September 24, 2019, Strategic Culture Foundation (Russia) https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/09/24/theyre-murdering-my-son-julian-assanges-father-tells-of-pain-and-anguish/
Julian Assange’s father, John
Shipton, gave an interview to Strategic Culture Foundation over the weekend.
After arriving from his home country of Australia, Shipton is visiting several
European states, including Russia, to bring public attention to the persecution
of Julian Assange by British authorities over his role as a publisher and
author.
First though an introduction to the
Assange case. Few media figures can be attributed with transforming
international politics and the global media landscape. Arguably, Julian
Assange, author, publisher and founder of the Wikileaks whistleblower website
(2006), is in the top tier of world-changing individuals over the past decade.
The Australian-born Assange has
previously been awarded with accolades and respect for his truth-telling
journalism which exposed massive crimes, corruption and nefarious intrigues by
the US government and its Western allies.
One of the most shocking exposés by
Wikileaks was the video ‘Collateral Murder’ (2010) which showed mass,
indiscriminate deadly shootings by US troops
in Iraq. Similar war crimes by
American troops in Afghanistan were also revealed by Wikileaks. The so-called
US and NATO “war on terror” was exposed as a fraud and gargantuan crime.
Assange worked with American
whistleblowers Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, the latter revealing the
illegal systematic global surveillance by US spy agencies against ordinary
citizens and political leaders around the world in flagrant violation of human
rights and Washington’s much-vaunted claims of upholding civil liberties and
international law.
The powers-that-be have gone after
these truth-tellers with a vengeance for daring to expose their hypocrisy and
vile record. Snowden is in exile in Russia unable to return to the US out of
fear of imprisonment for “treason”. Manning is currently being detained
indefinitely in the US because she refuses to testify against Assange. Julian
Assange’s ground-breaking journalism exposing government crimes did so in a way
that so many established Western news media outlets failed to do out of
cowardly deference to the powers-that-be. Such so-called “independent” media
are now facilitating the persecution of Assange by smearing his reputation and
ignoring his plight in prison. He has been smeared, among other slanders, as a
“Kremlin agent” and a “cyber terrorist”.
After almost seven years (2012-2019)
confined in the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he sought political asylum
to avoid arbitrary arrest by British authorities over trumped-up sex assault
claims (since dropped), Assange was illegally arrested in April this year by UK
police storming the Ecuadorian embassy. He has since been detained in maximum
security Belmarsh prison where he is held under conditions of solitary
confinement. He is being detained indefinitely while the US prepares a request
to British authorities to extradite him. If he is extradited to the US, Assange
will face charges under the Espionage Act which could result in 175 years in
jail.
Belmarsh prison in London is a
Special Category A jail (the most severe of four grades of detention centers in
the British penal system). It has been used previously to detain mass murderers
and the most dangerous convicted terrorists. Julian Assange’s ongoing
incarceration there under lockdown is preposterous. It is an outrage, and yet
Western media show little or no concern to report on this gross violation of
due process and human rights law.
Earlier this month, on September 13,
Assange was ordered by a British judge to be detained further even though he
was due to be released this week on September 22, after having served out his
sentence over a minor bail infringement that occurred back in 2012 when he fled
to the Ecuadorian embassy in London. That bail infringement is null and void
since the original sex-assault claim in Sweden has been dropped due to lack of
evidence against Assange.
Evidently, his detention is being
used by the British government (no doubt at the behest of Washington) in order
to destroy his health and very being. At age 48, his physical and mental
condition are deteriorating by the day under the extreme conditions which
amount to torture, as the UN special rapporteur Nils Melzer noted after
visiting the prisoner back in May this year. The UN report called for Assange’s
immediate release.
The following is an interview
conducted with Assange’s father, John Shipton. He is currently on a tour of
European countries to highlight the gross miscarriage of justice against his
son. Shipton is visiting Britain, Ireland, Austria, Germany, France, Spain,
Switzerland, Norway and Sweden to campaign for Julian’s immediate release. He
is also traveling to Russia.
In contrast to Western media
indifference, John Shipton says he has encountered great public support for
Julian, demanding his freedom. Among his supporters are prominent public
figures, award-winning journalist John Pilger, renowned thinker and writer Noam
Chomsky, Pink Floyd singer-songwriter Roger Waters and the courageous actress
Pamela Anderson.
Interview
Q: Can you describe the current
prison conditions for Julian and his state of health?
Julian has lost 15 kilos in weight,
is held in Belmarsh Maximum Security prison hospital 22 hours per day in
solitary confinement. Nils Melzer, United Nation’s special rapporteur on
torture, visited in company with two people expert in recognizing the effects
of torture. Nils’ report stated Julian showed the effects of torture physically
and mentally. Since Nils’ visit in May 2019, Julian continues to lose weight,
now totaling 15 kilos. Nils and company describe Julian’s deeply distressing
condition in firm language. UN report linked.
Q: It is reported that you are
being restricted from contact with your son in prison despite you having
traveled from Sydney, Australia, to visit him. Is that correct?
Julian can receive two, two-hour
social visits per month. My visit was double-booked with another thus
cancelled. A week later, in company with Ai Wei Wei, we visited Julian. Sitting
in the prisoners’ meeting room for 46 minutes, upon complaining we were told
Julian could not be found. Couple of minutes later Julian was brought in.
Q: Is Julian being restricted
from contact with his lawyers in order to prepare his defense against the
pending extradition case from Britain to the US?
Yes, severely. Sentenced to maximum
security as a Grade B prisoner in solitary confinement, without access to
computer or library. I gather the prison library has no books on criminal law.
Q: The latest development this
month on September 13 saw a British judge rule that Julian’s detention in
London’s max security Belmarsh prison is to be extended indefinitely despite
him being due to be released on September 22 after serving his time for a bail
infringement back in 2012. What, in your view, is objectionable about the
latest ruling by the British judge?
The judge, Vanessa Baraitser, made
her own application for Julian’s bail which, with bottomless ignominy, she
promptly refused. Baraitser in summing her judgement used the phrase, “likely
to abscond”. Julian has partaken of legal conventions of asylum, and to which
the United Kingdom is a signatory, reviewed and supported by 32 states in the
American Organization of States, and he has ceaselessly offered Swedish
prosecutors opportunity to interview him on allegations or travel to Sweden if
guarantees of no onward extradition to the United States. Stephania Maurizi’s
Freedom of Information requests of United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecuting Service
and Swedish Crown Prosecuting Authority had revealed irregular anti-procedural
state cooperation keeping Julian in Ecuador’s London embassy. Mini Adolf
Eichmanns all of them are.
Swedish prosecuting authority has
had four prosecutors, two interviews, one in Sweden 2010 and 2017 in Ecuador’s
London embassy, during nine years under regulations stating that cases must be
progressed. To land a man on the moon took eight years!
This is prosecutorial and judicial
insouciant malice towards Julian.
Q: What are your concerns about
what could happen if your son is extradited to the US where he is facing
charges of violating the Espionage Act?
They will murder Julian one way or
the other.
Q: What do you say to
politicians and media figures, like Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late US
senator John McCain, who denounce Julian as a “cyber terrorist”?
US Democratic presidential candidate
Joe Biden, moron and crook or if you prefer, crook and moron, if memory serves,
first uttered this phrase purportedly bringing Julian under the Patriot Act as
a terrorist, thereby able to be extra-judicially murdered. Floundering morons
repeat meaningless phrases echoing other bubble-head nonsense. Everyone of
those morons are horrified by and terrified by truth and facts which everyone
all can see and read on Wikileaks.
Q: Are you proud of your son’s
work as a publisher and whistleblower? What do see as his main achievement
from his publishing work?
The achievements are many. In
diplomatic cables we can read of how the geopolitical world is composed and
disposed of people therein. We can understand what Uncle Sam wants and how the
US state gets what its wants. Many millions of people, communities and states
benefit from Wikileaks, some greatly. Example, Chagos Islanders at the
International Court of Justice. Iraq War and Afghan files exposing war crimes.
Vault 7 exposing CIA cyber illegalities and crimes. The ‘Collateral
Murder’ video’s revelation of US war crimes in Iraq. The list of revelations
and beneficiaries is long and deep. Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are a
necessity.
War crimes revealed, sordid practices,
blackmail and bribery. Seven countries destroyed, millions dead, rivers of
blood and millions displaced. Yet only Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, both
innocent of giving hurt and crime, rot in jail.
Q: Is Julian’s treatment by British
and US authorities a grave warning to all citizens about the danger to their
right to freedom of expression and independent media?
Yes, a grim warning. Shut up or be
crushed. What free press? English-speaking mass media is homogenous in its
deceptions, prevarication and banal lies. Popular internet search engines
deflect enquiry to corporate cronies. Facebook corporation is greed incarnate.
All these entities can be simply regulated. Nations states have powers,
however, do nothing but salivate over access to data we generate… our data.
For Julian Assange and Chelsea
Manning are icons of oppressive state violence towards revelation of
astonishing corruption and staggering criminality.
Many gifted, brave writers,
commentators and film-makers continue a furious fight in alternate media and
blogs. We give our gratitude and salute such men and women, for they all know,
intimately, there is no monster colder than the US state and its allies.
Q: Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison and the government in Canberra have refused to make appeals for
Julian’s release despite him being an Australian citizen. How do you view the
Australian government’s lack of response to the case? Why are they apparently
derelict? For example, Premier Morrison is visiting US President Donald Trump
this week but he is reportedly scheduled to not raise the Assange case or to
request his release. Why is Morrison acting with such indifference, and
deference to the US?
The Australian government is
complicit. More than complicit as silence indicates agreed involvement. Notable
exception are ex Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, with concordance of
ex-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, raising Julian with Jeremy Hunt, the former
United Kingdom Foreign Minister and Mike Pompeo, the current United States
Secretary of State.
Q: Are you hopeful that Julian
will be released in the near future? How important have public supporters like
journalist John Pilger, Pink Floyd singer-songwriter Roger Waters and actress
Pamela Anderson, as well as ordinary members of the public, been to Julian’s
spirits?
To Julian’s spirits, friends and
supporters are alpha to omega of life.
Endnote: For those interested in
contacting John Shipton for further media interviews or details about Julian
Assange’s case, contact press@wikileaks.org.
Finian Cunningham*: Former editor
and writer for major news media organizations. He has written extensively on
international affairs, with articles published in several languages
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