Arbuthnot Out as Assange’s Judge, Says WikiLeaks Lawyer Jen Robinson

UPDATED: WikiLeaks lawyer Jen Robinson said Lady Emma Arbuthnot, the judge presiding over Julian Assange’s extradition proceedings who is embroiled in a conflict of interest, will no longer be sitting on the case.

Lady Emma Arbuthnot, the Westminster chief magistrate enmeshed in a conflict of interest, will no longer be presiding over the extradition proceedings of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, said WikiLeaks lawyer Jen Robinson, at an event in Sydney on Friday night .

“Yes, there was some controversy about her sitting on the case,” Robinson said. “She won’t be sitting on the case going forward.”  Robinson told Australian journalist Quentin Dempster at the event that she was “not sure” who would take over from Arbuthnot.

Robinson made her remarks in response to a question from the audience about Arbuthnot’s reported conflict of interest in the case. Robinson did not provide further details. She spoke in future tense, but it is not clear if she was referring to Arbuthnot maintaining supervision of the case while turning over the courtroom duties to another judge, which she did weeks ago, retaining the right to influence rulings, or whether Arbuthnot has recused herself from the case. Consortium News has contacted Robinson to provide clarification.

On Thursday, Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis of the Daily Maverick reported: “Lady Arbuthnot has recently appointed a district judge to rule on Assange’s extradition case, but remains the supervising legal figure in the process. According to the UK courts service, the chief magistrate is ‘responsible for… supporting and guiding district judge colleagues.’”

The report said that Arbuthnot’s husband, Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, a former British defense minister, “has financial links to the British military establishment, including institutions and individuals exposed by WikiLeaks.” It said the judge herself had also received gifts “including from a military and cybersecurity company exposed by WikiLeaks.”

The Daily Maverick reported further on Friday:

“The son of Lady Emma Arbuthnot, the Westminster chief magistrate overseeing the extradition proceedings of Julian Assange, is the vice-president and cyber-security adviser of a firm heavily invested in a company founded by GCHQ and MI5 which seeks to stop data leaks, it can be revealed.

Alexander Arbuthnot’s employer, the private equity firm Vitruvian Partners, has a multimillion-pound investment in Darktrace, a cyber-security company which is also staffed by officials recruited directly from the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

These intelligence agencies are behind the US government’s prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secret documents. Darktrace has also had access to two former UK prime ministers and former US President Barack Obama.

The revelations raise further concerns about potential conflicts of interests and appearance of bias concerning Lady Arbuthnot and the ties of her family members to the UK and US military and intelligence establishments. Lady Arbuthnot’s husband is Lord James Arbuthnot, a former UK defence minister who has extensive links to the UK military community.

As far as is known, Lady Arbuthnot has failed to disclose any potential conflicts of interest in her role overseeing Assange’s case. However, UK legal guidance states that “any conflict of interest in a litigious situation must be declared.’”

110 comments for “Arbuthnot Out as Assange’s Judge, Says WikiLeaks Lawyer Jen Robinson

  1. November 20, 2019 at 10:40

    Possible replacements for judge Lady Arbuthnot: Hanging Judge Jefferies, Judge Roy Bean, Judge Dredd, The Grim Reaper, General Meltchie, The Witchfinder General, and The Klu Klux Klan Imperial Wizard!!!!!!!!!!

  2. Godless John
    November 19, 2019 at 19:05

    I always thought the witch trial scene in Monty Python’s “Holy Grail” movie was a parody but it turns out to be a documentary on the UK’s judicial system.

  3. jmg
    November 19, 2019 at 18:47

    Today, November 29, 2019:

    “Sweden drops 9-year-old ‘preliminary investigation’ into Julian Assange for a third, and final time.”
    — Hanna Jonasson, Assange’s legal team

    “Sweden has dropped its preliminary investigation into Mr Assange for the third time, after reopening it without any new evidence or information. Let us now focus on the threat Mr Assange has been warning about for years: the belligerent prosecution of the United States and the threat it poses to the First Amendment.”
    — Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks

    “Today’s collapse of Sweden’s #Assange investigation was inevitable. Given its gross arbitrariness, there must now be a full investigation, and accountability & compensation for the harm inflicted on #JulianAssange”
    — Nils Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture

    “There is now no fig leaf of an excuse to continue to detain #JulianAssange. In any functioning democracy that subscribes to the rule of law, the Home Secretary would order his immediate release.”
    — Chris Williamson, Member of the UK Parliament

    “I don’t suppose an apology is pending from those who, for years, referred to Julian as ‘rapist’ and denied that the whole affair was about shoving him in a supermax US black hole for the crime of having exposed crimes against humanity committed in our name”
    — Yanis Varoufakis, Greek MP, co-founder of DiEM25

    “Swedish prosecutors have dropped the Assange investigation. Anyone who believed unproven allegations of sexual assault against a known target of western intelligence agencies was a fool. Anyone who parroted those unproven allegations as fact was a tool. . . .
    “Assange was given asylum by Ecuador because it was known that there was an international conspiracy to extradite him to the US. This was not a conspiracy theory, it was a conspiracy fact. As evidenced by the fact that Assange is now locked in Belmarsh fighting US extradition.”
    — Caitlin Johnstone, writer, journalist

    “Sweden today drops Assange investigation into sexual allegations. Never was a scintilla of evidence for the most phoney and obvious state fit-up in history.
    “I wait for the personal apologies from virtually the entire fucking mainstream media.
    “Julian jailed for publishing truth.”
    — Craig Murray, former British Ambassador

    • jmg
      November 19, 2019 at 18:49

      Date correction: November 19

  4. Nail Ju
    November 19, 2019 at 09:53

    On 13/11/2019 the spokesperson of the European Union External Action stated that

    “[t]he lack of credible grounds to re-arrest [a journalist]* and his renewed imprisonment, reversing the court’s initial decision to release him, further damages the credibility of [a European Country’s] judiciary, in particular due to the high level of political interference. This interference needs to halt.
    Media freedom and freedom of expression are key to a functioning democracy. The EU has at all levels and in all fora expressed its opposition on the persistent erosion of press freedom in Turkey and, in particular, at the high number of journalists imprisoned there. Journalists need to do their job – they do not belong in jail.”

    See: eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/70375/statement-spokesperson-case-turkish-journalist-ahmet-altan_en

    *Note that the spokesperson’s statement does not refer to the tortured journalist Julian Assange, unjustly incarcerated in a high security prison in the midst of London here, but to the Turkish journalist Ahmet Altan, who is again unjustly arrested in Turkey.

    How can such lines be taken seriously if Great Britain’s unspeakable judiciary is not also put in the dock? Ahmet Altan must walk free, there is no doubt about that. But are there any more obvious indications that different scales are used here?

    • November 19, 2019 at 17:29

      I have followed this case since I was travelling and came across tweets by two Swedish women that sex with a man called Julian Assange was consensual! As he was an Aussie and so am I I have continued to follow this case and I 100% believe that USA wants to punish him for putting them on the spot! USA is too big for its boots it doesn’t control the world & what Wikileaks & Assange have stated was simply the truth! So time to release Australia’s Truth Warrior Julian Assange!

  5. Jill
    November 18, 2019 at 15:35

    This is so great! What is also great is the 50 barristers who protested Assange’s treatment. We need more of these people to speak out. There must be many who feel ashamed of UK’s “justice” system. Everyone who can stand up and speak up should do it now!

  6. November 18, 2019 at 12:52

    Excellent!,

  7. Anna
    November 18, 2019 at 12:07

    Where are the American progressives to organize a campaign to free Assange?
    After the miserable MeToo movement (that went silent as soon as Epstein-Clinton connection became too obvious), the antified progressive “left” revealed itself as a loyal servant to the state.

  8. jmg
    November 18, 2019 at 10:35

    Today’s brief extradition hearing (Nov 18), same judge as in the previous one (Oct 21):

    “Judge Vanessa Baraitser said she had no jurisdiction over his conditions in prison.

    “Assange, who was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for skipping bail to flee to the Ecuadorean embassy, will remain in custody ahead of a case management hearing on Dec. 19 before full extradition proceedings in February.”

    (Reuters: WikiLeaks founder Assange has unsuitable computer in jail, court told — November 18, 2019)

  9. Bart Hansen
    November 17, 2019 at 19:33

    “…Arbuthnot’s husband, Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom…”

    Brings back fond memories of my reading of all of Trollope many decades ago.

  10. bevin
    November 17, 2019 at 19:09

    What would change the situation, to be practical, would be the election of a Labour government and the appointment of a decent Home Secretary to quash any extradition from proceeding.

    • JP McEvoy
      November 18, 2019 at 18:41

      That would solve a whole lot of problems.

  11. SuperLJ
    November 17, 2019 at 17:32

    This boring British wig wearing woman should never have been assigned the case in the first place. But she did well according to pitiful lot that assigned her. . This is to avoid appeal. Her rulings have not and will not been overturned. Assange is in an even hotter seat now . Nothing can save him . Only an act of God certainly not English jurisprudence or EU Law… pre Brexit. . WIKI should have dumped almost everything they had and invited all hackers and played hardbal claiming Freedom of Press in Democracy but they didnt ask me. l.

    • Martin Gravel
      November 17, 2019 at 23:30

      Vrai , mais si le dossier de Julian Assange devient un déni de justice il y en a qui paieront pour et son histoire sera connu Mondialement et les responsables le paieront d’ une facon ou d’ une autre un jour parce que la justice fait tjrs son oeuvre c’est la loi de la Divine Providence . Quand on voit ce qui se passe au Usa y en a qui vont se retrouvé le bec a l’ eau pour ce qu’ ils ont fait et cela feras avancé la cause de la Démocracie dans le Monde tant qu’ a moi .

      True, but if the file of Julian Assange becomes a denial of justice there will be some who will pay for it and its history will be known worldwide and the managers will pay it one way or another one day because the justice always makes its it is the law of Divine Providence. When we see what happens in the Usa there are some who will find themselves beak to the water for what they have done and that will advance the cause of Democracy in the World as long as I am.

  12. dean 1000
    November 17, 2019 at 13:22

    For what is is worth Vitruvian (as in Vitruvian Partners cited above) is a reference to Marcus Vitruvius Polio 1st century BC Roman architect and artillery engineer for Augustus.
    Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing of the Vitruvian Man is based on Vitruvius’s proportions. ( from Encarta & World Book) Wikipedia shows a vitruvian scroll. Britannica.com shows it as the running dog pattern.

    Vitruvian seems like an odd name for a spy company. Proportional to what?

    • Eugenie Basile
      November 18, 2019 at 05:26

      Panem et circenses.
      The way to control the populus hasn’t changed much over the last couple of millennia…

  13. RC - Garrs
    November 17, 2019 at 12:32

    “ Jen Robinson, at an event in Sydney on Friday night.”

    One would think , of all people, Aussies would recognize a ‘Kangaroo Court’ when they see one.
    After all, it’s likely they originated the term. Why don’t they just call it what it is

  14. Free Julian Assange
    November 17, 2019 at 11:23

    She’s immune, but only for so long as she remains a good little puppet.

  15. jmg
    November 17, 2019 at 06:54

    Next Julian’s hearing in front of a judge — with video link — is tomorrow Monday 18.

    It’s really important to remember what is at stake, the effective end of free press internationally, via threat of extradition:

    “It’s not just me. It’s much wider. It’s all of us. It’s all journalists, and all publishers who do their job who are in danger.”

    — Julian Assange, investigative journalist and publisher

    “The publication of classified documents is not a crime in the United States, but if Assange is extradited and convicted it will become one.

    “Assange is not an American citizen. WikiLeaks, which he founded and publishes, is not a U.S.-based publication. The message the U.S. government is sending is clear: No matter who or where you are, if you expose the inner workings of empire you will be hunted down, kidnapped and brought to the United States to be tried as a spy.

    “The extradition and trial of Assange will mean the end of public investigations by the press into the crimes of the ruling elites. It will cement into place a frightening corporate tyranny.

    “Publications such as The New York Times and The Guardian, which devoted pages to the WikiLeaks revelations and later amplified and legitimized Washington’s carefully orchestrated character assassination of Assange, are no less panicked.

    “This is the gravest assault on press freedom in my lifetime.”

    — Chris Hedges, award-winning journalist (“The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange”, Truthdig, June 17, 2019)

    “This is not about me.
    This is about you!”

    — Julian Assange

    • Mjs
      November 18, 2019 at 00:48

      Thank you for quotes – what is going on now is the greatest assault on the freedom of the press and I thought I had seen it all.. I’m seventy onel

  16. November 17, 2019 at 04:31

    This affair has built a deadly tissue of lies and deceit governed by neoliberal ideology worthy of the Kiel School of Law controlled by Nazi idelogues.

  17. Free Julian Assange
    November 16, 2019 at 23:33

    This has US stench all over it.

    Partiality is the last thing they care about, and next February’s ‘ruling’ has already been paid for.

    Considering their vast network of pawns, she’s a drop in the ocean, and they know it.

    If they had an ounce of the morality being portrayed, he’d never had been charged, but it was their crimes he exposed.

    So instead of charges for war crimes & spy campains, the corruption continues; while the offenders punish all who dare stand in their way of wealth & power.

    • Sam F
      November 17, 2019 at 09:16

      Exactly. Many cling to the childish notion that a Santa Claus in black robes will save them when in need. But in fact there are no honest judges above the small-claims court level: the lone judge in Spain who prosecuted western war criminals was removed. Those who doubt such universal corruption should note that the US actually has a law authorizing military attack of the International Court of Justice at the Hague if it prosecutes US war criminals (116 Stat 820 “American Service-Members’ Protection Act” 2002).

      People are ignorant of judicial corruption because they cannot get the information and do not have the time or knowledge to study it, and because the mass media live in fear of libel suits, which any judge can throw against them on a whim.
      See the article Why Judicial Corruption is Invisible in the 12/10/2010 Counterpunch dot org by John Barth.

      Only the destruction of the oligarchy can bring reform of the government or mass media.

    • jmg
      November 17, 2019 at 13:29

      Sam F wrote:
      > the lone judge in Spain who prosecuted western war criminals was removed.

      Probably you are referring to Baltasar Garzon, former Spanish judge who requested the extradition of mass murderer dictator Augusto Pinochet from the United Kingdom.

      Garzon is now part of Julian Assange’s legal team. (See interview “Baltasar Garzón on Assange: This case involves an attack against the right of freedom of the press around the world”, The Prisma, May 6, 2019).

      Sam F wrote:
      > the US actually has a law authorizing military attack of the International Court of Justice at the Hague if it prosecutes US war criminals (116 Stat 820 “American Service-Members’ Protection Act” 2002).

      That’s in fact a federal law authorizing “all means necessary” against the International Criminal Court (122 member states, that is most countries in the world, including most of Europe).

      For example, the American Service-Members’ Protection Act prohibits the extradition of any person from the U.S. to the International Criminal Court.

      The United Kingdow is a member state of the Court. Therefore, it would be equitable to prohibit the extradition of any person from the U.K. to the U.S. Including investigative journalist and publisher Julian Assange, prosecuted specifically for receiving and publishing whistleblower’s revelations on war crimes.

    • November 18, 2019 at 10:31

      LET us hope CORBYN and the labour party win the up coming ELECTION in BRITAIN and eliminate the CONSERVATIVE and ELITE’S……..”STRANGLEHOLD ………. on the lives of the UK POPULATION including the COURTROOM antics of these SO called LORDS and LADIES who seem to feel they are GODS and the DIVINE Rights once emblematic of KINGS….. are their RIGHTS to use at their desecration. THIS BULL CRAP has gone on too long in the UK

    • Sam F
      November 18, 2019 at 13:10

      Thanks, jmg, yes I was referring to judge Baltazar Garzon, and had forgotten that he is on Assange’s legal team.
      At this point, Assange has been arguably tortured, and one might use CCRs (Center for Const’l Rights) argument of “Universal Legal Jursidiction” for war crimes, which they have used in Spain, France, Germany, and Switzerland, even against UK detention.

      I don’t know whether CCR has helped in the defense of Assange: most of their cases involve murders of civilians, but they also prosecuted the Abu Ghraib tortures.

  18. Jeromy
    November 16, 2019 at 23:19

    Will formal charges be brought up for failing to declare a conflict of interest when deciding another person’s freedom?

    • Procopius
      November 18, 2019 at 05:38

      I would bet she would give the same defense of her failure as Antonin Scalia, when he was judging a case against Vice President Richard Cheney (request for information about who attended a White house meeting on energy policy). He went duck hunting with his old friend Dick Cheney shortly before the case was reviewed by the Supreme Court. In the United States, although judges of lower courts are required to recuse themselves from cases where they have personal ties, Supreme Court Justices are not constrained by any legal or ethical guidance. Scalia said no one but he himself could decide if he was fully impartial, and he had examined himself and found himself to be, indeed, fully impartial. Therefore there was no reason to recuse himself. I feel the court has been illegitimate since its decision on partisan lines of the Bush v. Gore case in 2000.

    • Super LJ
      November 19, 2019 at 15:43

      Procopius, Absolutely. Correct. Spot On. What were the circumstances of Scalia’s death at that rejuvenation facility anyway ? We will never know, Hush, hush. HE WAS AN ASS-BIRD and an unrepentant egotist. As an uncle of mine who was a Supreme Court Justice at the State level, a Republican, once said to me , GW Bush was appointed to the Presidency by a majority of 1, Scalia. SCALIA HAD A DEFINITE EFFECT ON HISTORY> long lasting and pernicious . Fairness was not a part of his doctrine nor would I say was Justice or even adherence to the Constitutional principles or precedence. Even though he pretended to be an Originalist when it suited him he was in fact an activist .. We would not have Alito or Gorsuch on the Court if Scalia had not been in the position to engineer a Constitutuional; Coup and deprive the American People of the First and seminal clause of the Constitution which justified his position and power, There Shall Be a Vote. May he rot in Hell for all eternity . Peace.

    • Sam F
      November 19, 2019 at 22:13

      No, the federal judiciary declare themselves above the law, answerable only to their own “judicial conference” which is concerned only with cases so blatant that the public would see their charade. If they are charged, the US itself is substituted for them under the Westfall act. Anything they decide against us is claimed to be within the duties of office and therefore the fault of you and I the People.

      This is the result of the failure of the Constitutional Convention to see that Checks and Balances were needed against the judiciary. There are none at all. The Federalist Papers vaguely pass this off with the presumption that, because there were only 12 federal judges (900 now) whose pay was controlled by Congress and paid by the Executive, they would surely behave. So the Constitution has no provision at all to decide the “good behavior” which is its only condition upon them, and they decided themselves that it would be defined by their own “judicial conference.” End of Checks and Balances. The Congressional committees do nothing but control judges for oligarchy.

  19. Sam F
    November 16, 2019 at 22:58

    With extensive experience of the universal corruption of the US judiciary, including roughly 50 federal judges in 5 states, I can say with confidence that (in the US) even if a judge recuses (disqualifies) him/herself from the case, which is rare, an alternate would be appointed to do exactly the same thing or worse. The oligarchy controls them all, and it never recuses. Recusal is a pretense to maintain appearances. For the same reason, flowery judicial defenses of “our” constitutional rights are never sincere: they are simply trotted out when the chosen winner would benefit thereby, and completely ignored otherwise. That is unlikely to be different in the UK. judges serve money and party and themselves, and nothing more, pre-selected and trained by their legal careers, and promoted only as they please the powers that control them.

  20. gérard guay
    November 16, 2019 at 21:03

    This judge is in trouble if the British justice system isn’t as corrupt as she is.

    • evelync
      November 18, 2019 at 13:47

      Yes, she should be in trouble for having accepted the case when her and her family’s personal interests are, apparently, very much intertwined with whether or not journalist/publisher Julian Assange is wrongly silenced by the courts. And therefore whether or not the public, thanks to this courageous journalist, learns of wrongdoing done at the expense of the integrity of democratic practices and with public funds.
      But as far as the corruption or not of the “British justice system” goes, John Mortimer’s wonderful books and television series “Rumpole of the Bailey” is an eye opener for how the British courts work in practice. (The time frame is in the 1960’s, I think, and not much seems to have changed today in attitudes of the moneyed/powerful classes.
      The judges in the Rumpole series are represented as part of an elite class system. Rumpole, a rare attorney dedicated to representing the underrepresented, rarely practices before a fair minded judge. Most try to drop hints to the jury that are prejudiced against the defense.
      Most of these wonderful, hilarious episodes – available now with a subscription of 5 or 6 dollars a month in the U.S. on Acorn TV – feature judges who are unsympathetic to the accused and biased in favor of the prosecution. As though wealth and power imply righteousness…….
      Rumpole chooses to represent mainly poor, underrepresented people.
      And he is considered a scourge by the powerful and obedient within the judicial system.
      The last episode featured corruption as well and as always a strong class bias of the court in favor of members of the upper class, corrupt or not and against the marginalized.

  21. November 16, 2019 at 20:09

    Need is to urgently address this, take action for Lady Arbuthnot to declare this conflict of interest(s), and, in which case she will not, as we have seen it, next level is indicated to legally take appropriate action, so that none of those linked to her in this same scenario take over this case. We cannot possibly let any of those preside on this incoming unprecedented trial we have been fighting for so vehemently. It’s Julian first, and all of us. She has been “forced” to step down at another occasion in the past, whatever it does mean to take proper action to “force” her. Correct me, but Jen Robinson said further she “didn’t know” who will be overseeing/presiding the case. we need to know urgently and immediately, and with our very courage denounce, petition and moreover legally bring this to light.

  22. bjd
    November 16, 2019 at 20:09

    The whole corrupt lot should stand trial for crimes they themselves have helped to be committed.

    Arbuthnot has already corrupted the case of Julian Assange –admitted in her stepping aside–, and his lawyers should demand the case to be thrown out with vigor.

  23. Karen
    November 16, 2019 at 19:04

    Julian’s father reportedly stated that before the Westminster hearing, Julian was strip searched by the prison authorities, and put into a hotbox. If true, NO WONDER he had difficulty communicating! The effects could be feelings of suffocation, heat exhaustion, and/or severe dehydration. Maybe even burns, depending on the construction of the box. These “people” are monsters!

  24. Jim Glover
    November 16, 2019 at 19:00

    Definitely a conflict of interest!

  25. Karen
    November 16, 2019 at 18:41

    There are two incontrovertible pieces of evidence that blow “Russiagate” out of the water. Both are likely on news blackout in the Five Eyes, but easily findeable. 1) The DNC Russiagate lawsuit against some Russians, and a few others (including Julian and Wikileaks) that was dismissed WITH prejudice, by federal Judge John G. Koeltl, in July 2019. The judge found the case entirely without merit, because the DNC had a lot of allegations, but not a MOLECULE of evidence. 2) The forensic metadata evidence at TWO forensic levels that proved that Clinton’s emails were not hacked. They were downloaded, in to processes, from WITHIIN the DNC office.

  26. Katia Leitao
    November 16, 2019 at 18:20

    I really din’t wish to be negative but it seems to me from the article describing this judge’s family ties to UK and US high government officials in national security agencies and the military that no high ranking judge will be detached from that world and none will be capable if independent thought, that being precisely what is being censored by means if the legal system.
    No one in the legal system will stand up alone, against the grain, much less for Julian as they know they will disappear from the map or destroy their career. Only a very highly ethical and courageous individuals would and I am not convinced there will be a judge with that description in the UK Crown Prosecution…so far every government official or institution involved with his ‘case’ has been corrupt, unloyal or bought or sold. Not one figure within the governments and systems gas cone forward in his defence.
    If anything, this case which us intended ti show the world what happens to Assanges, is showing the world what our governments and justice systems really do and who they are. Thus us a sort of a purging. We have not seen anythjng honest yet. If us disturbingly nit a conspiracy theory but a damn conspiracy in full sight!

    • Guy
      November 16, 2019 at 20:56

      Totally agree with your sentiments .The intelligence community from both sides of the pond ,UK and US , actually run the script or narrative if you will .Unfortunately if you happen to be on their hitlist ,your chances of survival are minimal .The truth must be denied from the public at all costs.
      Still,good to see that some are actually awake enough to realize this .Thank you.

    • Bart Hansen
      November 17, 2019 at 19:39

      I wait with non-bated breath for one of my weak-kneed Virginia Senators to speak up for Assange.

    • jmg
      November 18, 2019 at 19:57

      Bart Hansen wrote:
      > I wait with non-bated breath for one of my weak-kneed Virginia Senators to speak up for Assange.

      There is Richard H. Black. See article:

      Virginia State Senator in Rare Support by Politician for Assange — Consortium News — July 31, 2018

  27. November 16, 2019 at 17:13

    Looks to me like they are planning on Epsteining him.

  28. Brian Eggar
    November 16, 2019 at 16:34

    Julian Assange has absolutely no chance of getting a fair trial, it is all preordained in an almighty stitch up.

    The first line of the USUK extradition treaty says that people cannot be extradited on political grounds, end of story.

    Deep State in the US and UK think that they are above the law and the court case is just a minor inconvenience to be run rough shod over. I am sure if they had their way, the whole of the alternative media would be shut down and abolished.

    Since my two first sources of news are RT and Zerohedge my opinions are obviously biased but at least I am better informed than most.

  29. Jacquelynn Booth
    November 16, 2019 at 16:05

    I have full confidence in Julian Assange’s defense team.

  30. Vera Gottlieb
    November 16, 2019 at 15:41

    Hopefully this is Assange’s lucky break. The US and the UK: asses of evil…No wonder they get along so well.

  31. Litchfield
    November 16, 2019 at 15:15

    She must go.
    Keep up the pressure on Arbuthnot.
    It is beyond disgusting that she has been allowed to preside over this case.
    I add kudos to the reporters to have brought this conflict of interest forward.
    Arbuthnot is a disgrace to the British. All of them.

  32. William H Warrick III MD
    November 16, 2019 at 14:05

    There are so many conflicts here that they can’t try him at all. He must make a motion for immediate release.

  33. Robert
    November 16, 2019 at 13:51

    In a country governed by rule of law, Arbuthnot would have been disbarred. In a country with press freedom, Assange would now be free.

  34. November 16, 2019 at 13:46

    If the current world of absolute tyranny is allowed to continue, those attempting to report the facts will suffer the fate of Assange.
    Free Assange and Manning and
    bring Snowden home.
    Mailed you more $$ Friday.
    In memory of Robert Parry and Gary Webb.

  35. Hide Behind
    November 16, 2019 at 13:38

    When will the people of US and Europe open eyes to fact they live under a military enforced social order.
    One cannot seperate Intelligence Services, public or corporate, including all Police members from Military.
    A few of mainly Great Britain and US have awoken to reality of Government censorship of all media outlets and monitoring of ourselves only because in past their historical roots had freedom of expression, freedom of press and speech, which also left open the peoples monitoring of Government and Financial Institutions.
    Today we have Governments engaged in permanent warfare status, with militaries staffed to protect nations, working through foreign and domestic Governments Intelligence , now called Security Agencies, with same mission of military.
    The career paths within Government Bureaucracy for career advancement is through the past and present connections to members of Both or either military or Security concerns, being found most trustfull to continuation and protection of policies, and they who make policy decisions, in order to keep surveillance and constant warfare status ongoing.
    The ability to lie without repercussions from public, must be protected from the public’s view by those who actually control the State apparatuses.
    In order to insure that perception the State must install their agents into positions of public view, and it must reward and award those persons handsomely.
    Once their public personabis outed as their real purpose in life has little to do with public welfare and more to do with personal and elites well being, they lose a great part of value to system.
    In this case the Security of Judges real identity having been revealed expose the lies and liars perceptions of honesty, and fairness to loss of respect towards government by the public.
    The ones outed never actually leave gov bureaucracy or status within governments and Financial circles , it’s just that their value has decreased, say like a dirty damaged penny compared to a bright shiny one in eyes of beholders.

  36. John Gilberts
    November 16, 2019 at 12:32

    In this case there is no conflict of interest. That IS the interest. I have my suspicions about his defense team as well. What an evil circus this public crucifixion of Julian Assange is. Not to mention the chilling, studied indifference of almost everyone else to it. It is urgent that we free Assange. It is as urgent that we free ourselves from this fatal apathy.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 18:42

      Yes! The ramifications of losing are potentially catastrophic!

  37. Rob
    November 16, 2019 at 12:15

    How likely is it that the UK’s ruling elite will allow a fair minded judge to preside over this case? They are every bit as venal and unscrupulous as their counterparts in the U.S. Just think of the Skripal “poisoning” affair, and you will understand my meaning. The OPCW report was clearly rigged, and the Skripals remain hidden to this day. In light of that hoax, it should come as no surprise that British authorities are rigging the extradition trial of Julian Assange.

    • November 16, 2019 at 16:34

      Skripal was brought out of retirement by the UK to look into the oligarchs going into the UK from Russia.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 18:45

      That’s why we MUST keep a critical eye on ANY replacement Judge. We also have to keep an eye on Julian. Sir Rob Davis used to be the governor of Woodhill Prison, I read. He was removed and replaced after 17 inmates committed suicide on his watch. That sounds very careless, to me!

  38. November 16, 2019 at 12:05

    The Julian Assange court proceedings are a CHARADE in order to simply give to give a lioncloth of cover to the British LEGAL system.
    Note NOT the justice system but the Grey Govt. legal system. Julian Assange is being tortured day by day in the harshest prison in the British pison system.
    Whether most people recognise it or not WW lll is well under way. We are in a fight to the death for survival. Our children will ask
    “How could our generation have been so blind”.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 18:46

      Blind by choice.

  39. Coralie LaSalle
    November 16, 2019 at 11:57

    Dismiss all charges and trumped up charges against Wikileaks!
    Whistleblowers and publishers are heros. Assange should not be in jail.
    He should be in a hospital or in the community.

  40. November 16, 2019 at 11:32

    I suspect that Assange’s lawyers will try filing motions to have issues already decided against him decided anew. How those motions are handled should tell a lot about the new judge’s predisposition. Judge Arbuthnot demonstrated extreme bias and contempt for Assange.

  41. Paul Damascene
    November 16, 2019 at 11:31

    Of course we must ask how much damage having her in place to this point has already done. What rulings and judgements might have gone otherwise? Perhaps none, in the sense that whatever agency resulted in having assigned her to Assange in the first place, would have found someone else no less congenial, and will do so now.

  42. November 16, 2019 at 11:30

    Because in elite circles, it is only a lie, and you are only in danger of being considered unethical if they catch you at it. Otherwise it is simply business as usual.

    • Noah Way
      November 17, 2019 at 13:59

      In elite circles you are only in danger if you don’t follow the agenda. They’re all guilty, but it’s all fine until you step out of line.

      JFK –
      Strike 1: didn’t follow up Bay of Pigs with bombing.
      Strike 2: didn’t invade Cuba at the missile crisis.
      Strike 3: ordered the withdrawal of the US from Vietnam.
      You’re out!

      Trump –
      Strike 1: doesn’t belong to the good ol’ boy network (insider politicians).
      Strike 2: was anti free-trade, pissing off the globalist elite.
      Strike 3: wanted to work with Russia, heresy to the deep state.

      Russiagate was a bust so now we have Ukrainegate: prosecuting Trump for not doing what Biden actually did.

      Whistleblowers are prosecuted beyond the full extent of the law by those they expose – despite legal protections. Except the anonymous CIA “whistleblower”, of course.

      The hypocrisy is overt in all instances. That’s the only evidence there is.

  43. Skip Scott
    November 16, 2019 at 11:27

    I strongly suspect that they have plenty of “servants of empire” in the UK judiciary, just as we do here. We need a modern day “storming of the Bastille” to save Julian. No justice will come from any courtroom until the oligarchy is overthrown.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 18:55

      No. Too dangerous for Julian.

    • Sam F
      November 16, 2019 at 23:23

      Very true, and the French might storm such a bastille.
      I have not seen such broad courage or principle in the US/UK.

    • Skip Scott
      November 17, 2019 at 12:42

      Karen-

      I do not believe that there is any way for things to become more dangerous for Julian. He is being held without any legal justification by an Empire that ignores the rule of law. He is likely being drugged, and could be “Epsteined” at any moment. Revolution is the only course of action that offers any hope for the future at this point. The Oligarchy only understands raw power. For these evil bastards there is no other consideration.

  44. Anna
    November 16, 2019 at 10:16

    “Lady” Emma Arbuthnot, a wife and mother of war profiteers, is a stain on the UK judicial system and a profiteer herself. She knows no shame.

  45. Teri Ballard
    November 16, 2019 at 09:46

    I release this powerful prayer for Julian Assange. The spoken word works miracles!

    Psalm 91

    1
    He who dwells in the shelter of YAHUAH will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

    2
    I will say of YAH, “YAH is my refuge and my fortress, my ELOHIM, in whom I trust.”

    3
    Surely YAH will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

    4
    YAH will cover you with his feathers, and under YAH’S wings you will find refuge; YAH’S faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

    5
    You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

    6
    nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

    7
    A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

    8
    You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

    9
    If you make the YAHUAH your dwelling– even YAH, who is my refuge–

    10
    then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

    11
    For YAH will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

    12
    they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

    13
    You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

    14
    “Because he loves me,” says YAHUAH, “YAH will rescue him; YAH will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

    15
    He will call upon YAHUAH, and YAH will answer him; YAH will be with him in trouble, YAH will deliver him and honor him.

    16
    With long life will YAH satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

  46. Sari
    November 16, 2019 at 09:15

    Unfortunately she will still have the position of overseeing whoever is appointed so I would still say the conflict of interest still stands

    • Guy
      November 16, 2019 at 21:16

      Talk about a poisoned system of justice when a sitting judge has stood down because of conflict of interest and yet gets to choose her replacement .That is unbelievable and archaic .

    • Michael
      November 17, 2019 at 11:46

      I totally agree. The move on her part is designed to give the appearance of impartially. With this group of sociopaths it’s all about plausible deniability. However, there is no “plausible” in this move.

  47. November 16, 2019 at 09:07

    “…but remains the supervising legal figure in the process.”..
    That doesn’t sound lie a recusing, just managing the perception. The system definitely wants Assange gone from the scene and is doing whatever it takes. This is very scary. I sincerely hope Assange’s team has the cohones and smarts to defeat them, but I doubt it. These people are incredibly dangerous sociopaths who are used to winning – at all costs.

    • dfnslblty
      November 18, 2019 at 10:43

      Bravo!

  48. Me Myself
    November 16, 2019 at 09:05

    Yeah! She was replaced.
    That means at least appearances still matter.
    With any luck a major adjustments to compensate for that indiscretion will occur.
    Bail possibility?

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 16:50

      We will have to be attentive, VERY attentive, to the replacement judge! They may try to foist another piece of slime on us!

  49. T.J
    November 16, 2019 at 08:44

    A fine piece of investigative journalism by Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis and it explains to a large extent the behavior of Emma Arbuthnot. But Don’t hold your breath if you think it is likely to make any difference to Julian’s case. The Birmingham Six were tried and convicted of the Birmingham bombings. Their convictions were concocted on the basis of false confessions. They were tortured and framed. They were convicted with the aid of confessions which were extracted through systematic torture, along with falsified forensic evidence. Many in authority were aware of their innocence from the beginning but expedience necessitated there immediate convictions to placate the public and political class. Appeal after appeal failed, even when new incontrovertible evidence toward their innocence was presented. On one appeal where dramatic new evidence was presented the court rejected the appeal commenting “the longer this hearing has gone on, the more convinced this court has become that the verdict of the jury was correct”. By the time of their release in 1991, eighteen judges had relied on the the original jury verdict rather than on their own deliberations of the new evidence presented. Two retired law lords considered their actions a seismic constitutional shift. The reputation of British Justice was in smithereens.
    However the annunciations of Lord Denning, the most famous 20th century English judge, deserves mention. In relation to the Birmingham Six he stated”We shouldn’t have all these campaigns to get them released if they’d been hanged. They’d have been forgotten and the whole community would have been satisfied” Maggie Thatcher described Denning as “probably the greatest English judge of modern times”
    I fear that Julian Assange will not receive justice. Two powerful governments are bent on making an example of him, intended as a message to others that might challenge their authority. On this occasion the English justice system must be put under extreme scrutiny.
    Everyone is aware of the consequences of his extradition to the US and let no one deny it subsequently. The freedom of the press is at stake. The freedom of investigative journalism is on trial. Julian Assange deserves the support of everyone with a conscience. If he is extradited the English justice system will not only be in smithereens but will be laughing stock of the world.

  50. AnneR
    November 16, 2019 at 08:16

    Hopefully this will aid and assist Mr Assange positively and in a very good way.

    Have to admit I’m a bit confused, though, I thought the magistrate who oversaw Mr Assange’s recent hearings, and so blatantly pandered to the Americans, was one Vanessa Baraitser. Is Arbuthnot her “boss”? And if so, will Arbuthnot’s removal from the case change anything in reality?

  51. doug lowe
    November 16, 2019 at 07:52

    May her removal be just a start of an intensive investigation to all of her work as a judge. Doubtless her record is full of fraud & corruption.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 16:52

      Yes. If an HONEST judge is appointed. all of Victoria’s pandering filth could be reversed, and Julian could be vindicated. However, we have to CAREFULLY scrutinize Arbuthnot’s replacement!
      Hear! Hear!

  52. Les Stein
    November 16, 2019 at 07:49

    This whole situation has been illegal from the start, right in our faces. Cannot believe this has gone as far as it has. The USA’s grip on the UK, and other countries needs to be severed.

  53. Michael Faubert
    November 16, 2019 at 07:36

    Will there be any repercussions against the judge for not recusing herself? There seems to be a huge conflict that directly goes to the heart of why he is locked up as he is.
    #FreeAssange

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 18:57

      Britain is a vassal state.

  54. Diana
    November 16, 2019 at 07:13

    Perhaps freedom of speech will have a chance of being upheld.

  55. RohanM
    November 16, 2019 at 07:08

    If this story is true, this will be the third time in her career that Arbuthnot has been forced to step down from a case after she had a conflict of interest and didn’t recuse herself. She doesn’t seem to understand this very basic concept of fair play.

  56. jmg
    November 16, 2019 at 07:06

    Next Julian’s hearing in front of a judge — with video link — is this Monday 18:

    > The case management dates were set as follows

    > 18 November 2018 Call-over hearing (administrative hearing necessary to bring a defendant before a judge every 28 days)

    > 18 December 2019 Deadline for evidence

    > 19 December 2019 Case management [hearing] (to review the progress of the case, including evidence submitted)

    > 7 February 2020 Deadlines for bundle submission by both sides

    > 11 February 2020 Deadline for defence skeleton argument

    > 18 February 2020 Deadline for prosecution skeleton argument

    > 25 February 2020 Extradition hearing begins.

    WikiLeaks — Press Release Regarding Julian Assange’s Case Management Hearing — 21 October 2019

  57. Sandra Ellis
    November 16, 2019 at 06:42

    So pleased hoping someone with courage and integrity gets the post direly needed. Praying for such

  58. David Sketchley
    November 16, 2019 at 06:38

    Therefore all her judgements in this case must be appealed immediately.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 16:53

      Yes! God knows how many innocents she has railroaded!

  59. bill
    November 16, 2019 at 06:34

    So how does the previous ruling by Arbuthnot now stand? It was in any case wrong on the face of it at the time.

    • Karen
      November 16, 2019 at 17:05

      No. Julian was entitled to seek asylum, per Dr. Nils Melzer, whose expertise is International Law. Even had his arrest for jumping bail, been illegal, given that he was a political refugee, the sentence was excessive for the crime, as was the choice of prison. A murdered got half the sentence that Julian got, and NO misdemeanor is punished by A category conditions. That’s just for starters. NO judge has given Julian due process. Not at any stage in this entire travesty. Since Arbothnot has two close relatves tied to the intelligence community, she is not fit to judge ANY case that involves intelligence accusation or political asylum.

    • bill
      November 17, 2019 at 15:01

      Karen, just to clarify, that’s what I was trying to say, Arbuthnot’s ruling was clearly wrong in the first place, for the reasons you have outlined, even before the conflict of interest considerations are brought into the matter. Julian Assange had, and has, legitimate asylum status, and an demonstrable reason not answering bail. What would now be the status of this previous ruling, given that the conflict of interest has been established?

  60. November 16, 2019 at 06:17

    First good news regarding Assange in months. Hopefully, there will be a judge assignes who is actually a judge and not someone with special interests.

  61. November 16, 2019 at 05:43

    Let’s hope the next Judge will have no conflict of interest and is impartial and fair and humane.

  62. Eugenie Basile
    November 16, 2019 at 05:42

    She accepted the case, so she didn’t see any conflict of interest. That is how deep the independence of the justice system has dropped. When not only citizens but even judges have become the fools of our own democracies, the implosion of western civilisation is near.

  63. bob
    November 16, 2019 at 03:45

    I don’t have any good feelings about this case. The uk as the usa’s puppet is doing a reasonable job of killing Assange before anything goes to trial. Assange’s defence team appear somewhat lacking in direction and ‘appear’ to let too much go that is illegal. This will not end happily

    • journey80
      November 16, 2019 at 08:36

      A bit premature to celebrate the removal of one U.S. stooge when there are so many equally savage and compromised stooges available to replace her.

    • jdd
      November 16, 2019 at 09:32

      There is one person alive who can definitively and quickly put an end to the lie of the Russiagate hoax perpetrated primarily by British intelligence and British allied and controlled elements of the U.S. intelligence community. Julian Assange has repeatedly said that he received leaked files and these files did not involve Russian state actors. That is why he is being tortured and slowly murdered. His life must be saved.

    • Jose
      November 16, 2019 at 13:02

      You are 100% correct. The power elite will not release Mr. Assange.

    • November 16, 2019 at 13:12

      I agree with the writer.

      The US has the perfect tool in Britain to severely punish Assange, perhaps killing him at least inadvertently.

      The US would be happy I think not to have to actually go through all the battle to bring him and try him in the US.

      So nice, to have compliant, “willing helpers” like Britain’s Tory establishment.

    • Jim Meeks
      November 16, 2019 at 15:19

      You have it backwards Bob. The UK has been trying to reclaim it’s rebellious colony since the Revolution. With their creation of the CIA and Neoliberal economic order they found a winning formula. America does all of the dirty work and the $$$$ from regime change wars flows into London banks along with American tax $’s and America becomes the world’s bogeyman. Who really interfered in the 2016 U.S. election?

    • Jacquelynn Booth
      November 16, 2019 at 16:04

      I have full confidence in Julian Assange’s defense team.

    • Guy
      November 16, 2019 at 20:33

      I don’t think it matters much ,the UK judicial system is highly politicized ,and the next judge will probably still be a stooge of the system.
      Although I certainly hope I am wrong ,I don’t hold much hope for a fair trial . We have pretty much the same incident here in Canada with the call for extradition of Meng Wanzhou to the US .

    • maggie harrison
      November 16, 2019 at 20:43

      Me too! I have followed this from the start and was aware of the conflict of interest and the background of Lord
      Arbuthnot, but, the enormity, of this corruption, with no mention in our media, is unbelievable and shameful!
      If only this, could bring down this Government reveal to everyone, how little respect they have, for the Public!

  64. Jeff Harrison
    November 16, 2019 at 02:20

    Hopefully, her replacement will be an actual judge who will treat Mr. Assange like a human being.

    • bill
      November 16, 2019 at 06:47

      Is Arbuthnot (senior judge) still overseeing the junior judges/magistrates in the case? Unlikely to step out of line: career/progression concerns!

    • Jose gomez
      November 16, 2019 at 13:04

      I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were. This is a political case that has nothing to do with justice.

  65. geeyp
    November 16, 2019 at 02:15

    We don’t know who will replace her. Still, finally a positive development. The Daily Maverick article is packed with information. Kudos to Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis! Cheers.

    • journey80
      November 16, 2019 at 08:31

      I don’t understand; Vanessa Baraitser was the judge in the most recent hearing. No mention of replacing her. Anyone who believes that the next judge will be impartial and less savage and biased than Baraitser … I want some of what you’re smoking.

Comments are closed.