffin Serco van for a 90-minute trip across London in peak-hour traffic. After waiting handcuffed in the holding cells, he is placed in a glass box at the back of the courtroom. Then he is forced back into the Serco van to be strip-searched back at Belmarsh to face another night alone in his cell.

_____ (2020-09-19). Mainstream US Reporters Silent About Being Spied On. popularresistance.org A Spanish security firm apparently contracted by US intelligence to carry out a campaign of black operations against Julian Assange and his associates spied on several US reporters including Ellen Nakashima, the top national security reporter of the Washington Post, and Lowell Bergman, a New York Times and PBS veteran. | To date, Nakashima and her employers at the Washington Post have said nothing about the flagrant assault on their constitutional rights by UC Global, the security company in charge of Ecuadorian embassy in London, which seemingly operated under the watch of the CIA's then-director, Mike Pompeo.

Pepe Escobar (2020-09-19). Empire's Mask Slips at Julian Assange Trial. dissidentvoice.org The concept of "History in the making" has been pushed to extremes when it comes to the extraordinary public service being performed by historian, former UK diplomat and human rights activist Craig Murray. Murray — literally, and on a global level — is now positioned as our man in the public gallery, as he painstakingly documents …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-19). Argentinians commemorate the 44th anniversary of the Night of the Pencils. peoplesdispatch.org The night of September 16, 1976, was one of the bloodiest night of the last civic-military dictatorship in Argentina, when a group of high school students were kidnapped and tortured by the state security forces…

Newsclick (2020-09-19). FB whistleblower confirms how social network benefitted from fake news, bots and misinformation. peoplesdispatch.org Sophie Zhang, former data scientist at Facebook, reveals how she fought to remove bot accounts and sophisticated networks that targeted users in different countries to manipulate elections, and spread misinformation.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-18). Exposing War Crimes Should Always Be Legal. Committing And Hiding Them Should Not. thealtworld.com The Kafkaesque extradition trial of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange continues, with The Assange defense team is pe…

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-18). Assange's Eighth Day at the Old Bailey: Software Redactions, the Iraq Logs and the Extradition Act. globalresearch.ca The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey struck similar notes to the previous day's proceedings: the documentary work and practise of WikiLeaks, the method of redactions, and the legacy of exposing war crimes. In the afternoon, the …

_____ (2020-09-18). News Media Who Ignore The Assange Trial Are Admitting They Don't Care About Journalism. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | The Sydney Morning Herald just published an article titled " It's actually a rather shocking smear piece for the SMH, who has been one of the better Australian publications at giving Assange a fair hearing over the years. The article's author Latika Bourke spends an inordinate amount of time waxing on about Assange's naughty "outb…

Craig Murray (2020-09-18). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 12. globalresearch.ca A less dramatic day, but marked by a brazen and persistent display of this US Government's insistence that it has the right to prosecute any journalist and publication, anywhere in the world, for publication of US classified information. This explicitly …

Kevin Gosztola (2020-09-18). Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange: At Extradition Trial, Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Dismantles False Narrative. globalresearch.ca Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-18). Assange on Trial: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm. counterpunch.org Day Seven September 16. Central Criminal Court, London. Proceedings today at the Old Bailey regarding Julian Assange's extradition returned to journalistic practice, redaction of source names and that ongoing obsession with alleged harm arising from WikiLeaks releases. John Goetz of Der Spiegel added his bit for the defence, making an effort to set the record

Daniel Ellsberg (2020-09-18). U.S. Press Freedom Under Attack in WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Extradition Case. zcomm.org "Now the American press is staring right down the barrel at the use of the Espionage Act against American journalists and publishers for doing journalism."

The Canary (2020-09-18). Assange 'offered win-win deal by Trump to avoid extradition. thecanary.co The WikiLeaks founder's extradition hearing was told that Trump associates sought the source of leaks from the Democratic National Committee. | By | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was offered a "win-win" deal by Donald Trump to avoid extradition by revealing the source of the hacking of Democratic party emails, a court has heard. | Trump approval: | Barrister Jennifer Robinson said she was asked to attend the meeting by her client, Assange, with Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Trump associate Charles Johnson at the Ecuador…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-18). CIA torture survivor testifies that cable leaks were crucial to securing redressal. peoplesdispatch.org Today's testimonies reinforced the defense's argument that the revelations made by Wikileaks has been in the interest of the public and often crucial to securing justice for US crimes…

sputniknews (2020-09-18). US Congress Prepares to Approve Second-Largest Taiwan Arms Sale Valued at $7 Billion. sputniknews.com US lawmakers are expected to soon approve a massive, new weapons sale to Taiwan. The deal would provide the autonomous island not just with defensive weapons, but also with offensive capabilities in the form of long-range strike missiles and combat drones.

Craig Murray (2020-09-17). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 10. globalresearch.ca The gloves were off on Tuesday as the US Government explicitly argued that all journalists are liable to prosecution under the Espionage Act (1917) for publishing classified information, citing

_____ (2020-09-17). Assange Court Report September 16: Afternoon. popularresistance.org A famous Vietnam era whistleblower, 89-year-old Daniel Ellsberg, has told a court that he feels "a great identification," with both Julian Assange and his source Chelsea Manning, who, he said, "were willing to suffer the risk of imprisonment or even death to get information to the American public." | Ellsberg, a former US Marine officer who served with the US State Department in Vietnam during the war years, is best known for leaking a huge tranche of US government documents on the war to the New York Times in 1970, documents that showed that the government had been lying to the American people about the conflict…

Abdul Rahman (2020-09-17). WikiLeaks' Guantanamo files exposed inhumane American 'war on terror'. peoplesdispatch.org The documents published by Wikileaks in 2011 revealed how top US officials were directly involved in the torture and illegal detention of many innocents. This explains the US attempt to punish Julian Assange for revealing their failures…

WSWS (2020-09-17). Journalist Andrew Fowler: If Assange is extradited, the same can happen to any of us. wsws.org "The attempt by the State to control information is at the heart of the charges against Assange. Its physical manifestation is there every day in the court."

Staff (2020-09-17). Daniel Ellsberg Warns U.S. Press Freedom Under Attack in WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Extradition Case. democracynow.org Legendary Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says Julian Assange's extradition hearing in London could have far-reaching consequences for press freedoms. The WikiLeaks founder faces an ever-evolving array of espionage and hacking charges related to the release of diplomatic cables that revealed war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange faces almost certain conviction, if extradited, and 175 years in prison. "The American press has remained in kind of a state of denial for 40 years, really, since my case, that the Espionage Act has wording in it that could be aimed directly at…

_____ (2020-09-17). Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange. popularresistance.org Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless with sensitive documents. | On the seventh day of an extradition trial against Assange, Ellsberg dismantled this false narrative and outlined for a British magistrate court why Assange would not receive a fair trial in the United States. | Assange is accused of 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of conspiracy to commit a computer crime…

pip.hinman (2020-09-17). Julian Assange's treatment amounts to torture — it must end. greenleft.org.au

Medea Benjamin, Barry Summers (2020-09-17). A "Persistent Eye in the Sky" Coming to a City Near You? counterpunch.org "Gorgon Stare will be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we're looking at, and we can see everything." That same persistent eye in the sky may soon be deployed over U.S. cities. At the time he made that comment about surveillance drones over Afghanistan,

Medea Benjamin (2020-09-17). Gorgon Stare: A "persistent eye in the sky" may be coming to a City near you. mronline.org The military and the drone manufacturers, principally General Atomics, are arguing that the technology has advanced far enough that flying 79-ft. wingspan, six-ton drones over populated areas and alongside commercial air traffic is safe.

_____ (2020-09-17). Nurse Alleges Forced Sterilizations, Medical Malpractice At Immigrant Detention Center. popularresistance.org A whistleblower complaint filed on behalf of a nurse who worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in southern Georgia until July alleges that a number of immigrant women detained there were subjected to sterilization through hysterectomies without their consent. | In the complaint, filed by the legal advocacy group Project South, the former nurse describes conditions at the center as akin to an "experimental concentration camp." | The complaint also details the refusal of the center's administrators to carry out COVID-19 testing or implement protective measures, putting detainees an…

_____ (2020-09-17). Occupation Of UK Factory Involved In Israeli Drone Manufacture. popularresistance.org Direct action protests against Israel's largest weapons company have escalated in the UK, with an occupation of a factory building engines for drones used by Israel's army entering its third day on Wednesday. | Protests were also held outside Elbit System UK's London headquarters and at its landlord's main offices, as new solidarity group Palestine Action escalated its campaign to shut down the company's operation in the UK. | Elbit Systems UK is part of the high-tech weapons group that supplies more than 80 percent of the Israeli army's military drones, including the Hermes 900 and Hermes 450…

Alan Macleod (2020-09-16). "A Disgrace": Amnesty International Blocked From Monitoring Trial of Julian Assange. mintpressnews.com Amnesty International's Europe Director described the hearings against Assange as an "assault on the right to freedom of expression" that would have a "chilling effect on media freedom."

WSWS (2020-09-16). London bus drivers resolve to fight for Assange's freedom. wsws.org The first action of the newly formed London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee was to pass a resolution calling for the defence of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

_____ (2020-09-16). Day Nine: Julian Assange Extradition Hearing. popularresistance.org Things became not merely dramatic in the Assange courtroom today, but spiteful and nasty. There were two real issues, the evidence and the procedure. On the evidence, there were stark details of the dreadful regime Assange will face in US jails if extradited. On the procedure, we saw behaviour from the prosecution QC that went well beyond normal cross examination and was a real attempt to denigrate and even humiliate the witness. I hope to prove that to you by a straightforward exposition of what happened today in court, after which I shall add further comment.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-16). Assange's Sixth Day at the Old Bailey: US Prison Conditions and Politicised Prosecutions. dissidentvoice.org September 15. Central Criminal Court, London. Today, witnesses appearing in the extradition trial of Julian Assange fleshed out some points touched upon the previous day: the fate awaiting the WikiLeaks publisher in the US prison system, and the political nature of process. Before commencing, Judge Vanessa Baraitser was a touch peeved. She noted that one …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-16). Assange on Trial: Supermax Prisons and Special Administrative Measures. counterpunch.org DAY FIVE Having had a coronavirus scare towards the end of last week, necessitating a brief suspension of proceedings for September 11, the extradition proceedings for Julian Assange resumed with Eric Lewis. The chairman of the board of Reprieve, who has cut his teeth on representing Afghan detainees in US custody and those in Guantánamo,

_____ (2020-09-16). Assange Would Not Have Fair US Trial, Witness Tells Old Bailey. popularresistance.org Julian Assange's extradition hearing resumed yesterday morning after a coronavirus test for a member of the prosecution's legal team came back negative. | Mark Summers QC, one of Assange's lawyers, asked District Judge Vanessa Baraitser to give a direction mandating the use of masks for the remainder of the hearing. She responded that government guidance on wearing masks in public places in the Old Bailey "does not include the well of the court," before saying, "those that wish to wear masks in the well of the court are welcome to do so" but "there is no obligation to do so, and I make no direction."

Noam Chomsky (2020-09-16). Chomsky, Walker and Ellsberg Defend Julian Assange. zcomm.org Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, and Daniel Ellsberg oppose the extradition of Julian Assange to the US to face charges under the Espionage Act…

RT (2020-09-16). Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg testifies in Assange's defense, says WikiLeaks exposed 'war crimes' in 'public interest'. rt.com Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg — whose 'Pentagon Papers' leak exposed illegal US bombing during the Vietnam War — said Julian Assange would not see a fair trial if extradited to the US, comparing the publisher's case to his own. | Testifying at Assange's extradition hearing on Wednesday, Ellsberg said the WikiLeaks co-founder would be denied a chance to defend himself if sent to the US for a trial, noting that, like in his own case, Assange would not be permitted to argue his publications were in the 'public interest.' | "I observe the closest of similarities to the position I faced, where the expos…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Maduro security forces committed crimes against humanity: UN. yenisafak.com Venezuelan security forces and allied groups have committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity, U.N. investigators said on Wednesday.Reasonable grounds existed to believe that President Nicolas Maduro and his interior and defence ministers ordered or contributed to the crimes documented in the report in order to silence opposition, they said.Most unlawful executions by state agents have not been prosecuted in Venezuela, where the rule of law and democratic institutions have broken down, they added.The U.N. fact-finding mission said other national…