1/. On the 7th of September, Julian Assange is scheduled to appear court for the start of an extradition hearing that could take weeks before concluding.

The UK should not extradite #JulianAssange

The US should drop the changes against #Assange. PETITION https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/julian-assange-usa-justice/
2/. If extradited to the US, Julian Assange would face detention conditions that could amount to torture as well as the possibility of an unfair trial.

It is vital that the right to freedom of expression & access to information are protected. @wikileaks
3/. Under the Espionage Act, #Assange faces up to 175 years in prison.

This would set a dangerous precedent for all journalists who publish classified information of public interest.

Due to #COVID19 restrictions, Assange has not been able to see his lawyers for over 6 months.
This week @amnesty will be handing over our 400,000 strong global petition at US embassies around the world (you can still sign 👆).

I’ll be outside the Old Bailey with a senior Amnesty spokesperson.

For an interview, DM me tmw.

I will be posting clips/ updates. #Assange
7/. “Populations don’t like wars. They have to be fooled into wars....Nearly every war that has started in the past 50 years has been a result of media lies.”

#JulianAssange’s extradition hearing resumes this morning.
#Assange #DontExtraditeAssange
9/. “Julian Assange forced us in the West to look in the mirror...What we are witnessing is not judicial process, it is judicial revenge.”

Journalist @johnpilger outside the Old Bailey, where #Assange’s extradition hearing resumed today. #FreeAssange #DontExtraditeAssange
10/. “A hard walk for any father.”

John Shipton, Julian Assange’s dad, enters the Old Bailey criminal court for the next stage of the hearings of his son’s extradition hearing.

#JulianAssange #AssangeCase #FreeAssange #DontExtraditeAssange #Assange
11/. “Julian Assange has just been driven into Old Bailey criminal court in an unmarked white van. Amnesty calls for the US to drop all charges related to his publishing activities & for the UK not to extradite him”. @amnesty’s ECA Director @struthers_marie #DontExtraditeAssange
12/. Today, Reporters Without Borders tried to deliver @RSF_inter’s petition with more than 80,000 signatures calling on the UK authorities not to extradite @wikileaks publisher Julian #Assange to the US.

@10DowningStreet refused to accept it says @rebecca_vincent (with @cmihr).
13/. Editor-in-Chief of @wikileaks, @khrafnsson, points out the absurd obscenity of the US claiming that - by publishing evidence of war crimes - #JulianAssange’s was “causing harm”

He & @johnpilger have been denied access to the court for the Julian Assange extradition hearing.
14/. It may look like a carnival, but no one’s here for fun.

They are here because they recognise the devastating impact #Assanges’s extradition & trial would have on human rights.

As Žižek told me in Zucotti Park in 2011: “Carnivals come cheap. What matters is the day after.”
15/. #BREAKING

Amnesty International’s legal observer has been denied remote access to the extradition hearing of #JulianAssange

We were already refused access to the courtroom

We were assured that we’d have access to the proceedings via the Cloud.

This has not been granted.
16/. “This is not normal. @amnesty is almost always granted access to monitor court cases around the world. For our legal observer to find out this morning that he has not been granted even REMOTE access to the #Assange proceedings is an outrage.” @amnesty’s @struthers_marie
17/. “I’m here today for the same reason I was in Iraq. Because I believe in justice & I believe in peace”

I met Eric Levy, 92, in 2003, when he became a Human Shield to try & stop the illegal war & to protect Iraqis

He stayed in a Baghdad power station throughout Shock & Awe.
18/. Assange ‘s lawyer, @suigenerisjen, sets out “serious procedural concerns” with:

* the barring of legal monitors inclding @amnesty. Judge said licenses issued “by mistake”

* restricted access to lawyers who Assange hadn’t seen for 6 months

* new US indictment being issued
19/. “This is unacceptable. This case is of enormous intn’l public interest & must be open to scrutiny.” RSF’s @rebecca_vincent.

The entire list of 40 trial monitors had their remote access to the #Assange hearings withdrawn this morning. #JulianAssange
20/. Amnesty Intn’l are shocked that we’ve had our permission to observe the #Assange hearing - even remotely - revoked

Observing legal cases is our bread & butter work

We do it in countries with the most repressive regimes

We are reapplying for access.
21/. The US govt is not only charging a publisher who has no non-disclosure obligation but a publisher who is not a US citizen & not in the US.

They are behaving as if they have jurisdiction all over the world & can pursue any journalist. (Barry Pollack) https://dissenter.substack.com/p/an-interview-with-barry-pollack-julian
22/. “Assange is wanted in US on charges of making us look like war criminals.”

No one responsible for the murderous Iraq & Agfhanistan wars has been prosecuted, let alone punished.

Yet the publisher who exposed their cimes is facing a lifetime in jail.
Defense: When in receipt of classified info in the US, are you aware of examples of press proceeding to publish that material?

Mark Feldstein (expert): Yes. It’s a daily occurrence

As a journalist, people send me things. If I open a file that’s classified, could I be arrested?
23/. “The decision to allow so few trial monitors & journalists into today’s hearing seemed more of a political decision rather than a logistical one.” @rebecca_vincent

She was one of the lucky ones who got into the courtroom for Day 1 of #JulianAssange’s extradition hearing.
24/. I asked #JulianAssange’s father, John Shipton, how it felt to be in the courtroom & see his son in a box.

“It’s alright for me. It’s not OK for Julian. My message for the world? If your kids get into trouble, do your damndest to defend them.” #Assange #DontExtraditeAssange
25/. “Absolutely staggering!”

@JohnWRees of @STWuk on the abject lack of transparency of the judicial process in the #JulianAssange extradition hearing which started today.

“It’s impossible to regard this trial as fair”. #Assange #AssangeCase #DontExtraditeAssange
26/. “The German govt should act now to reject this extra-judicial prosecution...If Germany can offer #Navalny sacutuary in Berlin, why can’t they he do the same with Julian #Assange?"

@HeikeHaensel, Member of the Bundestag, observing the #JulianAssange extradition hearing.
27/. “What we’re seeing, at the last minute, is an absolute insult to the UK courts & to #JulianAssange & to justice. For the court to deny the request to adjourn is denying #Assange of his rights...This is no justice. No justice at all.”
Editor-in-Chief @wikileaks, @khrafnsson.
You can follow @StefSimanowitz.
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