New Article for CounterPunch

"There's No Free Press Without a Free Assange"

I hope everyone’s 2024 is off to a good start. I have a new piece for my friends at CounterPunch magazine today, on the most important freedom of the press case in the world. Here’s an excerpt:

Next month, Assange will once again appear before the High Court, his last-ditch effort to challenge the British government’s 2022 extradition order. In a hearing expected to last two days, two judges will revisit the High Court’s June 2023 decision denying his challenges to that order, and thus reopening the question of his appeal. Assange’s legal team has expressed hopes that the European Court will hear his case, but this is far from assured. As his lawyer Jennifer Robinson has recently explained, Assange’s life hangs in the balance, as years of unjust persecution and detention have wreaked havoc on his mind and body. Robinson’s statement is of course consistent with a 2021 U.K. court ruling correctly determining that “the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America.” On January 15th, in his home country of Australia, a multi-party coalition of politicians submitted a letter to U.K. Home Secretary James Cleverly, urging a reconsideration of Assange’s case before next month’s hearing. The MPs argue that “the United Kingdom cannot just rely on third-party assurances by foreign governments but rather are required to make independent assessments of the risk of persecution to individuals before any order is made removing them from the UK.” They don’t take the assurances of the U.S. government at face value while their innocent countryman’s life is at stake. Who can possibly blame them at this point?

As always, thank you for your time and your open minds, and I wish everyone a safe and healthy new year. #FreeAssange #FreeAssangeNOW