Watch the show on the High Court’s ruling this week on WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Guests: Chris Hedges, Craig Murray, Marjorie Cohn and Bruce Afran. (With timeline.)
Chris Hedges, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist; Craig Murray, journalist & former British diplomat; Marjorie Cohn, professor of law; and Bruce Afran, constitutional lawyer, joined CN Live! Thursday to discuss the ramifications of this week’s ruling by the High Court in London on imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange‘s application to appeal Britain’s order to extradite him to the United States to stand trial for exposing U.S. state crimes.
The court granted three of Assange’s nine grounds to request an appeal, but it has given the U.S. a chance to provide assurances that it will allow him his First Amendment rights and protection from the death penalty. Without these legitimate assurances, the court would allow Assange to appeal his extradition.
Hosts: Elizabeth Vos and Joe Lauria. Producer: Cathy Vogan.
05:01Joe Lauria and Elizabeth Vos – Introduction to key issues
10:38Marjorie Cohn – the latest ruling, the 3 issues still in play, & the worth of U.S. assurances
21:25 Craig Murray – it’s possible “the assurances could fail and he is still extradited”
26:57 Chris Hedges – possible further charges eg re Vault 7, if extradited. C.I.A. driving this.
32:32Bruce Afran – possible plea bargain strategies? Biden trying to get extradition refused (via death penalty issue)?
43:32 Craig Murray – U.K. regularly gives assurances against the death penalty. Big legal literature on diplomatic assurances.
47:00 Chris Hedges – Discussion re the death penalty question
49:02Craig Murray – Joins in “I felt [Dobbin] had lost belief in her own case.” The Yahoo News report & ruling (para 210). Astonishing.
51:35Chris Hedges – How can Assange ever be safe from the C.I.A.?
54:13Bruce Afran – Back to the death penalty issue. U.S. lawyers said it could be requested for new charges
58:10 Joe Lauria – Judges admitted Assange acted politically and exposed war crimes, but said he was not charged re those.
58:58Craig Murray – Judges using faulty logic 1:00:21 Bruce Afran – Court makes false distinction between politial opinion and political offense. Julian is a lightning rod
1:02:44Elizabeth Vos – Assange wasn’t the first to publish the names. Selective prosecution.
1:03:38 Craig Murray – Brings up the “chat log” – state as fact this was JA.
1:06:05 Craig Murray on James Lewis KC (for the U.S.) in court
1:09:00Craig Murray re extradition for “political offenses” prevented by the Treaty (2007) but not mentioned in the Act (2003)
4 comments for “WATCH: CN Live! — The Assange Dilemma for the US”
graeme pedersen
March 29, 2024 at 20:45
I wish the perpetrators of this continuing attack on Julian would have raging nightmares, but they won’t, they are trained to persecute ordinary people. This man only did what most DECENT citizens consider rightful, & repeated an item that had already been made public. I do feel sorry for the regular person in the U.S. who keeps up with world opinion and realizes the low esteem with which the states is held.
Mary Saunders
March 29, 2024 at 09:16
Julian Assange has many Helen Suzmans advocating for him. It is astonishing so many voices are not enough. When Reagan appointed Edward Perkins, in 1986, to take office as ambassador to South Africa in 1987, Botha smiled as he accepted the credentials Perkins presented. Botha must have thought he could keep Perkins off the streets. Perkins was a person of incredible presence. I met him once in Portland before he died. I was awestruck. Who would have thought Mandela would get out. It happened. I believe Perkins was a vital person in the changes that came about in South Africa. My prayer for Julian is a tsunami of truth so it will be safe for Julian to walk free and to participate in a reformation.
Adam Gorelick
March 29, 2024 at 01:44
The least ambiguous element of the Assange case is the C.I.A.’s reliably pernicious and vengeful motives driving it. This both permeates every aspect of the political and judicial persecution and casts a malevolent shadow over the faint possiblity of Julian Assange ever leading a free life again. For the U.S. hegemonic agency would never tolerate him publishing again and has myriad ways of murdering someone without leaving evidence of it’s malice being responsible. The C.I.A. was rabid when Eisenhower gave his farewell address, when an American president who raged against it was felled, and quite possibly when “a new Pearl Harbor” was needed to open the imperial floodgates for greater grisly conquest of the global South.
William Frenger
March 28, 2024 at 22:07
U.S. treaties and ‘assurances’ if written are not worth the paper they are written on. Just look at what the U.S. did to Indigenous People’s. If the ‘assurances’ are spoken by any U.S. official they must be considered to be lies. If Julian gets off on a plea bargain he will be under threat of Assasination by U.S. intelligence services.
I wish the perpetrators of this continuing attack on Julian would have raging nightmares, but they won’t, they are trained to persecute ordinary people. This man only did what most DECENT citizens consider rightful, & repeated an item that had already been made public. I do feel sorry for the regular person in the U.S. who keeps up with world opinion and realizes the low esteem with which the states is held.
Julian Assange has many Helen Suzmans advocating for him. It is astonishing so many voices are not enough. When Reagan appointed Edward Perkins, in 1986, to take office as ambassador to South Africa in 1987, Botha smiled as he accepted the credentials Perkins presented. Botha must have thought he could keep Perkins off the streets. Perkins was a person of incredible presence. I met him once in Portland before he died. I was awestruck. Who would have thought Mandela would get out. It happened. I believe Perkins was a vital person in the changes that came about in South Africa. My prayer for Julian is a tsunami of truth so it will be safe for Julian to walk free and to participate in a reformation.
The least ambiguous element of the Assange case is the C.I.A.’s reliably pernicious and vengeful motives driving it. This both permeates every aspect of the political and judicial persecution and casts a malevolent shadow over the faint possiblity of Julian Assange ever leading a free life again. For the U.S. hegemonic agency would never tolerate him publishing again and has myriad ways of murdering someone without leaving evidence of it’s malice being responsible. The C.I.A. was rabid when Eisenhower gave his farewell address, when an American president who raged against it was felled, and quite possibly when “a new Pearl Harbor” was needed to open the imperial floodgates for greater grisly conquest of the global South.
U.S. treaties and ‘assurances’ if written are not worth the paper they are written on. Just look at what the U.S. did to Indigenous People’s. If the ‘assurances’ are spoken by any U.S. official they must be considered to be lies. If Julian gets off on a plea bargain he will be under threat of Assasination by U.S. intelligence services.