Julian Assange appears in court: the international witch-hunt continues

Dear reader, 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in person at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Monday, at a hearing scheduled to process the submission of defence evidence.

Assange’s attorneys revealed they had been given only two hours to meet with their client at Belmarsh prison to review what lawyer Gareth Peirce called “volumes” of evidence.

A report of the court proceedings is published today on the World Socialist Web Site, and we urge you to read it and share widely. Today’s WSWS Perspective comment by Eric London and Thomas Scripps, The international witch-hunt of Julian Assange, is essential reading and warns:

It is a grave danger to the rights of all that the British “justice” system is now moving to place Assange in the hands of the very same officials who plotted for months to carry out the murder of Iran’s General Qassem Suleimani.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the British Extradition Act of 2003 bar the British government from extraditing any individual to a country where the government assassinates its opponents and is incapable of guaranteeing that the individual will not be killed or tortured.

Suleimani’s death underscores that the US is legally incapable of making such a guarantee.

The prosecution of Assange is a travesty of justice that will forever stain the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden and Ecuador, as well as all the individuals involved.

On Sunday February 23, one day before the start of the full US extradition hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates Court, the World Socialist Web and the Socialist Equality Party will hold a public meeting in London demanding freedom for Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

We urge readers of the WSWS in Britain and across Europe to make plans to attend.

Many thanks,

Socialist Equality Party (UK)

Public Meeting

Free Julian Assange! No US rendition!

Sunday, 23 February 2020 from 14:30-17:00

Indian YMCA, Mahatma Gandhi Hall

41 Fitzroy Square, W1T 6AQ London, United Kingdom